1. Lilla Dale McManis
LILLA DALE McMANIS, M.Ed, Ph.D.
Corporate Office
Hatch Early Childhood, Inc. 6772 Hare Run Lane
301 N. Main Street, Suite 101 Arlington, TN 38002
Winston-Salem, NC 27101 Office: 901-386-3152
Cell: 713-647-1247 Cell: 713-647-1247
Education
• Ph.D., Educational Psychology: Learning and Cognition, University of Florida, 1996. Dissertation: Relationships
between Verbal Cognitive Functioning, Child Stress, and Parenting Stress in Low-Income Preschoolers.
• M.Ed., Special Education: Interrelated Exceptionalities, University of Georgia, 1984.
• B.S., Child Development, University of Georgia, 1983.
Educational Product Development
Research Director 2011-Present
Product Development Research Specialist 2008-2011
Hatch Early Childhood, Inc.
• Currently serving as Research Director and formerly Product Development Research Specialist for the Product
Development Department. Activities and projects include reviewing and writing literature reviews and briefs in the
areas of early childhood education, educational psychology, instruction, and educational technology in order to
inform product development, sales, and marketing; developing the research-based components of products;
developing content training related to products; facilitating accreditation and applications for awards for products
and professional development; conducting market analyses of competitors; overseeing the Research component of
the Hatch website, including on-line/web-based users’ community to support professional development; and
designing and implementing original research studies for Hatch products; and submitting and presenting at
conferences.
Research and Management Experience
Faculty Instructor and Manager 2004-2008
University of Texas-Houston: Children’s Learning Institute and Texas State Center for Early Childhood Development
• Management position on the development, piloting, and technical management of a state-wide school readiness
quality rating system for early childhood education programs, serving as liaison with outside assessment consultant
firm on the cognitive testing of preschoolers across multiple projects, coordinating informed consent approval through
IRB for multiple projects, writing reports for state and foundation funders, participating in writing and reviewing
grants, writing RFAs, conducting focus group research, and serving as supervisor to 10 RAs.
Faculty Associate and Associate Project Director 2001-2004
University of Texas at Houston: School of Public Health: Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research
• Management position overseeing activities for the field implementation of Healthy Passages,
a large multi-site community-based longitudinal study of child health with a focus on risk and resilience, funded by the
Centers for Disease Control, with responsibility for coordinating and overseeing fielding the study with children and
parents, development of study materials including recruitment and consent, supervising core staff and data collectors,
hiring and training staff, involvement in process evaluation, coordinating activities of the Physical Activity and
Nutrition and Biologic Working Group, and serving as a member of the School Working Group of Healthy Passages,
whose main mission is to explore the role of school in children’s lives.
Deputy Director for Project Management 2000-2001
Project Manager for Adolescent and School Health 1999-2001
Massachusetts Department of Public Health: Bureau of Family and Community Health: Office of Statistics and
Evaluation
• Deputy Director: Senior management position overseeing the data analysis, research, and
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evaluation activities for the Bureau of Family and Community Health. Supervised a large staff, led a strategic
planning initiative in the Office of Statistics and Evaluation, worked with the MIS/IT Deputy Director, and
coordinated the design and implementation of evaluation and research activities for the Divisions of Maternal and
Child Health, Health Promotion, Special Health Needs, and Nutrition.
• Project Manager: Senior management position with responsibility for the Management
Information Systems (MIS) and data analysis, research, and evaluation activities for the approximately 30 million
dollar Adolescent and School Health programs in the Division of Maternal and Child Health. Directly supervised a
staff of 15, oversaw the management and development activities of the MIS, and coordinated and conducted evaluation
and research activities.
Evaluation Director 1997-1999
Massachusetts Department of Education: Assessment and Evaluation Unit and Learning Support Services Unit
• Conducted the state level evaluation of the 25 million dollar Department of Education
Comprehensive School Health Education programs. Designed and implemented evaluation studies to determine
relationships between program practices and reductions in the adolescent student risk behaviors of tobacco use, alcohol
use, drug use, and violence.
• Served as project leader and writer of the state Health Curriculum Framework representing
the learning standards that students must meet and that directed the teaching of health education for all
Massachusetts’s students.
