January 11, 2017
Gulay Maffia
Hackettstown, N.J., January 11, 2017 – Gulay Maffia, a student in the new Educational Leadership Doctorate program at Centenary University, recently passed her qualifying exam for the National Certification for Educational Diagnosticians credential (NCED).
This is the premier national credential for special education assessment professionals who hold high standards of practice. Maffia currently serves as Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant at Sparta Middle School.
According to the Assessment for Effective Intervention Journal (2008), “more than an ideal, professionalism, as symbolized in the NCED, should inspire diagnosticians who hold this credential to provide the high quality assessment and instruction that students with disabilities need.”
The benefits of obtaining this credential includes exposing the practitioner with current trends and issues in the field of assessment. It represents highly qualified status as an assessment professional and assures parents and school officials of rigorous standards for practice.
“I am so pleased that one of our own has attained the NCED credential,” says Dr. Timothy Frederiks, Chair of the Education Department and Assistant Professor of Education. “Very few practicing education services professionals in New Jersey hold this prestigious certification.”
Maffia, who will earn her Ed.D. in 2019, claims that the teaching that she has been exposed to during this program helped prepare her for the examination including the vigorous exploration of the subject matter of conflict management and communications.
She is a member of the Child Study Team and the Intervention and Referral Committee at Sparta Middle School and makes it her goal to be a positive role model as a lifelong learner.
“I am very happy in my current position at Sparta Middle School,” says Maffia. “The district is a very supportive learning environment. As a result, it has made it much more achievable to pursue my doctorate degree at Centenary and obtain the NCED certification.”
Founded in 1867 by the Newark Conference of the United Methodist Church, Centenary University is an independent, coeducational liberal arts and career studies university distinguished by an accomplished faculty, small class size and diverse student body. Centenary is the only baccalaureate and master’s degree granting institution in northwest New Jersey.
Centenary University’s main campus is located in Hackettstown, N.J., with its equestrian facility in Washington Township (Morris County). The Centenary University School of Professional Studies offers degree programs in two locations: Parsippany and Edison, and at corporate sites throughout New Jersey. The School of International Programs recruits international students for study at Centenary and Centenary students for study abroad.
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