Abstract
Dr. Judy Voress is the former periodicals director of PRO-ED; is Executive Director and a member of the Board of Directors of the Hammill Institute on Disabilities; and currently serves as President and a Trustee of the Donald D. Hammill Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities, the elderly, and those with financial challenges. Her professional background also includes time spent as a special education teacher, university assistant professor, associate journal editor, adjunct university professor, and author of educational tests and materials.
Dr. Judy Voress
Dr. Judy Voress began her long career in education by teaching at a county school for children with intellectual disabilities while still working on her undergraduate degree in education. She continued on to receive master’s and doctoral degrees in special education before moving into educational publishing and philanthropic work. She is especially well known within the learning disabilities professional community, having played a key role in organizing the annual conference for the Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD) for many years. She was the recipient of that organization’s Floyd Hudson Outstanding Service Award in 2018.
You have worn many hats within the Hammill family of organizations. Can you help us understand the differences and connections among the Institute, the Foundation, and PRO-ED?
It certainly can be a bit confusing. PRO-ED was the first of the three organizations, founded in 1977, and it is a for-profit publishing company in the area of disability. Many readers will be familiar with PRO-ED and its many books, tests, and materials. Founded in 1988, the Donald D. Hammill Foundation came next. It is a private foundation that awards grants to various nonprofits in the Austin, Texas, area; those organizations provide services to individuals with disabilities, older adults, and individuals with financial challenges. The last of the three is the Hammill Institute on Disabilities, incorporated in 2005. The Institute is a nonprofit whose mission is the dissemination of information related to disability. One major activity of the Institute is the publication of 18 professional journals, including the two journals provided to CLD members—Learning Disability Quarterly and Intervention in School and Clinic. All three organizations were established by Dr. Don Hammill and are in some way related to disability, but each is a separate entity with its own mission, regulations, activities, and board of directors.
You started out early as a teacher, but have spent much of your career outside of that profession. Was that by chance or by design?
It seems that many of the positions I have held have happened serendipitously, not planned or sought. At various times in my professional life, opportunities presented themselves at opportune times; each change was not something I anticipated or aimed for, but each led me into positions that were always interesting and quite rewarding. For example, I was teaching elementary school in my small hometown and decided to get my master’s degree at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana. At the end of my program, the department chair asked if I would stay and teach in the special education department. I had been a teaching assistant and really enjoyed working with future teachers and thought teacher preparation could have a broader reach than me going back into the classroom, so I took that opportunity.
The one constant throughout my career has been education in some shape or form, especially special education. My prior education and experiences have been, and continue to be, helpful, whether in the area of publishing or the world of nonprofits.
Tell us about the PRO-ED years.
I started at PRO-ED in 1986. I had been supervising a nine-county rural early childhood intervention program in Texas, and due to fiscal constraints, we eliminated my position from the program budget. Of course that meant I had no job and I needed to look at another way to make a living. I contacted Dr. Don Hammill to see if there was a position at PRO-ED, thinking that would give me time to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up! They had just acquired the Journal of Learning Disabilities (JLD), and Dr. Lee Wiederholt assumed the editorship. I was asked to serve as Associate Editor with the understanding that I would work with JLD for 1 year while I looked for a position. As it turned out, I never left the Hammill organizations.
The time I served as Associate Editor is when I learned a great deal about professional writing and the publication business. Before this, all I knew about professional journals was that they provided great resources for research and for publishing opportunities, certainly nothing (or at least very little) about journal publishing. I naively thought that if it was in print, it had to be true! As PRO-ED acquired more journals, I eventually oversaw all of the journals and ran the Periodicals Division. At that time, we handled all aspects of our journal production, so I saw firsthand the nuances of the review process and working with authors; engaging journal editors; and working with copy editors, typesetters, and printers. This was before technology was widespread, so much of the process was done by hand and was more labor-intensive. For example, we received hard copies of journal submissions and mailed copies to reviewers. Typesetters provided columns of straight text and we worked from these galleys to create rough page templates that the typesetter would then use for the page layout. When I first started, I remember frequently running to the production department, saying, “I promise, this is the last time I’ll ask, but which comes first, galleys or pages?” Journal production is much easier today.
While at PRO-ED, Dr. Don Hammill introduced me to building tests and provided opportunities for me to develop skills in this area; another learn-by-doing experience! Building a test is a long, complex, tedious process, and I soon realized the value of collaborating with others who had the skills I didn’t possess, nor had the time or desire to learn! This experience has expanded my understanding of test construction, test interpretation, and test production over the years, and I look at each revision with fresh eyes from lessons learned.
