Author: Erin Goodman

Bridget Johnson

Specialist for State Projects
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Bridget Johnson joined the SERVE Center as a Specialist for State Projects in April 2020. She originally split her time between the Region 6 Comprehensive Center (RC6) and projects supporting the NC Department of Public Instruction. Bridget comes to SERVE with 19 years in public school positions including classroom teacher, assistant principal, and principal. Most recently Bridget served as the K-12 Director for Curriculum and Instruction for Moore County Schools. She holds a bachelor’s from Purdue University, a master’s in School Administration from UNC-Pembroke, and in 2019, completed a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership from East Carolina University.

Bridget’s strengths and passion include planning and delivering high quality professional development. Specifically, she enjoys helping teachers and administrators through school improvement planning, establishing effective PLC practices, and implementing research-based early literacy practices. Bridget has served as a district MTSS coordinator and has served on numerous regional and state level committees.

Bridget is the mother of three school-aged girls and is married to Steve, who also works at SERVE as a STEM Specialist. The family most enjoys spending time together playing games, watching movies, and traveling to see extended family in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

Bryan Hutchins, Ph.D.

Dr. Bryan Hutchins is a Research Specialist at SERVE Center where he has served as a PI or Project Director on a number of evaluation and research studies, including those related to high school reform and the transition to adulthood. Dr. Hutchins was co-PI for an evaluation of the NC DPI Read to Achieve Program, as well as project manager for the NC DPI Race to the Top Omnibus Survey. Dr. Hutchins currently provides analysis and data management support for an Investing in Innovation (i3) project designed to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of programs applying early college strategies in traditional high schools. He also serves as Project Director for an evaluation of an NSF grant program designed to improve outcomes for computer science majors. Dr. Hutchins serves as a statistical consultant on UNCG’s Project ENACTeD (Engaging and Advancing Community-Centered Teacher Development), which provides supports to teachers working with English learners and their families. Before coming to SERVE, Dr. Hutchins served as Project Director on the Rural High School Aspirations Study at the National Research Center on Rural Education Support.

Across these studies, Dr. Hutchins provides design and analysis support as well as day-to-day project and data management for complex state and national research and evaluation studies. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Measurement, and Evaluation from UNC-Chapel Hill. His research interests include rural education, high school reform, and career development programs and services. His research has appeared in a number of recent publications including: American Journal of Education, Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, and The Career Development Quarterly. Dr. Hutchins has also taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in child and adolescent development, psychology of learning in the schools, and methods in educational research.

George Hancock

George joined the team at SERVE in 2015. His work in education includes the areas of technical assistance, policy development, and inter-organizational collaboration. After beginning his career as a teacher and principal, he served as a federal programs administrator and State Coordinator for School Improvement Grants (SIG) at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. He and his family enjoy traveling, attending athletic and music events, and look forward to ski season each year – although gravity is not always his friend!

Erin Goodman

Erin Goodman joined the SERVE Center as administrative support in 2018. She currently works with Operations and NCHEP and assists as she can with anything else that comes up. Before starting at SERVE she did temp work with UNCG’s Donor Relations, worked as an assistant manager at a local restaurant, learned to quilt as part of her job at a fabric shop, and taught English to high school kids in Japan for three amazing years. She still occasionally expects the steering wheel to be on the right side of the car and enjoys tennis, short hikes, and curling up on the couch with a good book.

Eric Grebing, Ph.D.

Eric Grebing is a Project Director and has been on the SERVE team since June 2016. His projects involve management, research, evaluation, data analysis, and consulting for various educational inititatives, including SERVE’s Early College Research Center. Eric also served as co-director of the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) and worked on various projects with the Region 6 Comprehensive Center before those programs wrapped. Before joining SERVE, Eric taught high school math and science and led research and development at an education non-profit, both in North Carolina. Drawing from these experiences, Eric enjoys helping teams make and understand their impact through data utilization/visualization, program evaluation, and technical assistance to improve educational outcomes for all students. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Concordia University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis from North Carolina State University. Eric also holds a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute.

