Teresa M. Bergeson (born October 5, 1942) is a former three-term
Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Biography
Dr. Bergeson graduated from
Emmanuel College in 1964 with a B.A. in English. In 1969, she earned a master's degree in counseling and guidance from
Western Michigan University. She earned her doctoral degree from the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
.
Bergeson worked as a counselor at
Lincoln High School in
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...
, and as a teacher and
guidance counselor in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
. During this period Bergeson served as chair of the
National Education Association
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...
's Women's Caucus and implemented their National Women's Leadership Training Project. In 1981 Bergeson was elected vice-president of the
Washington Education Association, and in 1985 she was elected president.
In 1989, she was hired as an executive director in the
Central Kitsap School District where she had a supervisory role over 9 of the 21 schools in the district. From 1993 to 1996, Bergeson was the executive director of the Washington State Commission on Student Learning, in which capacity she led the development of
statewide standards for students, as well as the
Washington Assessment of Student Learning.
In 1996, Bergeson launched her first successful bid for the non-partisan office of
Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction. She was re-elected in 2000 and 2004. As superintendent Bergeson led further development of statewide standards and
standardized test
A standardized test is a Test (assessment), test that is administered and scored in a consistent or standard manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored ...
s, particularly after the Commission on Student Learning was dissolved in 1999.
A Brief History of Essential Academic Learning Requirements and the Washington Assessment of Student Learning
.'' Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved 2/19/08.
In 2008, Bergeson was defeated in her run for a fourth term as Superintendent of Public Instruction by challenger
Randy Dorn.
See also
*
Washington Assessment of Student Learning
Notes
External links
*Bergeson, T. (n.d.
By the Numbers: Rising Student Achievement in Washington StateNew Horizons for Learning website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergeson, Terry
Living people
American educational reformers
20th-century American educators
Western Michigan University alumni
Washington (state) superintendents of public instruction
University of Washington College of Education alumni
National Education Association people
Women in Washington (state) politics
1942 births
21st-century American women
20th-century American women educators
Emmanuel College (Massachusetts) alumni