Cathy Watkins, Ph.D., President

Cathy Watkins, Ph.D., BCBA-D, received a doctorate from the University of Florida in 1987. She is a Professor of Special Education at California State University, Stanislaus and Director of the Center for Direct Instruction. Cathy is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, past president of the California Association for Behavior Analysis, and current president of the Association for Direct Instruction.

Cathy is the author of Project Follow Through: A Case Study of Contingencies Influencing Instructional Practices of the Educational Establishment and co-author of two book chapters on Direct Instruction. She currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Direct Instruction and Education and Treatment of Children and on the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.

Cathy has experience working with both general and special education students. She trains and supervises teachers at the university and in public schools. She has been a consultant to schools and other agencies including the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) and the Effective Schools Model of Project Follow Through. She also consulted on SRA's Ravenscourt Books. In 2002, Cathy was honored with the Association for Direct Instruction's Excellence in Education Award. Her primary interest is in helping children and their teachers to be successful.   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Anne Berchtold, Vice-President

Anne Berchtold grew up in Sydney, Australia. It was there that she was exposed to Direct Instruction and a plethora of people involved in research. This had a profound effect on her and kindled a passionate interest in how students learn to read. In addition to teaching, Anne and her husband established a Clinical Practice where they used Direct Instruction Programs exclusively to remediate and accelerate students' learning. In 1990, they moved to the United States.

Anne has experience teaching at the Elementary, High school and college levels. She is on the faculty at Edison State College where she taught Educational Psychology in the Teacher Preparation Program and later Reading Courses. She has been a presenter and trainer at school, district, and state level conferences.

Currently, Anne is a Reading Coach with the Lee County School District, FL. She provides Professional Development and support to her colleagues with a focus on increasing student learning.

She holds a Degree in Education from Australian Catholic University; a Degree in Elementary Education from the University of South Florida; and a Masters in Special Education from the University of South Florida.

In Anne's own words, "Reading is the passion of my professional life. I am dedicated to continued support and promotion of Direct Instruction and the pursuit of quality instructional practices in reading which bring joy and fulfillment to learner's lives."  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Timothy Slocum, Ph.D., Secretary

Dr. Timothy Slocum has been involved with Direct Instruction for over 25 years as a special education teacher, instructional designer, researcher, and teacher trainer. He received his Ph.D. in special education from the University of Washington in 1992. Since that time, he has been on faculty in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation at Utah State University.

Tim's service extends beyond Utah State University and to the Cache Valley community. He was instrumental in transforming the Cache Valley Learning Center, a private school he co-founded, into a public school. The Bear River Charter School opened its doors in August 2010 and currently serves twice as many children in K-8 as the previous school.

He was the founding co-editor of the Journal of Direct Instruction and is co-author of the textbook Introduction to Direct Instruction. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Don Steely, Ph.D., Treasurer

Don Steely has spent 40 years working with Direct Instruction, during which he has been a classroom teacher, a teacher trainer, a bilingual program director, a consultant, a researcher, and an instructional designer/author. He has developed print and multimedia instructional programs for both hearing and deaf students in science, math, reading, spelling and history. Dr. Steely has degrees from the University of Illinois, University of Oregon, and Honolulu University. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rose Wanken

Rose Wanken was born in Port Townsend, Washington, the oldest of six girls in an army family. She received a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and Pupil Personnel and School Psychology credentials from California State University, Chico, California. Rose attended the mildly handicapped program at the University of Oregon for three summers and then received training as a direct instruction consultant. She worked 2 weeks a month for the National Institute for Direct Instruction for three years in Lynnwood, California. She also worked as an independent direct instruction consultant for school districts implementing direct instruction programs. Rose has worked as a School Psychologist for Chico Unified School District for 32 years. She teaches direct instruction groups at her assigned schools.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.