Professional Learning Communities at Work® Portable Event Package

Tim Brown, a consultant, has 30 years of experience in education. As principal of elementary, middle, and high schools in Missouri, he led each to become a successful professional learning community. These PLCs feature highly collaborative environments where clear goals, formative assessment, analyzing data, practicing differentiated instruction, and providing interventions and enrichment have resulted in increased student achievement.

Tim’s middle school was recognized as a Missouri Gold Star School. His last school, a high-poverty elementary school where 87 percent of students qualified for free or reduced lunch, was recognized as one of Missouri’s Most Improved Schools and as an Exemplary Practices School. In 2005, Tim was honored by his peers as Missouri’s Distinguished Elementary Principal.

Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Central Arkansas, as well as master’s and specialist degrees in educational administration from Missouri State University.

https://www.solutiontree.com/t...

Luis F. Cruz, PhD, is former principal of Baldwin Park High School, located east of Los Angeles, California. He has been a teacher and administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Dr. Cruz presents on methods from the best-selling book Time for Change by Luis F. Cruz and Anthony Muhammad.

In 2007, Dr. Cruz led a collective effort to secure a $250,000 grant for Baldwin Park from the California Academic Partnership Program for the purpose of effectively utilizing “courageous leadership” to promote a more equitable and effective organization.

Since becoming a public school educator, Dr. Cruz has won the New Teacher of the Year, Teacher of the Year, Administrator of the Year, and other community leadership awards. He and a committee of teacher leaders at Baldwin Park received California's prestigious Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association for significantly closing the achievement gap between the general student population and students learning English as a second language.

As a recipient of the Hispanic Border Leadership Institute's fellowship for doctoral studies, he earned a doctorate in institutional leadership and policy studies from the University of California Riverside. He earned an associate's degree from Mount San Antonio Community College, a bachelor's degree from California State University, Fullerton, and a master's degree from Claremont Graduate University.

https://www.solutiontree.com/l...

William M. Ferriter is a sixth-grade science teacher in a professional learning community near Raleigh, North Carolina. A National Board Certified Teacher, Bill has designed professional development courses for educators nationwide on topics ranging from establishing professional learning communities and using technology to reimagine learning spaces to integrating meaningful student-involved assessment and feedback opportunities into classroom instruction.

What Bill brings to audiences is practical experience gained through extensive and continuing work with his own professional learning team and students in his classroom. Teachers appreciate the practicality of his presentations, knowing that the content shared is content that is currently being used by a full-time classroom teacher. Every session is designed to give participants not just a clear understanding of the “whys” behind the ideas that he is introducing, but tangible examples of how to turn those ideas into classroom and collaborative practices that work.

Bill has had articles published in Kappan magazine, Journal for Staff Development, Educational Leadership, and Threshold Magazine. A contributing author to two assessment anthologies, The Teacher as Assessment Leader and The Principal as Assessment Leader, he is also coauthor of several Solution Tree titles, including Teaching the iGeneration, Building a Professional Learning Community at Work™, Making Teamwork Meaningful, and Creating a Culture of Feedback. Bill also maintains a popular blog, “The Tempered Radical,” where he writes regularly about teaching in today’s world.

Bill earned a bachelor of science and master of science in elementary education from the State University of New York at Geneseo.

https://www.solutiontree.com/presenters/william-m-ferriter.html

Heather Friziellie is currently superintendent of schools for Fox Lake Grade School District 114, located in the suburbs northwest of Chicago. Prior to this position, Heather served as director of educational services for Kildeer Countryside District 96, also located in the northwest suburbs. She previously served as both an elementary and middle school principal. As a leader, she is involved in literacy curriculum development, data analysis, and staff development. With experience as a building- and district-level administrator, curriculum specialist, and classroom teacher, Heather has consulted with districts throughout the country and presented at national conferences. Educators at all levels have benefited from her insight and experience related to developing high-performing teams, data-driven decision-making, response to intervention, and literacy instruction.

Heather earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with an endorsement in school administration and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She is pursuing a doctorate.

https://www.solutiontree.com/presenters/heather-friziellie.html

Timothy D. Kanold, PhD, is an award-winning educator and author, and a national thought leader in mathematics. He is former director of mathematics and science and served as superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125, a Model PLC at Work® district in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

Dr. Kanold is committed to equity and excellence for students, faculty, and school administrators. He conducts highly motivational professional development leadership seminars worldwide with a focus on turning school vision into realized action that creates greater equity for students through the effective delivery of the PLC process by faculty and administrators.

He is a past president of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM) and coauthor of several best-selling mathematics textbooks over several decades. Dr. Kanold has authored or coauthored thirteen books on K–12 mathematics and school leadership since 2011, including the 2018 Gold Medal IPPY Award–winning and best-selling book HEART! He also has served on writing commissions for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and has authored numerous articles and chapters on school leadership and development for education publications since 2006.

Dr. Kanold received the 2017 Ross Taylor/Glenn Gilbert National Leadership Award from the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, the international 2010 Damen Award for outstanding contributions to the leadership field of education from Loyola University Chicago, 1986 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and 1994 Outstanding Administrator Award from the Illinois State Board of Education. He serves as an adjunct faculty member for the graduate school at Loyola University Chicago.

