Staff members in Nashville officially welcomed Dr. Kristen Neal to the MRSH family on February 1, 2004. Consultants and others in the field met her at the National Educators’ Conference in Orlando. Now, it is your turn to get to know Modern Red’s Director of Product Development.

Kristen Weeks Neal earned her doctorate in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership at Vanderbilt University and is president of Neal Education Consulting where she focuses on client needs, particularly in the areas of professional development, curriculum, assessment, and science education. She also holds a master’s degree in education from Vanderbilt and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Miami University. Neal has been a research assistant, director of professional development, elementary school teacher, supervisor of student teachers in England, and teacher at the International School in Honduras. She has authored numerous publications, written and directed a variety of grants, and presented to diverse audiences locally, regionally, and nationally.

Dr. Neal and her husband, Greg, grew up in Nashville, so returning five years ago seemed natural. She describes their home life with two preschool daughters, Kate and Sydney, as “wonderful chaos” and acknowledges that parents learn as much – if not more – from their children as the children learn from them.

So how did Dr. Neal come together with Modern Red? “It was amazing how this happened,” says Neal. Her original work with MRSH consisted of pulling out science units and examining and highlighting the content standards, or “teasing out the science content in existing units,” as she describes it. Two things about the organization prompted her to expand the relationship: the people and the philosophy. “What brought me to MRSH is the incredibly capable work staff…and the culture of the organization. Supporting learning is valued here. I was not really looking for a job…but could not resist joining the team.”

When asked about upcoming projects, she says her short-term priority is “getting up to speed…learning how the organization works…understanding the relationship between training and product development.” One of the first products, a CD with exemplars of the MRSH unit work at all grade levels, was gratefully received by staff and consultants in February and illustrates her conviction that feedback from MRSH personnel and the clients in our schools will be the driving force behind product development.

Secondary schools are a priority area at this time, and Neal will be developing exemplars for high schools as MRSH strives to be responsive to their needs. She will also continue with mass unit revisions in the K-8 curriculum. One facet of this focuses on math units, as she works to ensure that true substance exists and students are required to “articulate their thoughts mathematically.” Neal says, “As people try to meet all levels of standards, more is required for students to do and know. They must be able to understand the problems conceptually – think and articulate that thinking. And we must foster this for all kids.”

Dr. Neal wants to assist in helping teachers move from the textbook approach to inquiry-based instruction. She asks, “Does this kind of learning make a difference for kids?” And then she answers her own question with a resounding, “Absolutely! The level of their understanding is so much more complex when even first and second graders are able to talk about science or explain about a life cycle in their journals rather than answer a teacher-directed question or mark the correct choice on a workbook page. This kind of learning is so powerful! It is a shift from knowing about into knowing, and this higher level thinking applies to all subject areas.”

She brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to her new job. It is interesting that Neal describes the MRSH staff with the words ‘capable’ and ‘committed.’ For those are the exact words the MRSH staff would use to describe Kris Neal.

April 2004