Authors & Presenters

Carol Scearce has three major areas of focus: adolescent literacy, her most recent focus; effective teaching strategies; and team building for leadership and middle school teams.

Faith Short is the principal at East Pointe Elementary. With 25 years of experience in education, she is fiercely passionate about the work of collaborative teams as a vehicle to ensure high levels of learning for every student. She specializes in helping leaders and teachers implement the PLC process to impact teaching and learning.

Susan K. Sparks has served as a teacher, staff developer, and executive director. Her areas of expertise include consensus building, decision making, contract negotiations, conflict resolution, strategic planning, and professional learning communities.

Claire Springer is a partner in education specializing in master scheduling at the elementary level, creating school systems to support the professional learning community process, and implementing data protocols to monitor high levels of learning for all. She has 13 years of experience in education, eight of those years in school leadership.

Rusty Taylor has been a professional educator since 1997, serving as a science teacher, middle school assistant principal, and principal at both the middle and high school levels.

Matt Thede is an assistant principal at Mount Vernon High School in Iowa. He has led curricular improvements and professional development initiatives in the areas of standards-based grading, unit design, instruction, and assessment.

Matthew Treadway, EdD, is the former principal of Freedom Elementary School in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, where he led his staff in developing a collaborative culture centered on the three big ideas of a professional learning community.

Eric Twadell, PhD, is superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. He has been a social studies teacher, curriculum director, and assistant superintendent for leadership and organizational development.

Eddie Velez is the principal at Kennedy High School, a PLC Model School in Fremont, California. He specializes in building PLC culture, implementing RTI, and creating equitable opportunities for all students.

Karly Ward serves as principal of Rendezvous Elementary School in central Wyoming. With more than 14 years of experience, she specializes in visionary leadership, creating and maintaining a healthy school culture, and promoting system fidelity.