DR. BARBARA J. HELMS, TREASURER Barbara J. Helms is a Senior Research Associate in the Education Development Center, Inc. Center for Children & Families. She provides her expertise in qualitative and quantitative research, program evaluation and accountability to research in professional development in early childhood education. Dr. Helms has more than two decades of experience conducting research-most recently on issues affecting K-12 education. She has extensive research and evaluation experience and has conducted multi-year evaluations of state and federally funded grants awarded to urban school districts. Dr. Helms is an expert on the use of instruments and methodologies that gauge student achievement and other indicators of school progress. She was a Mary E. Switzer Distinguished Research Fellow and has served NERA in many capacities including President and recipient of the Leo D. Doherty Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service and the Lorne H. Woollatt Distinguished Paper Award. She holds a doctorate in Educational Evaluation and Measurement and a master's degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut and a bachelor's degree from Central Connecticut State University.