In 2005, I resigned my position as Periodicals Director so I could help with caring for my mother; I couldn’t run a department and commute back and forth to Ohio every few weeks. I had an office at PRO-ED, but was self-employed, working on my own product development. When Don (i.e., Dr. Hammill) started the Institute, the plan was to acquire and publish the journals previously owned by PRO-ED, the primary activity for the Institute. Don said that I knew more about running the journals than others there, and he asked if I would assist with the transition of the journals and management of the Institute. So, in 2007 I joined the Institute as its Executive Director.
With the Hammill Foundation not focused specifically on education, how has it fit into your professional life?
Both nonprofits, the Foundation and the Hammill Institute, involve building relationships and learning about opportunities to support organizations that are doing good work. This is not dissimilar to what I did when teaching—establishing relationships with other professionals and families, and figuring out what I could do to support the students or future teachers. When I first started with the Hammill Foundation, I thought it would be easy and fulfilling to provide assistance to those in the community who need help with housing, food stability, health care, etc., especially those who were unable to advocate for themselves or their families. It is indeed fulfilling, but it is not easy. The need is greater than any one Foundation can meet, so hard decisions must be made about where our dollars go; there are so many deserving organizations, but we can fund only a handful. The role of nonprofits such as the Hammill Foundation has become more important as the number of individuals needing assistance grows and the number of dollars coming from local, state, and federal programs does not keep pace.
Because of my publishing background and easy access to typesetters and printers, we have been able to support various organizations in more ways than just providing money. Several organizations publish materials that provide information about services in our community; for example, one provides information related to transportation assistance in the community and one provides comprehensive information for caregivers. I have been able to take the content the organizations collect, organize it, and then provide them with print, and in some cases also electronic, copies for distribution in the Austin area at no cost to the organizations.
My role with the Hammill Institute allows me to stay more directly involved with the field of special education and use the publication skills I developed while Periodicals Director at PRO-ED. We have the opportunity to work closely with various professional organizations and beginning scholars and support them in their undertakings. My background in special education has been very helpful in my work at the institute, for both content of our products and in building rapport with professionals we work with. I am a member of many of the professional organizations we partner with and I know many of the individuals we bring in as journal editors.
You mention association with professional organizations. Can you share some of these organizations and describe the relationship between them and the Institute?
The Institute has relationships with other professional organizations similar to the relationship we have with CLD. That is, we provide journals to the organization’s membership. Several Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) divisions provide our journals to their members as a member benefit, including the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders; Division for Research (DR); Council for Educational Diagnostic Services; Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities; Division for Communication, Language, and Deaf/Hard of Hearing; and Division on Career Development and Transition. We also provide journals to two organizations not associated with CEC.
We also partner with a few of these organizations in their efforts to build leadership and to recognize early scholars. Many professional organizations are struggling financially and we are able to provide financial assistance for activities that align with our mission. For example, we support the CLD Leadership Institute and provide financial recognition for DR’s Distinguished Early Career Research Award. We continue to look at other ways to support various professional organizations in the field.
You indicate that serendipity has played a significant factor in the direction of your professional life; but you chose to become a special education teacher early on. What was teaching like for you during that time period?
I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was in elementary school. When I was 19 and had completed only 1 year of college, the superintendent of the county school for children and adults with severe intellectual disabilities called (one benefit of living in a small community—everyone knows everyone!) and asked if I was interested in an opening at the school. I accepted and this turned out to be quite the learning experience! I knew very little about teaching, much less teaching young children with significant delays. My first-year college courses had been things like Western Civilization, Economics, English Composition—nothing there that provided direction for instruction! It was basically a learn-by-doing endeavor. Thankfully, for me, as well as my students, the other four teachers were very helpful and provided guidance.
Teaching while taking classes certainly did prove beneficial, however, as it gave me insight and direction in my university classes. As I moved into methods classes, I was constantly asking my professors for guidance, and any papers or projects I had to do for my classes came from real-life experiences in the classroom. Importantly, this exposure to students with disabilities expanded my education goals, and I added special education to my degree plans.
This was in the late 60s, a time when most students with disabilities, at least in my area, were not included in the public schools. Our school was a separate entity completely, and not at all part of public education. That meant our students were completely isolated from their typical peers during the school day, which, looking back, I realize such an arrangement did not provide interaction or joint experiences for the students with disabilities and their typical peers, something that benefits both groups. It was also a time that did not afford many opportunities for these individuals as adults, so much of our efforts was spent preparing the students for the sheltered workshop, which was housed in the same building.
