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Currently the Principal of Manatee High School in Bradenton, Florida, I have had the honor of bringing a D-rated high school on the Florida Department of Education school-rating scale to an A-rating. I have worked diligently to demonstrate leadership and believe firmly that through teacher empowerment and the modeling of effective guidance any school climate can be transformed and improved.

Judy Swanson leads a not-for-profit research and evaluation firm, Research for Quality Schools, in Seattle, WA. For 20 years she has conducted research in urban schools throughout the US. Her expertise and recent research has focused on teacher leadership, professional development for instructional improvement, and teacher development at all stages of a teacher's career. She has worked with CSTP to develop and facilitate case writing retreats for teacher leaders since 2003.

For 19 years, Kimberly Elliott has written about P–16 education reform issues, raised funds to support innovative health and education projects, and developed curriculum materials. As The Word Mechanic, she currently helps clients such as The Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession (CSTP), Education Development Center, Inc.

Jeanne Harmon is the founding Executive Director for the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession, an independent nonprofit organization focused on improving teaching quality in Washington State. Before launching CSTP in 2003, she managed the public-private partnership that created Washington’s statewide system of support for National Board Certification.

Kate Kennedy develops and leads professional development workshops for educators on how to use value-added analysis, formative assessment, and other research-based strategies and tools for school improvement. A Director at Battelle for Kids in Columbus, Ohio, she also develops online learning resources to support educators’ efforts to apply these strategies to accelerate student progress.

Dr. Mary Peters has conducted extensive research in the area of value-added analysis. In her role as Battelle for Kids’ Senior Director of Value-Added Research Services, Mary was responsible for managing a $6M grant with the Ohio Department of Education pertaining to the delivery and training of value-added analysis to school personnel across Ohio.

With more than 30 years of education experience, Dr. Mike Thomas is one of the foremost experts on the implementation of value-added analysis for school improvement in the United States. Most recently, Mike has provided value-added training to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Houston Independent School District (TX), the Fort Worth Independent School District (TX), and numerous districts throughout New York and Ohio.

Leslie Laud has differentiated math instruction in her own classroom and in her co-teaching with her math colleagues, and has been doing so for almost two decades. She teaches an online course on Differentiated Middle School Math Instruction at Bank Street College of Education. Additionally, she has presented at many conferences both nationally and internationally, including The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual conference.

Daniela Torre is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Education Policy at Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include school improvement, particularly for English learners and at-risk students.  Previously she taught for five years as an elementary school teacher in both traditional public and charter schools. She earned her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and her M.A.