Meet the EIL Consultants

Dr. Julie R. Smith is a veteran educator, speaker, consultant, and author. Her passion, area of focus, and expertise is in building leadership capacity within people and systems; school improvement planning; and teacher, principal, and district evaluation models. Dr. Smith continues her learning by providing workshops in the U.S. and Canada around Professor John Hattie’s research in Visible Learning and currently serves as the Senior Director of Global Visible Learning at Corwin. She is also trained to provide workshops in Dr. James Popham’s research around designing and implementing defensible teacher evaluation programs and Dr. Russ Quaglia’s Student Voice and Aspiration Framework. She most recently co-authored Evaluating Instructional Leadership: Recognized Practices For Success (2015) and Impact Coaching (2018).

Prior to joining Corwin, Dr. Raymond Smith served as adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center teaching within a principal preparation program and currently works with Florida Atlantic University in their aspiring leader program. His diverse experience includes over 38 years of teaching and leadership at the building (high school principal), central office (Director of Secondary Education), and university levels. Subsequent to completing his doctorate in educational leadership and innovation in 2007, Dr. Smith pursued his area of specialty and passion in leadership development by authoring several articles for the Ohio Department of Education, coauthoring three books:School Improvement for the Next Generation (2010), The Reflective Leader: Implementing A Multidimensional Leadership Performance System (2012), and The Responsive School (in print). 

Karen Flories is currently the Executive Director of 6-12 Educational Services for Valley View School District 365U in Romeoville/Bolingbrook, Illinois, and her classroom experience includes high school English, special education (behavior disorder), and alternative education. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Secondary Education and a Master’s Degree in Educational School Leadership. She has directly lead professional learning focusing on unpacking standards, identifying Power / Priority Standards, as well as designing curriculum that effectively embraces a student mastery approach of targeted standards.

Cathy Lassiter, Ed.D. is an education consultant with over 30 years experience as a public school teacher, principal, central office administrator, and consultant. She supports large and small districts in the areas of leadership development, school culture, principal and teacher evaluation, collaboration, instruction, assessment, and closing achievement gaps. Cathy is the author of Everyday Courage for School Leaders (2017) and was a contributing author and content editor for Activate: A Leader’s Guide to People, Practices and Processes written with John Hattie and Brian McNulty. While director of curriculum and instruction, her district won the prestigious Broad Prize in Urban Education, which is awarded to districts for closing achievement gaps and preparing all students for college and careers. She has also served as an adjunct professor for The George Washington University teaching graduate courses in educational leadership.  

Ainsley Rose is retired after 35 years in public education. As the former Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Western Quebec School Board in Gatineau, Quebec, Ainsley was responsible for initiating many systemic changes that continue to impact teaching and learning within the school board today. With experience as an elementary and secondary classroom teacher and principal, as well as an instructor of graduate-level courses for administrators and pre-service teachers, Ainsley shares perspectives that resonate with all educators. He is also a published author, keynote presenter, and facilitator. His presentations deliver practical school improvement strategies that work at every level, from within the classroom to districtwide support.

Kara Vandas works with districts and schools, both elementary and secondary, to implement processes and practices that best support student learning. Kara brings experience in these areas from her previous work as the Director of Teacher Effectiveness for the Colorado League of Charter Schools, where she was responsible for partnering with over 30 public charter schools in the implementation of Data Teams and Rigorous Curriculum Design. In doing so, Kara has had the opportunity to support rural, urban, and suburban schools of various instructional models and student populations, and across K-12 systems, in order to best implement these powerful practices. Kara remains passionate about supporting all students in becoming successful learners and co-authored Partnering With Students (2015).