In the early 70s, I was teaching middle school special education in Bowling Green, Ohio. Education for youngsters with disabilities in public schools was very different than what we see today. We had one special education class each for Grades 7, 8, and 9. Supposedly, the students were labeled as having mild intellectual disabilities, but in reality, the types of disabilities in our classes ran the gamut. We had students who came from migrant families for whom English was not their primary language, students who experienced run-ins with the legal system, students with emotional issues, and of course, students with mild intellectual disabilities. Basically, if the students were not successful in the general education classroom, they were moved to our classes. I remember one student well. She was small for her age and didn’t have the best social skills with her peers, but she always had a smile and wanted to be liked. One morning we were called to the office; she had tried to take her bicycle on the bus because she was going to run away after school. The bus driver brought her to school and informed the principal of her plans. We found out she had been physically abused and planned to run away. I am thankful that she wanted to come to school—a place where she felt safe. I also regret that we were not aware of the abuse and didn’t intervene earlier.
While I was teaching at the middle school, PL 94-142 was passed. Prior to that time, our students were not included in the mainstream and we were responsible for all instruction for them—all content areas, physical education (PE), art, home economics, and industrial arts. We could not use the home economics or industrial art rooms; however, we were relegated to unfurnished space in a building across the street, the same building we used for PE. We also had very limited funds, so we had bake sales in the cafeteria to raise money for the home ec and industrial arts projects. There was no such thing as an individualized education program (IEP) and there was very little parent involvement. After passage of this new regulation, our attention turned to advocating for the students with our principal, who really wasn’t on board with change, and working with teachers who had various levels of comfort having students labeled as “special needs” in their classes. We did whatever was needed to make it a positive experience for the students and the teachers; we helped students with the skills they needed to be successful, from teaching them how to use combination locks (they were required for PE lockers) to how to navigate changing class periods. We spent time in the classrooms to assist the general education teachers who did not feel comfortable teaching our diverse students. At first, some teachers wanted a separate class with just our students, with us in the classroom to assist. Eventually, many teachers realized our students could be included in classrooms with typical peers and they felt comfortable making at least minor accommodations. We were lucky that there were a few teachers who welcomed our students and served as an example for the others. It was certainly an interesting time for the field and an important step forward for special education.
After I completed my master’s at Ball State, I was invited to stay on as an instructor, teaching classes in the special education department. This opened a new avenue—helping to prepare future teachers. Without an advanced degree, I could stay on as an instructor for only 3 years. I enjoyed teaching at the university level, so I decided to pursue a doctorate. I was fortunate to have the support of my Department Chair, Dr. Dale Lawver, and he helped me identify doctoral programs to explore. He knew Dr. Deborah Smith at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and encouraged me to apply to their program; he thought it would be a good match and that she would provide a great model as a female in higher education. I was accepted to the program and studied with Deb; Dale was right, it was a good match and I have learned a great deal from Deb. When I completed my degree, I accepted a position at the University of Texas at Arlington to start a “learning disability” (LD) endorsement that would complement their primarily general education program. A few months before I was to start, Texas eliminated the LD endorsement. I taught general education courses for a while, but was pleased when I had the opportunity to move back into a special education setting supervising nine rural Texas counties for an early childhood intervention program. After a few years, we wrote my position out of our grant request, and I ended up at PRO-ED; another fortuitous twist.
How did your experience as a teacher inform your work on test and materials design and development?
When I was introduced to building tests at PRO-ED, I tried to look at each test from the perspective of the end user. I think many of us have felt that a test we used didn’t give us the exact information we wanted, was hard to administer, administration took too long, etc., so I wanted something I would want to use. My first tests were in the area of early childhood, an area of interest and experience. I used that experience to determine content and formats that I felt would have been helpful during my time in the ECI program. Of course, I also wanted a test that other professionals would want to use. Feedback from the many workshops I have done across the country assisting early childhood providers with the administration and interpretation of one of my early childhood tests proved invaluable in determining what is clear and what is not, what requires additional information, what experiences are the examiners having with their families and the interpretation, and how are they using the test. This firsthand reporting allows me to address concerns and suggestions in each revision and keep the parts they find helpful. In addition, any test I help build, I administer many, many times during development, tweaking the test as needed to make it helpful to examiners. I also listen to the individuals assisting with norming, incorporating their feedback when possible.
Many within the field will recognize you as the organizing entity for CLD conferences over the past several years. Was CLD always a part of your professional life?