Julie Edmunds, Ph.D.

Dr. Julie Edmunds is Director of the Early College Research Center at SERVE, where she leads a team doing research on the early college model and related topics. She has been studying early college and dual enrollment for almost 20 years; her research includes a 17-year experimental study of the impact of early colleges and evaluations of multiple large-scale efforts across the country to apply early college principles to traditional high schools. She is also Principal Investigator of a $5 million grant examining the impact, implementation, and cost of North Carolina’s dual enrollment program, as well as a grant examining the transferability of college credits earned in high school. Dr. Edmunds additionally conducts evaluation and research on other school improvement topics using designs ranging from randomized controlled trials to developmental, formative approaches. She has published multiple award-winning articles and has written, with colleagues, a book on Early Colleges as a Model for Schooling.

Samantha Durrance

Program Specialist
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Samantha Durrance originally joined the SERVE Center in February 2022 as a Program Specialist for the Region 6 Comprehensive Center. After the RC6 ended, she continued in her specialist role with various other projects. Prior to joining SERVE, Samantha was a Policy Analyst at the Southern Regional Education Board, where she gained a great deal of knowledge about early literacy and dyslexia. She has been involved in several state task forces and committees related to dyslexia policy. Her current professional expertise includes policy research and analyzing the implementation of state initiatives. In another life, Samantha served as a Student Support Team Coordinator at an elementary school and an eighth grade mathematics teacher at a middle school, both in Georgia. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from Emory University and a Master of Public Policy from Georgia State University.

Samantha currently lives in Texas with her husband, Matthew, and their son, James. They enjoy exploring local playgrounds and spending time together as a family. In the event that she has free time, Samantha enjoys working on home improvement projects, watching shows, and playing video games.

Don Doggett

Specialist for State Projects
Phone: 803-269-7857
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Don D. Doggett joined the SERVE Center in October 2019 as the Region 6 Comprehensive Center SEA Principal Liaison for South Carolina. After RC6 ended, he continued as a specialist for state projects. Prior to joining SERVE, Don worked as a Superintendent of Schools, served as a Senior Technical Assistance Consultant at SEDL at the American Institutes for Research, and served as the Director of an Early Head Start Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) Grant. A former state turnaround principal of two elementary schools, Don worked in urban and rural parts of South Carolina. Don’s interests include leadership development, school improvement, school turnaround, reading and literacy, data-driven decision-making, change process, professional learning communities, technology, and family and community engagement.

Tina Danner-Groves

Operations Support Specialist
Phone: 336-334-3875
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Tina Danner-Groves joined the SERVE Center as Operations Support Specialist in April 2020. Before starting at SERVE, Tina worked as a project manager for a National Science Foundation grant (focusing on out-of-school STEM experiences and their effects on youth STEM identity) in the UNCG School of Education, an administrative assistant for the UNCG Educational Research Methodology Department, and as an educator, serving as a GED Coordinator for a Department of Labor grant (juvenile justice rehabilitation and job training) in Tampa, Florida. Although her career path has led away from the classroom and toward more supportive roles, education is her passion, and Tina enjoys providing support for those who strive to make education better and accessible for all.

When she’s not working, Tina enjoys spending time with her wife and three cats, taking pictures of local flora and fauna, and curling up with a good book or video game.

Curtis Burgins

Communication Specialist
Phone: 336-315-7443
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Curtis Burgins joined SERVE, Inc. as Technology Support Manager in October 2020. In 2022, he moved to the SERVE Center side of things as a Communication Specialist. Before starting at SERVE, Curtis worked as a senior Technical Support Engineer for Dell EMC, where he provided technical administration and problem resolution for issues in customer environments. He was a student athlete at North Carolina A&T State University, where he was just recently inducted into the school’s Sports Hall of Fall for his accomplishments on the football field. In his time off, he enjoys playing golf, watching sports, and spending time with his two kids.