• Served as project leader for Health and Academics Kit project to develop an advocacy and
technical assistance tool for use by school health personnel for understanding the relationships between health and
learning and the contribution of comprehensive school health in enhancing school performance through the reduction
of risk behaviors.
Evaluation Director and Lead Evaluator 1992-1994
Alachua County School System Head Start Program: Gainesville, Florida
• Conducted national and local evaluation using quantitative and qualitative methodology for a
three-year 3 million dollar demonstration program to implement case managed services for parents of Head Start
children. Participated in national and local evaluation, carried out random selection and assignment of subjects,
developed summative and formative evaluation instruments, data collection, supervised data collection, data analyses,
presented results from data analyses, and worked with case managers and project director to best meet the program
goals for Head Start families.
Teaching Experience
Post-Secondary
Instructor 1989-1992, 1994
University of Florida: College of Education: Foundations Department: Gainesville, Florida
• Taught Child Development, Human Growth and Development, and Learning and Cognition to
undergraduate and masters level students. Most courses were for prospective teachers and included hands-on
tutoring to implement practices learned in class. Lectured in development and learning and cognition to be
applied in the classroom setting with an emphasis on meeting students' needs and evaluation of learning,
delivered feedback on competencies in major areas of child development and human growth and development
carried out in students' placements, and worked individually with students regarding their coursework and
student teaching assignments.
Public School
Education and Academic Coordinator 1996
Gainesville-Ocala Marine Institute: Micanopy, Florida
• Served as Education and Academic Coordinator for behavior modification oriented, education day treatment
program for court ordered adolescents. Conducted academic and ability testing of all incoming students and
coordinating special education services for students, oversaw and developed academic and educational curricula,
worked with staff to develop appropriate lesson plans, implementation of teaching principals and methods, and
assessment of student progress in the classroom setting, participated in the development of appropriate placement of
students in transitioning from the program, promoted the relationship with the regular school system, made decisions
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regarding academic and educational materials and tools, prepared for state evaluation, and carried out academic
instruction and counseling.
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Interrelated Exceptionalities Resource Teacher 1984-1989
Fulton County School System: Atlanta, Georgia and Polk County School System: Lakeland, Florida
• Taught grades K-12 special education students in the areas of learning disabilities, mental retardation, and
behavior/emotional disorders. Served on school committees to determine appropriateness of referral for special
education, conducted and interpreted ability and achievement testing of current and referred students, prepared
Individualized Educational Plans, instructed in all subjects, worked closely with classroom teachers, and coordinated
and led staffings with parents, administrators, and faculty.
Program Development 1993
Santa Fe Community College: Gainesville, Florida
• Consultation to develop a program to identify and assess college prep students with possible learning problems,
and to implement and evaluate workshops for such students at the community college level. Development activities
included test battery development, procedure for faculty referrals, process for screening and testing, and structure of
psychological reports. Additionally, designed, implemented, and evaluated workshops for college prep underachieving
students.
Presentations
Texas School Readiness Certification System. Poster presented at the National Association for the Education
of Young Children Conference, New Orleans, LA, June 2008.
Texas School Readiness Certification System. Workshop at the National Association of Workforce Boards
Conference, Washington, DC, March 2007.
Texas School Readiness Certification System. Workshop at the P-16 Regional Council Institute Conference,
Austin, TX, November 2006
School-Based Health Centers: An Essential Service for Students. Poster presented at the American Public
Health Association meeting, Boston, MA, November 2000.
Enhanced School Health Services Programs. Poster presented at the American Public Health Association
meeting, Boston, MA, November 2000.
Success with Numbers. Workshop given at the Best Practices: Teen Pregnancy Prevention Conference,
Worcester, MA, May 2000.
Use of State Collaborative Assessment System-Health. Presentation given at the Second Annual Meeting of
Vocational Technical Health Educators, Falmouth, MA, May, 1999.
Massachusetts Department of Education Health Protection Evaluation Year IV. Talk given at the National
Council for Chief State School Officers State Collaborative Assessment meeting, Atlanta, GA, March,
1998.
Pre-Post Differences in Literacy and Employability in Head Start Parents. Poster presented at the National
Evaluation of Head Start Family Services Centers meeting, Washington, DC, March, 1994.