I first became involved with CLD while a doctoral student at the University of New Mexico in the early 1980s. As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Deb Smith was my advisor, and she introduced me, and many of her students, to CLD. She realized the importance of participation in our professional organizations, so she encouraged us to attend and present at the national CLD conferences, honing our presentation skills with each presentation. For several years, Deb and Dr. Lee Wiederholt, who was at the University of Texas in Austin, arranged for doctoral students from both universities to get together at the conference. It was a great introduction to the importance of networking and building professional partnerships.
I served on the CLD New Mexico chapter board while in New Mexico, and then on the national board in various positions over many years. In 2011, the CLD Board decided to return to a volunteer conference planning committee to organize the national conference. Our first trials with a volunteer planning committee were held in Austin, Texas. Drs. Brian and Diane Bryant and I helped with the conference planning at that time and we thought it would be easier if the conference were in our backyard where we could monitor and assist more easily. We had a few hiccups, but got a handle on what we needed to do as a committee. I continued to serve as Chair, and then co-chair, of the Conference Planning Committee through June of 2019. CLD is near to my heart and the CLD conference is one I would hate to miss; it is a time to connect with good friends and meet the emerging leaders in the organization.
Conference planning allowed me to learn yet another new skill set—hotel contracts, catering, room setup, AV, etc.! More importantly, it gave me the opportunity to work with members of the CLD Board and support them where our roles overlapped. I do look at other conferences I attend with a different eye, appreciating the effort (and expense) it takes to organize such an event.
Help us understand your role on the Foundation in terms of philanthropy. What principles guide the decisions? What are the personal and professional rewards associated with this type of philanthropy?
There is certainly a necessity for dealing with temporary needs, for example, response to an event such as a flood or tornado, as well as for focusing on long-term solutions to societal issues, such as job training and education. We typically focus on the latter.
Private foundations have specific Internal Revenue Service requirements that guide their grant making; it is my responsibility as president to make sure those requirements are met, tax reports are prepared, and necessary reports are filed. Each year we calculate the amount of money we must distribute through our grant process; the Board then must determine how those funds will be divided among the many organizations we select to submit a request. At this time, we are funding about 65 organizations.
Our primary funding focus is on providing basic needs—housing, health care, and food security. My role is to know the ever-changing landscape of the needs of older adults, individuals with disabilities, and people with financial challenges in our community, and the various organizations that work to meet those needs. This can be challenging. For example, we may have five organizations contact us seeking funding for their programs, all of which address the needs of individuals who are homeless. We have to determine if these programs are providing the same services or if they have a unique purpose, their stability and other community support they receive, and their fiscal history to see if they are a good match for us; there are many good programs and we cannot fund them all, so we have to pick and choose. I meet regularly with executive directors and grant writers from many organizations to stay abreast of their efforts and challenges they are facing, and I share that information with the Board to guide our annual grant making. Organizations we support are those that align with our mission and that we feel are good stewards of our funds. I encourage Board members to be actively involved and we all glean information to guide us by meeting with organization representatives, but we prefer to visit a site and watch a program at work. I have been at a site where they were building a ramp to make a home accessible, a location where hospice care is provided, health clinics, dental clinics, affordable housing with wraparound services, an adult day center, and many other varied sites in our community. On one hand it is encouraging to see these programs at work doing such good things, but, on the other hand, my heart goes out to the individuals (and their families, if they have family) as they try to navigate a complex system of care and assistance, often on limited budgets. It can be overwhelming. Any of us who have been caregivers for parents or other family members can identify with these challenges.
I feel we as individuals and as foundations or corporations have a responsibility to pay it forward in whatever way we have available to us, whether it is money, time, or talent. I do find it rewarding that we as a foundation can assist people in our community, but am, at the same time, frustrated by the magnitude of the need. We as a Board are constantly looking at how we can support the various organizations in our community as they strive to address various social problems.
As the Institute has begun to provide support to doctoral students, what have they taught you about the support provided to them?
We are in the third year of providing Hammill Institute on Disabilities Doctoral Fellowships. This is a new endeavor for the Institute, one we are all excited about. To date, we are limiting these fellowships as we hone the process and evaluate the effects of our fellowships. Our initial goal was to provide financial support to promising doctoral students who are struggling financially (nominated by select faculty members).
Each year we have refined our process based on feedback from nominating faculty, fellows, and board members. This year we decided to get fellowship recipients together so they can meet one another. Another Board member and I met with several of the Fellows during conferences we attended where a corpus of recipients was present; several who were unable to attend the second conference requested to participate virtually and we were happy to give that a try. This was such a positive experience for the Fellows, as well as for us. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly and easily the students connected; they are at different points in their programs, and spontaneously they started asking each other for advice about comps, data collection, and job hunting. They asked if we could meet again, virtually, in the Spring. It was very reinforcing to see these students excited and interacting, and the excitement was contagious. To me, this speaks volumes about the potential benefits of our support.
