Staff Biographies
Patricia J. Lear, M. Ed.
Patti Lear is the founder and owner of the Lear Educational Center, which provides remediation and compensatory skill instruction to children, adolescents and adults.
She has specialized for many years in working with children having mild to severe disabilities in the areas of auditory/language processing learning disorders and ADD/ADHD. Coaching behavior modification and parenting skills plays a major part of her continued interest in education. She is a graduate of East Stroudsburg University where she received both her Bachelor and Masters degrees in Special Education.
Ms. Lear has instructed as an adjunct professor at Northampton Community College for special education and allied health departments since leaving the public school sector. In addition to teaching, she continues to design and implement new courses to further the education of students who strive to improve their knowledge in supporting our children. She has had various affiliations with numerous organizations and has presented lectures at the state level for the Council for Exceptional children and the Learning Disabilities Associations of the Lehigh Valley. Ms Lear has served as past president for the local chapter of the Council of Exceptional Children and has served on the board of the Learning disabilities association of the Lehigh Valley. Ms. Lear has testified at the Local, State and Federal level as an expert witness in the area of Special Education.
Elizabeth Dowty
Elizabeth Dowty is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington with a Dual Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and Special Education K-8. She taught for twenty-six years in the public school systems of Maine teaching children in early childhood classrooms, special education programs and specialized reading instruction. She has a wide range of experiences with children including assessment, individualized planning and delivery of instruction to children in resource rooms and Title 1 Reading as well as regular classrooms.
During her career in public schools, she was a supervising/mentor teacher for the University of Maine at Farmington practicum and student teachers. She participated in an internship program with Nancy Atwell's Center for Teaching and Learning and was instrumental in developing and implementing a grade 1-4 multiage curriculum. Most recently she completed coursework on literacy assessment and strategies for reading instruction.
She has worked extensively with parents to develop and deliver the programs that meet the needs of each student. Her understanding of the learning process enables her to identify the approach to learning best suited for the individual child. Throughout her career she has valued the important relationship that exists between parents and a child's teacher. She has successfully reached children who otherwise would have struggled with learning. Her educational philosophy is that "every child has the ability to learn." By fostering a desire to learn, parents and teachers as a team, can truly change the lives of children.
Jessica Erschen Devlin, M. Ed.
Jessica Erschen Devlin, earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. Upon graduation from Penn State, Ms. Devlin went on to complete a non-degree Speech-Language-Pathology program at La Salle University. This program developed her knowledge and refined her skills necessary for working with students in the public and private school system that enter the classroom with deficiencies in speech and language. After completing the Speech-Language-Pathology program, Ms. Devlin continued her education to earn her Master's Degree in Education and her Elementary Certification from Cedar Crest College.
Prior to joining the staff at Lear Educational Center, Ms. Devlin spent nine years working as a nanny to families in the Lehigh Valley. Ms. Devlin's experience raising children from birth through 13 years of age has had a large influence on her desire to educate and enhance the lives of children. According to Ms. Devlin, "one of the most important things that I have taken away from my time spent as a nanny is how different each and every child truly is. As an educator it is important to remember that these differences affect the way in which children learn and in order to reach their full potential we must employ strategies that are tailored to each child, hence the work we do here at Lear Educational."
When she isn't teaching at Lear Educational, Ms. Devlin works as a Reading Intervention Teacher in a parochial school in Bethlehem, PA where she provides remediation to students in grades pre-kindergarten through first grade.
Ms. Devlin has a clear enthusiasm for working with children as is evidenced by her commitment to the work she performs at Lear Educational and to her role as a Reading Intervention Teacher. Her academic pedigree is a testament to her passion for continued self-development. She intends to enhance her potential in the classroom by pursuing her Reading Specialist Certification.
