About the Authors

Teddi Beam-Conroy is Associate Professor of Bilingual and ESL Education at Heritage University in Seattle, Washington. In addition to 20 years as a bilingual classroom teacher, she was the Bilingual/ESL Gifted and Talented Teacher Consultant for the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas, for 12 years. A specialist in gifted education for English Learners and other underrepresented gifted populations, she has presented nationally on ELLs, gifted education, and multicultural populations and is an experienced professional developer. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in Bilingual/Bicultural Education from the University of Texas at Austin.

Patrick Blessinger, Ed.D., is the Founder, Executive Director, and Chief Research Scientist of the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Education at St. John’s University (NYC). Dr. Blessinger is the editor-in-chief of two international academic journals and two international book series on higher education.

Peter Corkill is an Educational Leader who has worked across a range of secondary schools, including regional locations and larger city-based schools. He has led mathematics curriculum development and the trial and implementation of new pedagogies in mathematics, and led school–university mathematics partnerships. He has also led significant change to teaching and student learning at several Victorian government schools. Peter was a founding faculty leader at Jerudong International School in Brunei, which gave him a broad international perspective and the opportunity to both teach at and lead a school during its establishment. Peter is the inaugural Principal of John Monash Science School (JMSS), established at Monash University in 2009. JMSS has pioneered contemporary curricula development, team-based approaches to teaching and exemplary use of learning technologies. Peter places teaching for effective learning at the forefront of his agenda, and continues to teach mathematics despite the demands of the JMSS principalship.

Barbara Cozza, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor, Assistant Chairperson and Program Director for the Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership, in the Department of Administration and Instructional Leadership at St. John’s University (NYC). Dr. Cozza’s research targets school reform issues in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and leadership. She is senior editor for The Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education.

Heljä Antola Crowe is a Professor in Teacher Education at Bradley University with focus on diversity and the early childhood curriculum. Her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction is from the University of Mississippi, M.A. in Educational Administration and B.A. in Early Childhood from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She has taught at the early childhood and collegiate levels for three decades in Finland and the United States. She has worked as a site coordinator in several PDS schools and oversaw Bradley’s PDS work as the William T. Kemper Teaching Excellence Fellow. She continues to integrate teacher candidate coursework experiences in PDS environments focusing on blending theory into practice. She has authored research and pedagogical publications on empowerment, curriculum, wellbeing and the workplace including a book entitled: The Ethnography of Empowerment: The Transformative Power of Classroom Interaction. She has conducted hundreds of refereed, and invited presentations and workshops on learner empowerment, teaching and learning.

Stacy Delacruz is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Literacy Education at Kennesaw State University. Her research agenda includes the areas of digital literacy, balanced literacy, content area literacy, and supporting English Language Learners. She has presented at ISTE and NAEYC and has published her work in TechTrends, The Journal of Reading Education, and Action in Teacher Education.

Chloe Dobson is an Arts Practitioner who specializes in arts education within widening access contexts. Chloe graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now known as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) in 2007 and since then has worked as a Lecturer of Performing Arts within Coatbridge College, an Arts Consultant to the NHS and within the Arts and Culture Department of the Scottish Refugee Council. Chloe recently developed and led on the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s (RCS) strategy to support students with a care experience. The RCS was subsequently awarded the Buttle UK Quality Mark. Chloe currently runs the widening access and participation schools program, Entry to the Creative Industries, at the RCS and has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Conservatoire’s newest national widening access initiative – Transitions 20/40.

Alton C. Dooley, Jr. provides the Geology and Paleontology expertise necessary to the Dragon Research Collaborative. He is currently the Director of the Western Science Center in Hemet, CA. Dr. Dooley formerly served for 14 years as the paleontology curator for the Commonwealth of Virginia at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. He has published on a large variety of paleontological topics including squirrels, whales, stromatolites, and lycopods. His teaching experience ranges from middle school to graduate level geology, biology, earth science, oceanography, remedial reading, and athletics. In addition, he has aided in the design of 22 museum exhibits and regularly presents programs and lectures on paleontology to the general public.

