Clare Banker Jones received the Ph.D. in education from the University of Akron with cognates in early childhood and gerontology. A diagnostic specialist, she is certified to teach children who have learning disabilities and mental handicaps, as well as children in a regular classroom. She is a validator for the National Association for the Education of Young Children. In 1985, Dr. Jones was honored by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation as a Master Teacher in Ohio. That year, the United States Department of Aging names her program,
Grandparent Reads to Me, the best intergenerational program in the nation. As a classroom teacher, she was selected in Ohio to be a VIP visiting professor at Cleveland State University. In 1992, she was named by the California Association of Resource Specialists as Community Educator of the Year. A special educator/early childhood teacher and administrator since 1967, she has taught every level of special education, preschool to high school.Dr. Jones is the former Director of Education at Phoenix Children's Hospital; and has been a faculty associate at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and Glendale Community College. She operates a private practice in Phoenix.