Project Intersect

Project Intersect:
Personnel

Margaret McLaughlin, Ph.D. | Lauren Morando Rhim, Ph.D. | Eileen Ahearn, Ph.D. |
Cheryl Lange, Ph.D. | William E. Lange, P.E.

Margaret J. McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Dr. McLaughlin is a professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Maryland. She has been involved in special education all of her professional career, beginning as a teacher of students with serious emotional and behavior disorders. Currently she is the Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Exceptional Children and Youth, which is a research institute within the College of Education at the University of Maryland College Park. In this capacity, she directs several national projects investigating educational reform and students with disabilities. These include the national Educational Policy Reform Research Institute (EPRRI), a consortium involving the University of Maryland, The National Center on Educational Outcomes and the Urban Special Education Collaborative. EPRRI is studying the impact of high stakes accountability on students with disabilities. Prior to EPPRI, Dr. McLaughlin directed the Center for Policy Research on the Impact of General Education Reform on Special Education and the first year of the UM subcontract for Project SEARCH. As a part of these projects, Dr. McLaughlin conducted research on policy issues related to special education in charter schools. She teaches graduate courses in disability policy and has written extensively in the area of school reform and students with disabilities.

Lauren Morando Rhim, Ph.D.
Dr. Morando Rhim is a faculty research associate in the Department of Special Education at the University of Maryland. Prior to joining Project Intersect, Morando Rhim was an independent consultant specializing in charter school research and evaluation. Her primary areas of research are market-based reforms, school choice, and the inclusion of children with disabilities in these reform initiatives. She has conducted substantial work on two projects investigating issues related to special education in charter schools. She was part of SPEDTACS, a federally funded technical assistance project designed to assist charter schools increase their capacity to deliver special education. She was previously a part of Project SEARCH and directed the UMD sub-contract during years two and three of the study. As a member of the Project SEARCH team, Morando Rhim conducted state-, district-, and school-level research. She has published numerous articles about charter schools and spoken at national and state level conferences about charter schools.

Eileen Ahearn, Ph.D.
Dr. Ahearn is a Project Director and Senior Policy Analyst at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) where she conducts policy research and writes syntheses and analyses of special education issues for federal, state, and local administrators and policy makers. She has coordinated and implemented a variety of activities for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in areas of special education policy. From 1998-2001, she directed Project SEARCH, a three-year national study of special education in charter schools funded by OSEP. She is currently directing two national initiative projects funded by the U. S. Department of Education Charter Schools Program to provide national and state-specific technical assistance to facilitate the implementation of special education in charter schools. She has served on numerous state and local advisory boards in special and general education, and has been a consultant to various national organizations. Prior to joining NASDSE, Dr. Ahearn had over twenty years of experience in Massachusetts as a teacher and administrator in special education and general education, culminating in the position of Superintendent of Schools in a K-12 district.

Cheryl Lange, Ph.D.
Dr. Lange has over 25 years of experience as a researcher, consultant, and educator. Lange is a principal partner in Lange Consultants specializing in the areas of evaluation, research, and program planning and was formerly a researcher at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lange has consulted with groups from national organizations conducting policy research to state education departments to public school districts and charter schools. In addition to consulting in areas of evaluation and program planning, she has conducted over ten years of research on school choice options including studies of charter schools, alternative schools, and open enrollment. She was a member of the research group investigating charter schools and special education policy through a federally funded project entitled Project SEARCH. Dr. Lange has extensive experience in both quantitative and qualitative methodology with particular expertise in survey methods. She has been published in over 15 professional journals.

William E. Lange, P.E.
Mr. Lange has nearly 30 years experience as a professional engineer, software systems analyst, and researcher. His technical background provides extensive capabilities in statistics, web-based surveys, software design, relational databases, and other areas of technical applications.