David L. Harrison is the author or co-author of over 100 publications for children and educators. His work has inspired plays and been set to music. He has been featured at hundreds of conferences, workshops, literature festivals, schools, and colleges. David holds two science degrees and two honorary doctorates of letters. He is Drury University’s poet laureate. David Harrison Elementary School is named for him.
Jordan Corson is an assistant professor of education and affiliated faculty member of immigration studies at Stockton University. He recently completed his doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he defended his dissertation, Undocumented Educations: Everyday Educational Practices of Recently Immigrated Youth Beyond Inclusion/Exclusion.
Sarah Gerth van den Berg is a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research explores the design and theory of curriculum involving nontraditional spaces, materials, and processes. She has published in the fields of curriculum studies, participatory arts-based practices, and out of school learning.
Matthew Jennings is currently the superintendent of schools for the Alexandria Township Public School System. Prior to serving in this position, Jennings served as an assistant superintendent of schools, a director of student services, a supervisor of curriculum and instruction, and a classroom teacher.
Rob Hess is a practicing superintendent with 10 years of experience as a secondary teacher. He has been an administrator at the high school, middle school, and K-8 levels and served in the central office as a Student Achievement Leader. In 2003 he founded Breakthrough Schools, a grass roots network of educators dedicated to helping schools and districts achieve breakthrough school improvement results.
Bill earned an EdD from the University of Maine in Curriculum & Instruction and Youth Political Socialization and his MEd in Social Studies Education from the University of Washington. Bill is a Professor of Education at New England College in Henniker, NH where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Educational Psychology, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, and School Climate Research, Leadership, and Facilitation.
Rick Gordon has a PhD. in Social and Multicultural Foundations of Education from the University of Colorado-Boulder, a MEd. from University of Minnesota in Political Science with a Focus on Organizational Theory and Public Policy and graduated from Stanford University with honors in Political Science. He was Founding Director of Compass School, a grade 7-12 school that has scored highest on a national survey on Respect, Safety, and School Climate.
Carol Thomas is currently an Area Superintendent for Pinellas County Schools. To address the needs of the nation’s 22nd largest school, the district utilizes area superintendents to lead, support and develop the work of schools. Of the 37 diverse elementary schools that Thomas oversees, 27 made the NCLB’s “adequate yearly progress” standard in 2009. For the past three years the work of her region has been focused on a systematic approach to developing powerful instructional leaders.
Sylvia Boynton is a “professor in residence” in the University of Florida’s College of Education. In this role through the UF Lastinger Center for Learning, she works with teachers and administrators in a district-based, school improvement initiative in Pinellas County (St. Petersburg and Clearwater), Florida. She works intensively in 19 Title 1 elementary schools with a total of 75 educators who are earning graduate degrees in the Teacher Leadership for School Improvement (TLSI) program at UF.
Richard J. Hazler is professor of counselor education and coordinator of the Elementary School Counseling program at Penn State University. He has conducted research on a variety of topics and authored professional materials on bullying and victimization in schools. Hazler has worked as a school counselor and also as a counselor in the military, universities, prisons, and private practice and is noted for his work on humanistic approaches to counseling and counselor training.
Sandra K. Enger is a faculty member at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and associate director of the Institute for Science Education. She teaches methods courses for preservice teachers in elementary science and also undergraduate and graduate assessment courses. As a professional development provider, she has worked with international teachers from Russia, the Ukraine, and multiple Trans-Eurasian countries.