ABOUT US

IDEAL Consulting Services, Inc. is committed to helping school personnel use scientifically based principles and practices to assess and teach the following skills:

-Phonological Awareness
-Alphabetic Principle/Phonics
-Reading Fluency
-Reading Comprehension
-Oral Language/Vocabulary
-Written Expression & Spelling
-Social Skills

MEET OUR TEAM

Christopher Parker, Ph.D.

Company President

Dr. Parker is a recognized expert on the topics of assessment (including DIBELS™) and effective instructional practices for diverse learners. He is presently helping school systems in New England affect changes in their general education and special education approaches to students’ achievement and behavioral difficulties. In addition, he is a visiting professor in the Department of School Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he oversees project assistantships. He has a B.A. and M.A. degrees in Child Study from Tufts University, a C.A.G.S. degree is School Psychology from Northeastern University, and a Ph.D. degree in School Psychology from the University of Oregon. He is a also a Massachusetts certified early elementary education teacher and school psychologist.
Jessica Fede, Ph.D.

Lead Consultant

Jessica Fede is a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist who received her doctorate in school psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Fede also holds a Masters Degree from Boston College in Developmental and Educational Psychology and a Certification of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Administration. She presently is working on projects in Massachusetts helping districts implement Response to Intervention and problem solving teams. Furthermore, she trains and supports school personnel in analyzing DIBELS and Curriculum –Based Measurements and helps teachers tailor and modify their instruction based upon student need. In addition, Dr. Fede conducts workshops on the five essential components of reading (Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary & Comprehension) and models small group reading lessons.

Diana Malkin, M.Ed. 
Lead Consultant
Diana Malkin is a lead consultant for Ideal Consulting Services in Westport, MA. She received a M.Ed. in Learning Disabilities/E.S.L. from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.Ed. and C.A.G.S. in School Psychology from Worcester State University. Diana has worked in elementary and middle school settings in TX and MA, both as a special educator and a general educator. She spent 14 years working for a private company in public school settings on school reform efforts, and is currently a lead educational consultant for IDEAL Consulting Services, Inc. She is certified trainer for the Wilson Reading System and Fundations, AIMSweb and DIBELS Next. Her areas of expertise include: CBM assessment (including: administration, scoring, and interpretation within a problem-solving approach), the five critical components of reading (Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary & Comprehension), Targeting Skill Deficits in Struggling Readers, Intervention Planning, Differentiated Instruction and Response-to-Intervention. .
Cynthia Pirani-McGurl, Ph.D. 
Lead Consultant
Dr. Cynthia Pirani-McGurl is a Lead Educational Consultant for IDEAL Consulting Services, Inc. and is a Visiting Professor in the Special Education and Reading Specialist Programs at Fitchburg State University and University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Assessment and Literacy. At IDEAL, Dr. Pirani-McGurl assists select Massachusetts and New York school systems in designing, executing, and then sustaining research-based models of continuous literacy and behavioral improvement. Her areas of expertise include the development of system-wide improvement models (inclusive of Response to Intervention), program evaluation, employing Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM), Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) and standards-based assessments to inform universal and intervention curriculum design and instruction, the linguistic and cognitive underpinnings of early literacy acquisition, effective instructional practices for diverse learners, and the implementation of Instructional Support Teams. Dr. Pirani-McGurl has her B.A. from the University of Delaware, an M.A. and C.A.G.S. in Rehabilitation Psychology from Assumption College, and a Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Prior to and during her tenure at IDEAL Consulting Services, Dr. Pirani-McGurl has also worked in urban public school districts as a literacy interventionist, a school guidance/adjustment counselor, and a school psychologist. .