Nancy Encarnación is an Associate Professor in the College of Education and Psychology at Heritage University in the state of Washington. She provides training for future and current educators in the areas of Bilingual and ESL methodology, theory and history, assessment, literacy and educational leadership. She has experience as a practitioner, staff development trainer and researcher in Public schools. She earned her Ed.D. from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Monica Eriksen is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Institute for European Studies at the Jagiellonian University. She has studied Political Science at State University of New York, and obtained a MS in International Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University and a M.A. in European Studies from Jagiellonian University. A recipient of the Jean Monnet Centre for Governance Fellowship. An author of several articles, her academic interests deal with aspects of national identity building, international conflict resolution, and ethnic conflicts in Western Balkans, focusing on Kosovo. Apart from her academic involvement, she has worked extensively abroad in a NGO setting. She is currently teaching on identity-formation and International Security in a post-cold Europe. She works with youth in framework of the University Class of Intercultural Competencies, and has participated in UN-sponsored projects on civil society building in Kosovo as part of the Center for Civil Society Development in 2007–2008.

Kinga Anna Gajda, Assistant Professor at the Institute of European Studies of the Jagiellonian University, obtained a doctorate in literature, with a background in theater and drama studies, and European studies. She also completed her postgraduate studies in gender studies. She is the author of the book “Medea today” – reflections on the category of the Other, which deals with female performative identity. She is the author of a therapeutic drama category as well as initiator of several issued volumes related to drama therapy. She coordinates and takes part in many national and international projects on the borderline of creative pedagogy, and art therapy. She coordinates the work of the university class of intercultural competence, leading the service for intercultural competence at the Jagiellonian University, while providing training within the framework of intercultural competence. She heads the research team dedicated to studying active teaching methods of intercultural competence.

Sheri C. Hardee, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Education and Associate Dean for the College of Education at the University of North Georgia. As the University of North Georgia’s former Faculty Fellow in Service-Learning, she has worked closely with faculty and students to help develop, strengthen, and keep a record of community engagement projects on four campuses. She worked, along with her colleagues, to revise all Social Foundations of Education courses to revolve around service-based initiatives, and as the principal investigator for her institution’s Near Peer Service-Learning Grant, the majority of her students have participated in this service-based grant over the past four years. Her teaching and research center on engagement, high-impact practices, and social justice education, and in 2014, she was the recipient of the University of North Georgia’s Best Practices in Service-Learning Award.

Valerie Huggins is an Experienced Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at Plymouth University, UK, with a lead role in Early Years teacher education and professional studies. Before taking up her current post, she spent many years working as an Early Years teacher and consultant and some time with VSO training teacher educators in Ethiopia. Her research interests center on approaches to promoting Early Care and Education for Sustainability, both in the United Kingdom and in Majority World contexts, through the professional development of practitioners. Valerie has recently completed a Doctorate in Education with a focus on interculturalism.

Jana Hunzicker, Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, holds a master’s degree in educational administration and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in middle level instruction, young adolescent development, literacy teaching methods, and teacher leadership, Dr. Hunzicker serves as Bradley’s William T. Kemper Fellow for Teaching Excellence and Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning (CTEL) executive director. As the Kemper Fellow, she is responsible for coordinating the Bradley Professional Development Schools (PDS) Partnership, which serves eight schools in Peoria, Illinois. As CTEL Executive Director, she leads campus-wide faculty and professional staff development efforts through a variety of learning formats. Before transitioning into higher education in 2007, Dr. Hunzicker taught eighth grade language arts for seven years and served as an elementary/middle school administrator for nine years.

Sarah K. Lee, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Abilene Christian University. In her research laboratory, she works with undergraduate students to elucidate mechanisms of gene expression in budding yeast. She has a strong interest in development of a healthy STEM pipeline and has worked with university–school partnerships in Colorado and Texas.

Gwen McAlpine earned her Doctorate at the University of Virginia. Currently, she is an Associate Professor and the Coordinator for the Education Specialist’s Program in Curriculum and Instruction at Kennesaw State University. She teaches in the undergraduate program (diversity and supervision of student teachers), M.Ed. Program in Early Childhood Education (research, language arts and social studies), and the Ed.S. Program in Curriculum and Instruction (instructional decision making). For the Study Abroad Office, Dr. McAlpine has provided orientation, supervision, and/or taught a course in the countries of Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and China.

