AACTE Welcomes Interns From George Mason University

AACTE is very pleased to welcome three new interns from George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia. Amanda Bush, Christine DeGregory, and Donna Sacco will be working through May 2015 with Rod Lucero, our senior director for membership engagement and support, and me, AACTE’s senior director for performance measurement and assessment policy.

Over the next semester, the GMU interns will learn the dynamics of performance measurements, assessment policies, and clinical practice in the setting of a national association focused on continuous improvement and support. This is an exciting time for AACTE to guide the field while advocating for and building capacity for high-quality preparation programs. Cooperating with our member institutions to employ education interns has long been a goal for AACTE, and we are excited to see this aim realized.

Meet our interns:

Amanda Bush is a doctoral student in GMU’s College of Education and Human Development. She specializes in teaching and teacher education with a secondary emphasis in educational policy. A veteran teacher with more than a decade of experience in both secondary and higher education settings, Bush’s specific interests include researching high-quality educational opportunities for students from poverty and preservice teacher educational assessment and policy. Bush is honored to have been selected for an internship at AACTE and looks forward to contributing to the Ed Prep Matters blog and tweeting from AACTE’s Annual Meeting in Atlanta next month!

Christine DeGregory is nearing the completion of her course work toward a doctorate specializing in teaching and teacher education at GMU. Her research interests include clinical practice, professional development schools, veteran and first-year teacher mentoring dyads, and induction programs. DeGregory received her B.A. from SUNY Geneseo and her M.Ed. from National Louis University. She is a proud mother of three children and has spent the last 18 years in cross-country and overseas moves with her husband, who serves in the Army. 

Donna Sacco is one of six full-time doctoral students in special education on a USDOE/OSEP leadership grant at GMU (Project ASCEND). She is also a graduate research assistant for a Stepping Up Technology Implementation Grant project called Project WeGotIT! The project intends to promote effective teacher use of technology to support individuals with high-incidence disabilities who struggle with written expression. Sacco is a National Board Certified Teacher and formerly taught special education in Arlington, Virginia. She was an adjunct professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development, where she also received her M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction. She has served on the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Board of Directors and was president of the DC CEC. Sacco now chairs the CEC Elections Standing Committee and serves on the Professional Standards and Practice Committee.


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Linda McKee

Sr. Director for Performance Measurement and Assessment Policy