Ann Gordon, PhD, BCET has spent the past 35 years working in education with children and their families; supervising teachers, clinicians, and educational therapists; and conducting classroom-based research. She is a regular presenter at conferences held by the Association of Educational Therapists, gives talks to parent groups at schools and various private and public agencies, and provides both educational and psychological consultation services to students and their families. 

Ann earned her master’s degree in special education and her doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has received training in the diagnosis and treatment of organically-based learning difficulties at the Multidisciplinary Institute for Neuropsychological Development in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is a Board Certified Educational Therapist. Ann is also licensed in California as a clinical psychologist, and splits her time between her educational consulting work at Educational Services Associates (ESA) and her adult psychotherapy offices in San Rafael and Oakland.

Ann began her career in the 1970’s as a classroom teacher, and soon became interested in how best to meet the special needs of the atypical learners in her midst. Some of these students were identified as gifted, some struggled with one or more aspect of classroom learning, others faced physical or psychological difficulties, and still others found themselves dealing with multiple such challenges. Ann found many ways to address these students’ needs within the context of their regular school placement, but in cases where this did not prove to constitute sufficient support, she began to see students individually both during and after the regular school day. 

To better meet the needs of this widely diverse population of learners and their families, Ann opened Educational Services Associates’ first office in Chicago, Illinois in 1983. From the start, ESA was conceived as a group practice of specialists with a variety of backgrounds who shared a dedication to improving students’ learning experiences. Nan Freund, a founding partner of ESA and a former president of the Association of Educational Therapists, is now the senior member of the thriving Chicago practice.

Ann relocated to the Bay Area in 1990 to manage a research laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, and shortly thereafter opened a second office of Educational Services Associates in her home in Oakland. When the practice outgrew the space limitations of the house, Ann incorporated the business (in partnership with Joan I. Heller of Heller Research Associates) and moved the business to its current location at 230 Grand Avenue, suite 201. 

Recently, the Oakland ESA has moved on from its original group practice model. A reconfigured ESA now shares its suite and educational resources with privately practicing Educational Therapists and Specialists by renting office space and providing referrals. Ann spends less time managing the practice and more time consulting with families struggling to identify, understand, and determine how best to address their children’s needs. She offers assistance interpreting test results, deciding what action to take based on assessments or diagnoses, navigating the world of school accommodations, managing conflicts around homework, and considering school placement decisions. She also provides supervision for Educational Therapists and interns working on completing their required supervisory hours.

If you think any of the ESA services described above could be of help to you, please call 510-873-0801 or email esa@edservices.org. For more information about Ann’s psychotherapy practice or to refer someone, please call 415-460-1330.