Lisa Backer
Minnesota Department of Education, Early Childhood Special Education Specialist
Lisa has more than 20 years of experience working at multiple levels of the early childhood special education system in Minnesota and is excited put that wealth of practical experience to work as a member of the DEC Board of Directors. Having launched the youngest of her three children into the adult world, she now has time, energy and a strong desire to serve.
Early in her career, Lisa worked to provide support and information for families of infants and toddlers with disabilities through a county-based home visiting program. That experience established passion for the field and a keen awareness of her need for additional professional training. After completing her Early Childhood Special Education credential she became a teacher in a Minnesota school district, working to establish a literature-based curriculum with a meaningful scope and sequence and build the district’s capacity for meaningful inclusion of young children with disabilities in community-based settings.
The successes of her early efforts lead to an opportunity to serve in an early childhood administrative capacity for a public Special Education Cooperative of 7 districts. She again distinguished herself and was encouraged to apply for a state-level position. Lisa joined the staff of the Minnesota Department of Education in 2000 and has adopted a personal philosophy of servant leadership. Lisa serves as Minnesota’s 619 Coordinator and Part C Data Manager. Her professional priorities include:
- Increasing statewide capacity for young children with disabilities to be active and successful participants in early care and education programs;
- The development of state system to collect, analyze and use data, including child and family outcome data, to inform intervention, professional develop and resource allocation.
- Establishing a supportive community among Minnesota’s ECSE leaders.
- Developing and implementing state policies that result in a strong, responsible system to meet the needs of the state’s youngest learners with disabilities and their families.
Lisa is currently a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota within the college of Education Policy and Administration. Her dissertation focuses on the use of state date to identify indicators of ECSE program effectiveness. She plans to successfully defend her dissertation in 2009.
Lisa.backer@state.mn.us
651-582-8473