Dr. Kanold earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in mathematics from Illinois State University. He also completed a master’s degree in educational administration at the University of Illinois and received a doctorate in educational leadership and counseling psychology from Loyola University Chicago.

To learn more about Timothy D. Kanold’s work, visit his blog, Turning Vision Into Action and follow him on Twitter at @tkanold.

Mike Mattos is an internationally recognized author, presenter, and practitioner who specializes in uniting teachers, administrators, and support staff to transform schools by implementing response to intervention and professional learning communities. Mike cocreated the RTI at Work™ model, which builds on the foundation of the PLC at Work™ process by using team structures and a focus on learning, collaboration, and results to drive successful outcomes.

He is former principal of Marjorie Veeh Elementary School and Pioneer Middle School in California. At both schools, Mike helped create powerful PLCs, improving learning for all students. In 2004, Marjorie Veeh, an elementary school with a large population of youth at risk, won the California Distinguished School and National Title I Achieving School awards.

A National Blue Ribbon School, Pioneer is among only 13 schools in the US selected by the GE Foundation as a Best-Practice Partner and is one of eight schools chosen by Dr. Richard DuFour to be featured in the video series The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work™: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life. Based on standardized test scores, Pioneer ranks among the top 1 percent of California secondary schools and, in 2009 and 2011, was named Orange County's top middle school. For his leadership, Mike was named the Orange County Middle School Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators.

https://www.solutiontree.com/presenters/mike-mattos.html

Anthony Muhammad, PhD, is a much sought-after consultant. A practitioner for nearly 20 years, he has served as a middle school teacher, assistant principal, and principal, and as a high school principal. His Transforming School Culture approach explores the root causes of staff resistance to change.

Dr. Muhammad’s tenure as a practitioner has earned him several awards as both a teacher and a principal. His most notable accomplishment came as principal of Levey Middle School in Southfield, Michigan, a National School of Excellence, where student proficiency on state assessments more than doubled in five years. Dr. Muhammad and the staff at Levey used the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process for school improvement, and they have been recognized in several videos and articles as a model high-performing PLC.

As a researcher, Dr. Muhammad has published articles in several publications in both the United States and Canada.

https://www.solutiontree.com/anthony-muhammad.html

Maria Nielsen, educational speaker and author, specializes in supporting teachers and administrators in the areas of PLCs, RTI, school culture, curriculum design, the highly engaged classroom, and assessment systems. Her life’s work is to help schools build successful systems to ensure high levels of student learning.

Maria has more than 30 years’ experience as a teacher and administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in Utah. As a principal, Maria helped Millville Elementary earn state and national recognition as a high-progress, high-achievement Title I school. Solution Tree named the school a national model PLC in 2012.

Maria was named the 2007 Utah Behavior Initiatives Principal of the Year. In 2010, she received the distinguished Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education.

https://www.solutiontree.com/m...

Regina Stephens Owens, EdD, is an internationally recognized presenter and practitioner who specializes in creating a culture of interdependence and collaboration while utilizing systems thinking. With innovative solutions and emerging technologies, she coaches and supports teachers and leaders in transforming culture and community utilizing the Professional Learning Community philosophy. Regina has published works in support of Response to Intervention in the brick-and-mortar as well as virtual-learning spaces. In addition, she has written articles on designing inspirational cultures that promote developing intentional experiences ensuring students and adults learn.

As a former teacher, campus principal, and district administrator of curriculum and instruction, Regina is a passionate and empathetic educator who has served in rural and urban schools, guiding their transformation processes, resulting in local, state, and national recognition. She served as the principal of innovative schools including Spring Virtual School and Early College Academy, both operating under the professional learning community philosophy and ensuring high levels of learning for all. The Virtual School, one of the first online professional learning communities, brought together her life’s work of connecting passion-driven learning and global competencies to the work of the real world.

Today, she serves as an educational presenter, executive coach, and motivational speaker. Regina is an inspirational educational leader who believes in the “Genius of And,” educating both the head and the heart. Sharing knowledge and supporting educators and leaders fuels her work, as she inspires them to discover who they are, value others, and advance humanity.

Regina earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from East Texas Baptist University. She went on to earn a master’s degree in educational leadership from Stephen F. Austin State University and a doctorate degree in educational leadership from Dallas Baptist University with a focus on educational transformation.

https://www.solutiontree.com/r...

Jeanne Spiller is assistant superintendent for teaching and learning for Kildeer Countryside District 96 in Illinois. Her work focuses on implementation of the Common Core State Standards. She guides the process of unpacking, powering, scaling, and pacing the CCSS for English language arts for numerous schools, districts, and teacher teams. Her work with teachers and administrators for District 96, as well as with several school districts, is focused on the development of aligned assessments and assessment practices that help teachers determine how to approach instruction.

Jeanne has served as a classroom teacher, building staff developer, team leader, and middle school assistant principal. She is president of the Illinois affiliate of Learning Forward.

Jeanne earned a master's degree in educational teaching and leadership from St. Xavier University and a master's degree in educational administration from Loyola University.

https://www.solutiontree.com/presenters/jeanne-spiller.html