Eileen M. Ahearn Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst for Project Forum
Ph (703) 519-3800 ext. 316
Fax (703) 519-3808
Email
Prior to joining the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, Eileen 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. She had also designed, implemented and served for eight years as the Executive Director of a service collaborative that provides special education programs, staff development and business services to thirteen public school districts in central Massachusetts. Since 1995, she has been doing research and providing technical assistance in the area of special education in charter schools. She is currently directing the TA Customizer Project funded under U. S. Department of Education Charter Schools Program that involves work with individual states to develop state-specific materials to support charter schools in including students with disabilities. Eileen also contributes a portion of her time to Project Forum.

Paula J. Burdette, Ph. D., Project Forum Director
Ph: (703) 519-3800 ext. 335
Fax: (703) 519-3808
Email
Paula Burdette has been in the field of special education since 1985 as a teacher in Oklahoma, a technical assistance provider for Mid-South Regional Resource Center, and the State Improvement Grant Director at the Delaware Department of Education. She began her work as Director of Project Forum in August of 2005. She received her doctorate from Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech) in Special Education Administration. Among many other education topics, Paula, continues to be interested in the area of collaboration between general and special education administration in order to support achievement for all students.

Eve Müller, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst for Project Forum
Ph (703) 519-3800 ext. 330
Fax (703) 519-3808
Email
Prior to joining Project Forum, Eve Müller managed several community-based programs serving adults with disabilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, including a residential program serving young adults with autism and an integrated work program sponsored by United Cerebral Palsy. She completed her doctoral work at the University of California at Berkeley in 2004, and has published a number of research articles on autism and other communication disorders. She is currently doing independent research in collaboration with faculty from San Francisco State University in the area of Asperger Syndrome and social supports. Since 2002 she has done special education policy analysis for Project Forum.

Donna Reynolds, Project Forum Administrative Assistant
Ph (703) 519-3800 ext. 333
Fax (703) 519-3808
Email
Donna has been the Administrative Assistant for Project Forum since 2000. She organizes and oversees the logistics of two policy forums per year. In addition, she handles formatting, design, occasional review and dissemination of Project Forum documents.