Stephanie McKendry is Widening Access Manager at the University of Strathclyde and leads the team responsible for increasing opportunities and removing barriers to study and success for those from widening access backgrounds. She manages outreach projects as well as transition and retention initiatives designed to support access students whilst on their programs of study. Prior to this, she gained over ten years’ experience teaching and researching in higher education. Dr. Mckendry has research interests in widening participation; retention and the student experience; identity in higher education; and the experience of young adult carers and students from looked after/care backgrounds. She is Editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and has a substantial track record of publication in the fields of learning development and widening participation. This includes six peer-reviewed papers, two textbooks and a chapter in an edited textbook.

Antonella Nuzzaci is Associate Professor in Experimental Pedagogy at the Department of Human Studies of the University of L’Aquila, where she chairs the Board of Educational Area, President of the Degree Course of Primary Education Sciences single-cycle and Member of the Center for Quality Assurance of Ateneum. She has been dealing with issues related to the educational experimentalism in the enjoyment of cultural heritage, specifically of teachers and students in schooling contexts, and to building profiles of the population through it; the role of teachers’ skills, paying particular attention to the methodological, reflective and digital (ICT) ones; the evaluative and self-evaluation process and quality within the higher education system. She is the author of numerous publications and she has been delivering numerous speeches at National and International Congresses.

Sharon M. Peck is a Professor of Literacy at SUNY Geneseo near Rochester, New York. She is committed to supporting teachers to nurture the whole child. She leads an urban literacy clinic and works with teachers to explore community based educational partnerships. As a puppeteer and teaching artist, she studies the use of drama, storytelling, and multimodal learning to foster literacy and language development.

DorothyBelle Poli is an Evolutionary Biologist who has been examining the role of fire on living lycopod plants for the last four years at Roanoke College in conjunction with her paleobotany work as a Research Associate at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Through this work, she has explored the evolutionary history of the plants’ ancestors dating back approximately 350 million years. Her expertise provides the scientific grounding for the Dragon Research Collaborative. Additionally, Dr. Poli has 15 years of undergraduate teaching experience in general biology, plant biology, plant physiology, evolution and freshman writing. She has a broad range of publications in science research and unique pedagogical approaches.

Gerry Rayner is an Education-Focused Academic with two decades of experience in University teaching and learning. His areas of scholarly interest include curriculum development and renewal, enhancement of student writing skills, and peer-assisted learning (PAL) in science. In the area of information and communication technologies, Gerry has initiated and evaluated student use of digital media for group presentations, designed online dissections and a virtual field trip in biology, and developed instructional videos to enhance student preparedness for practical activities. Gerry has collaborated with science colleagues in other science disciplines to develop, implement and evaluate inquiry-oriented learning (IOL) across first year programs, including the enhancement of teaching assistant skills with respect to these pedagogies. Gerry has received National, University and Faculty grants to support his research. He has received Dean of Science Excellence in Teaching Awards, a Vice-chancellors Commendation for Teaching Excellence, and a Monash Vice Chancellor’s Award for Social Inclusion.

Nick Rowe is Associate Professor at York St John University where he teaches in the Faculty of Health and the Faculty of Arts. He is the founder of Converge, a project offering courses to people who use mental health services working in close collaboration with mental health service providers. He is very interested in understanding and researching the benefits of arts and mental health projects. He is the author of Playing the Other: Improvising Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre (2007). Nick has a background in psychiatric nursing and dramatherapy and is a performing member of Playback Theatre York, a theatre company performing stories told to them by audiences.

