Valerie Helgren-Lempesis, EdD Faculty Profile

Photo of Valerie Helgren-Lempesis

Valerie  Helgren-Lempesis, EdD

Associate Professor, Graduate Program Coordinator for Masters in Early Childhood Education, Graduate Program Coordinator for Masters in Curriculum

Department of Teacher Education

Ed.D., Reading & Varying Exceptionalities, University of Miami, 1984

M.Ed., Reading Clinician, University of Miami, 1978

B.S., Education, Barry University, 1977

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Graduate Coordinator of MS in Education Programs, Department of Teacher Education,    California State University, East Bay 9/2004-present 

Honor's Program Coordinator & Presidential Scholars   California State University, East Bay 9/1999-6/2002

CSU Chancellor's Teacher Preparation Scholar, Co-Team Leader   Chancellor's Office, Long Beach, 9/1998-6/1999

Coordinator, GS 1000 University Freshman Program  California State University, East Bay 9/1995- 6/1997

Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education  California State University, East Bay 6/1991-present

Assistant Professor, Department of Teacher Education,  California State University, East Bay 9/1985   

CAR, Center for the Advancement of Reading.  CSU system-wide committee sponsored by the Chancellor's office to promote literacy development in P-22 system.  I serve on the Advisory Board and as the CSU East Bay representative.  We meet 6-8 times during the academic year to work on special projects, interface with California public school officials and offices, plan the annual research conference and draft state documents relevant to literacy. 9/2002-present. 

HIRE, Human Investment Research and Education.  Served as a research associate with CSU HIRE center where I worked as the Education specialist on the CSU East Bay team of professionals. Some of the projects included recruitment of minority candidates through a grant and Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) and working with the Economics Department on campus to create materials to make the concepts of Economics more accessible for non-native speakers of English and the Learning Disabled.  9/2001-6/2005

  • BS 1977 Barry University
  • MEd 1978 University of Miami
  • EdD 1984 University of Miami
Spring Semester 2024
Course #SecCourse TitleDaysFromToLocationCampus
TED 60301Prof Resrch Sem IIIW5:00PM5:50PMWEB-SYNCHOnline Campus

Lempesis-Helgren, Valerie (2003). Accessing the Food Court Unit for PBL for Teaching High School Seniors Economics. Buck Institute Publication.

Lempesis-Helgren, Valerie (2002, 2008). Preparing Teachers to Teach Reading Effectively. CSU Chancellor's Office. Contributor.

Lempesis-Helgren, Valerie (1993 Winter). Primary Picture Book Review. California Reader.

Lempesis-Helgren, Valerie (1990-1995, 2000-2003, 2007). Reviewer for Textbooks, Chapters, & Prospectus. Books. Allyn & Bacon/Merrill Publishing Co.

Lempesis-Helgren, Valerie (1986). An Analysis of Alternate Forms of Reliability. Reading Research Quarterly. Vol. 21, 1986.

Presenter and planner of the annual research conference, September 1, 2002, CA, CAR, Center for the Advancement of Reading

CSUEB Early Childhood Education Minor and Human Development Course Modification, First 5 Contra Costa, , , Received December 12, 2005, $17,719.00, For August 2, 2005 to June 1, 2006,

Teacher Education faculty member

Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Teacher Education

Sequoia Union High School District Project Member

CAR, Center for the Advancement of Reading Advisory Board and as the CSU East Bay representative

HIRE, Human Investment Research and Education Research Associate and Education specialist

SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES

 BPECE, Baccalaureate Pathways to Early Care and Education. 

Sponsored by a grant from the Hewlett Packard Foundation, this CSU system-wide committee's charge is to create competencies for Preschool Teachers in the state of California.  I am the only Teacher Education faculty member on this committee comprised of professors from Human Development from each of the 23 CSU campuses.  The group met six times during the first  year, and now monthly to complete the work on the preschool competencies, models for educating preschool teachers, foundations for learning, and Community College Articulation Project (CAP).  9/2007-present.  

MS in Education, Option in Early Childhood Education, Minor in Early Childhood Education, & Scholarship Support for Students.  Serve as Co-PI for 4 contracts sponsored by First 5 of Contra Costa County and Every Child Counts, First 5 of Alameda County.  Specifically, my role is the creation of a new Master's degree and minor in Early Childhood Education for CSU East Bay and to interface with the Human Development Department and on-campus Student and Academic Services on campus.  9/2005-present

Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Teacher Education.  Responsible for all options and special partnerships for the MS in Education in the Department.  Partnerships include Every Child Counts, First 5 of Alameda County, First 5 of Contra Costa County, Edward Teller Educational Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Chinese Heritage Language Programs, CA Reading Certificate, CA Reading Credential, Sequoia High School District program, and other community agencies.  Coordinator duties also include creation of four-quarter schedules, hiring of lecturers, creation of all university documents related to graduate work, advising of over 400 students and interfacing with other offices and departments both on and off campus. 9/2004-present. 

Sequoia Union High School District Project.  Worked with district to create and deliver a K-12  Reading Certificate and MS in Education, Option in Reading Instruction degree to 23 high school subject matter teachers.  Special program emphasis on meeting the needs of low- performing high school students while offering classes face-to-face and online.  MS program culminated in Summer Reading Clinic held on the campus of CSU East Bay, where high school teachers tutored individual students daily for 6 weeks based on a diagnostic battery of Reading and Language Arts Assessments.  9/ 2004-8/2005

 CAR, Center for the Advancement of Reading.  CSU system-wide committee sponsored by the Chancellor's office to promote literacy development in P-22 system.  I serve on the Advisory Board and as the CSU East Bay representative.  We meet 6-8 times during the academic year to work on special projects, interface with California public school officials and offices, plan the annual research conference and draft state documents relevant to literacy. 9/2002-present.

HIRE, Human Investment Research and Education.  Served as a research associate with CSU HIRE center where I worked as the Education specialist on the CSU East Bay team of professionals. Some of the projects included recruitment of minority candidates through a grant and Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) and working with the Economics Department on campus to create materials to make the concepts of Economics more accessible for non-native speakers of English and the Learning Disabled.  9/2001-6/2005