We request progress reports from our fellows and their respective nominating faculty member. It has been rewarding to hear from recipients in their reports about the difference our funding has made for them. It is reinforcing to me and our Board members that such a small investment can have such an impact.
As we move into the second decade of the 21st Century, what do you see as the nexus among education, philanthropy, and educational publishing?
An interesting and difficult question. Among high-wealth families, education is the most frequent cause for charitable giving. On the national and state level, we see large foundations providing funds for alternatives to the traditional public school, such as charter schools and alternative teacher certification. They also provide funds to support policy advocacy at the national level. Much of this activity has been directed to K–12; however philanthropic contributions, both large and small, are very important to institutions of higher education. Most universities and colleges work hard to secure and keep donors to fund research, innovation, and growth. We can all attest to that from the mail and email we receive from schools we attended, all soliciting donations.
On a realistic level, most of us, including our Foundation and Institute, will not be among the 15 largest foundations that are giving huge sums to promote a national- or state-level agenda. That being said, there is a decline in public funding for education, and private philanthropy is becoming increasingly visible and important for private and public institutions.
Our Foundation recognizes the importance of education and vocational training to help families become financially secure, and we will continue to support organizations in our community that provide that opportunity. Our Institute is focused more on higher education and assistance to professionals in the field, especially upcoming leaders. It takes a great many smaller nonprofits and individuals to move the needle, but I am confident it will continue to happen. There is an advantage to working on a more targeted, smaller scale that I appreciate. You get to see individuals and the effect support has for them. It’s personal.
In the publishing arena, there will always be a need for assessments and materials; the format and delivery may change, but the purpose will remain. Journal publishing has been evolving at a more rapid pace, but as long as publication is part of the promotion and tenure process, there will need to be some outlet and someone to prepare and manage that content. We have seen a move from print to electronic, more open access requirements, and a change in how journal content is accessed, and I’m sure we will continue to see more changes. The challenge is to adapt and still maintain the integrity and accessibility of the content.
Considering all you have learned and skills that you have developed across the many professional activities and various positions that you have held, what do you consider as most important to pass along to folks who are just now entering the profession?
My “words of wisdom” to share, which come from my personal experiences and from my point of view, have been valuable to me throughout my career. Stay open to new possibilities. I think that people with a rigid professional plan may miss out on some great opportunities. It is good to have a plan, I don’t mean that there shouldn’t be a plan, but what I am suggesting is that people not have blinders that prevent them from seeing other possibilities. I think we all come to realize that we can learn how to do just about anything in or related to our interests, if we want to. I know sometimes fear holds us back, but my mantra when looking at new opportunities has become: What is the worst thing that could happen? If it would not result in death, then don’t be afraid to give it a try! This philosophy gave me the courage to take jobs where I knew I would have a learning curve, to move across the country to start a doctoral program, and to branch out from the classroom.
I also think it is important to know the history of the people and events in the field that came before us; too often that information is not provided in higher education programs and that leaves a major gap in a person’s professional preparation. Knowing who the players were, what issues were faced, and what steps were taken can help guide us as we continue to move forward. While I was at UNM, Deb provided us with opportunities to meet many people in the field—Sam Kirk, Lloyd Dunn, Tom Lovitt, Tanis Bryan, Norris Haring, Sidney Bijou, and the list goes on. I also met Don Hammill for the first time while I was a student—a fortuitous introduction!
Finally, network, network, network. Collaborate with colleagues, especially with those who complement your skills; join professional organizations related to your field; and attend and participate in professional meetings and conferences. Many of my opportunities came because of people I had met or worked with. You just never know when or how people will circle back into your life.
As you reflect on your rich career, what advice would you give to that 19-year-old teacher you once were back in Ohio?
The challenges of teaching that first year made a great impression on me; I remember the students’ names and faces to this day—the silly grins, the tantrums, the dancing to the Monkees’ music (their favorite)! Maybe because I was so young, or maybe because I had a supportive family, I was a bit idealistic—kids should have parents who care for them, 6 year olds should not die from health problems, parents should have sufficient income to provide for their families.
After all these years I guess I am not ready to give up that idealism. There are many ways we can contribute, whether in the education or philanthropic realm, you just need to be open and see where your path leads.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.