Dr. Handler provides individualized research-based programs enabling those who learn differently to gain confidence and mastery in the necessary reading, writing, spelling, listening, math, and study skills. Her extensive experience working closely with administrators, teachers, therapists and parents through her private practice enables her students to learn the habits, strategies, skills, and concepts required for mastery in school related tasks.

Education & Training

Dr. Handler began her journey in education as an undergraduate at Boston University where she majored in Elementary Education and minored in Psychology. There, she was fortunate to study the teaching of reading with Dr. Donald Durrell. She completed her studies at the university earning a Bachelor of Science degree. She was then awarded a two-year grant in New York University’s master’s program training her to teach students with emotional difficulties. From extraordinary professors, Dr. Handler gained knowledge of child development and disabilities. Her studies took a different turn when she was teaching children and adolescents in a Board of Education school at The New York State Psychiatric Institute. The school’s principal, Dr. Pearl Berkowitz, provided time for Beth to: be mentored by the outstanding Language & Learning Disabilities Specialists, Dr. Jeannette Jansky and Katrina deHirsch; attend lectures by the neurologists, Dr. Martha Denckla and Dr. Lauretta Bender; and be mentored by renowned psychiatrists, paraverbal therapists, and dance therapists. Dr. Handler, then, completed an advanced Master’s Degree in Reading while also enrolled in the Interdepartmental Program in Reading and Language for her Doctor of Education Degree at Teachers College, Columbia University. She designed and researched the curriculum for her dissertation, Effects of a Schema-Based Instructional Program on Learning-Disabled Junior High School Students’ Comprehension and Resolution of Real-Life Problems Presented in Text, resulting in students making significant gains in real-life problem-solving. Dr. Handler continued her education by attending numerous workshops and conferences to learn the best practices for teaching reading, writing, spelling, listening, math, study skills and executive functioning.

Work Experience

Dr. Handler worked at a New York City’s Public School at the New York State Psychiatric Institute for 9 years as a reading teacher, and then as a project associate training teachers and coordinating a test library at the Special Educational Instructional Center within the New York City Board of Education. While a doctoral student, Dr. Handler worked as the Program Coordinator of Education for Autistic Adolescents and instructor in the Department of Special Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition, Dr. Handler designed and implemented Conferences for Teachers College whereby she presented current curriculum practices and invited world-renowned authorities to present theories and education for Autistic individuals. She subsequently became a learning specialist and consultant at the Trinity School in New York City. While working in this capacity, Dr. Handler’s responsibilities included being a consultant to the headmaster, principals, department heads, the curriculum and admissions committees, teachers, therapists and parents. In addition, Dr. Handler provided individual and group remedial instruction to facilitate academic skills, co- coordinated a peer tutoring program for students needing foreign language help, designed and implemented a study skills program for small groups of middle school students, and was given a grant to co-write an informal reading inventory for grades 9-12 based on the Trinity curriculum. During several summers, Dr. Handler also taught remedial reading and writing in small groups. Throughout her career, Dr. Handler has provided one-to-one tutoring in her private practice and given lectures at conferences, schools of higher education, and local private schools throughout North America.

Special Projects

Dr. Handler, under the auspices of The Jewish Community Center of the Upper West Side, Manhattan, designed, developed and implemented The Gift of Literacy program at P. S 75 whereby senior citizens and middle-school students taught reading skills to first and second graders.

Dr. Handler, then, further developed her reading program using volunteer tutors under the auspices of the Churches and Synagogues of the Upper West Side at P.S. 166 to provide essential reading skills to second and third graders.

For over twenty years, Dr. Handler has been a member of the NGO Committee on Mental Health at the United Nations, New York.

Scholarships & Honors

Dr. Handler received a full scholarship for graduate training at New York University, New York, New York. She also won a full scholarship to study advanced methods of Paraverbal Therapy at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York, New York. She is a recipient of a 1996-1997 Who’s Who award in American Education and a 2019 Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Handler continues to be a member of the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society, Teachers College, Columbia University.