Reports and Publications
McManis, L.D. English Language Learners: Research, Best Practices, and Educational Technology. White Paper:
Hatch Early Childhood, Winston-Salem, NC, 2011.
McManis, L.D., McManis, M.H., Gunnewig, S.B. Relationship of the TeachSmart® Learning System with Literacy and
Mathematics Outcomes for Preschoolers. Research Report: Hatch Early Childhood, Winston-Salem, NC, 2010.
McManis, L.D. Making the Connection: The Power of Educational Technology in the Early Childhood
Education Setting. White Paper: Hatch Early Childhood, Winston-Salem, NC, April, 2008; 2010.
Landry, S., Swank, P., Anthony, J. L., Assel, M., Gunnewig, S., & McManis, L.D.. An Experimental
Study Evaluating a State Funded Pre-Kindergarten Program: Bringing Together Subsidized Childcare,
Public School, and Head Start. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. In press.
McManis, L.D. Quality Rating Systems in Early Childhood Education. White Paper: State Center for Early
Child Development, Houston, TX, December, 2008.
McManis, L.D. Current State of Affairs in Early Childhood. White Paper: State Center for Early Child
Development, Houston, TX, May, 2008.
State Center for Early Childhood Development (McManis, L.D.). Texas Legislature Senate Bill 23 Report
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Texas Early Education Model (Teem School Readiness):Certifying Higher Levels of School Readiness In
Cost Effective Ways. Houston, TX, September, 2007
State Center for Early Childhood Development (McManis, L.D.). Senate Bill 76 Texas Early Education
Model (Teem): Improving School Readiness And Increasing Access To Child Care For Texas –Year 2
Findings. Houston, TX, May 2005.
State Center for Early Childhood Development (McManis, L.D.). The Report of the State Center for Early
Childhood Development Advisory Committee on Senate Bill 76: Feasibility of Coordinating Government-
Funded Child-Care Programs in a Manner that Promotes Access to Child-Care Programs and Results in
Improved School Readiness. Houston, TX, September, 2004.
McManis, L.D., Inman, R., Biswas, M., Wong, N. Suicide Risk Identification in School-Based Health
Clinics. White Paper, 2004.
Wong, N., Berube, R., McManis, L.D. Massachusetts Adolescent Births, 1999. Boston, MA: Massachusetts
Department of Public Health, February 2001.
Berube, R., McManis, L.D. Supplement to Massachusetts Adolescent Births, 1999. Boston, MA:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health, April 2001.
Berube, R., McManis, L.D., Wong, N. The Challenge Fund Teen Pregnancy Prevention Statewide Annual
Report, 1998-1999. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, March 2001.
Lovering, R., McManis, L.D., Inman, R. Annual Report of Massachusetts School-Based Health Centers-
1999. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, May 2001.
McManis, D., Sorensen, L.D. The Role of Comprehensive School Health Education Programs in the Link
between Health and Learning: A Literature Review. Malden, MA: Massachusetts Department of
Education, 2000.
McManis, L.D., Symons, R., Brown, E., Harris, S.K. The Challenge Fund Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Statewide Annual Report, 1996-1997. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2000.
Wong, N., Berube, R., McManis, L.D. Massachusetts Adolescents Births, 1998. Boston, MA: Massachusetts
Department of Public Health, 1999.
Berube, R., Wong, N., McManis, L.D. Supplement to Massachusetts Adolescent Births, 1998. Boston, MA:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 1999.
McManis, L.D. Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Education Curriculum Framework. Malden, MA:
Massachusetts Department of Education, 1999.
McManis, D. Second Annual Status Report on School-Based Tobacco Control Programs. Malden, MA:
Massachusetts Department of Education, 1999.
McManis, L.D. Year V Evaluation of the Health Protection Fund. Malden, MA: Massachusetts Department
of Education, 1999.
McManis, L.D. Year IV Evaluation of the Health Protection Fund. Malden, MA: Massachusetts Department
of Education, 1998.
McManis, L.D. Status Report on School-Based Tobacco Control Programs. Malden, MA: Massachusetts
Department of Education, 1997.
McManis, L.D. Head Start Family Services Center Demonstration Project Final Report. Gainesville, FL:
Alachua County School System, 1994.
Organizations
Golden Key National Honor Society
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Phi Lamda Theta Honor Society
Parent-Teacher Association
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