Bernadette Sanderson is the Director of the Schools for Higher Education Programme in the West of Scotland. Prior to this, she worked as Director of the West of Scotland Wider Access Forum, which developed routes to higher education for under-represented groups. Dr. Sanderson has also worked as a researcher in higher education, and as a Principal Teacher of Modern Languages. She has also contributed to published research in the area of widening access to higher education and has delivered papers in this area both in the United Kingdom and overseas. In addition to being a registered teacher and Adjudicator with the General Teaching Council for Scotland, Dr. Sanderson is a Visiting Fellow at Curtin University in Australia, an External Examiner at Newcastle University, an Executive Member and Trustee of the Forum for Access and Continuing Education and a Member of the European Access Network.

Jennifer W. Shewmaker, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of psychology, the associate dean of teaching and learning and executive director of the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. She is a nationally certified school psychologist. Shewmaker is an award winning mentor in undergraduate research and has worked in university–school partnerships in developing programs in the areas of reading, honors, and STEM.

Cherry O. Steffen holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in science education from the University of South Florida. She is the chair of the Department of Education at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Previously, Dr. Steffen was faculty member in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at Kennesaw State University for 10 years. While at Kennesaw State, Dr. Steffen taught both graduate and undergraduate science methods courses as well as served in various administrative positions. She has developed gardening projects with several schools both in the United States and abroad. Her current work is focused on improving STEM teacher preparation at all levels (birth – high school) and developing a hydroponic gardening curriculum for an urban elementary school.

Lisa G. Stoneman has been exploring democratic pedagogy and use of narrative, particularly folklore and storytelling for over 10 years as she designed curriculum for a wide range of courses such as Finding Ourselves in Folktales and Critical Analysis of Children’s Literature. She teaches freshman writing and oral communication in addition to pedagogy and educational theory. In addition to her multidisciplinary work with the Dragon Research Collaborative, Dr. Stoneman has over 25 years of experience in curriculum design, teaching, and program evaluation. She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in English Education.

Takele Tadesse is currently the Dean of Nekemte College of Teacher Education, which specializes in primary education (Grades 1-4). After a successful career in teaching history in a senior secondary school, Takele was appointed as Head of the District Education Office, before making the transition into Initial Teacher Education. He specialized in Civic and Ethical Education, gained a Master degree in Educational Planning and Management, and soon took on departmental and then institutional leadership responsibilities. Takele is interested in educational research, with a focus on leadership.

Tesfaye Tadesse is a Lecturer in Psychology at Nekemte College of Teacher Education. He is interested in child development and early language. Tesfaye is actively involved in a project providing professional development for O grade teachers. He is keen to research young children’s learning.

Tricia Valdez-Zontek has been a Bilingual/ESL department chair and faculty for the past 10 years and is currently a national consultant for Dual Language, K-12 Bilingual/ESL program implementation, professional development, and ELL program evaluation. She graduated from Adams State College with undergraduate degrees in mathematics and Spanish. She taught in Colorado and then New Mexico. Tricia earned two M.Ed. degrees in both Secondary Mathematics and Bilingual Education. She has extensive experience in educational administration including service as the New Mexico K-12 Mathematics Consultant and Title II Director. She spearheaded state standards development for mathematics and science and frequently collaborated with the National Science Foundation. In Washington, she worked as a WSU Learning Center Coordinator, Executive Director of State/Federal Programs at Eastmont SD and later Yakima SD. Tricia completed her Ph.D. in Education Administration at Washington State University, focusing the majority of her studies in Bilingual/ESL education.

Tymika Wesley, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor of Education at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California. She currently teaches courses for the graduate program including, Measurement and Assessment, Curriculum and Instruction and Teaching in a Pluralistic Society. Prior to teaching at the university level, Dr. Wesley spent over a decade as an elementary school teacher in Southern California. Dr. Wesley brings extensive first-hand knowledge and experience on the topics of building cultural proficiency and effectively teaching students from diverse backgrounds. She is passionate about increasing teacher efficacy and being an advocate for students who are traditionally labeled as “at-risk.”

Robert Wolffe is a Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Bradley University as an elementary education generalist. Drawing on his 14 years of experience as an elementary school teacher and 26 years in higher education, he teaches a wide-variety of teacher preparation courses and also works with graduate students in studies related to assessment and curriculum and instruction. With over a decade of experience supporting Bradley’s work with professional development schools (PDS), currently he is a coordinator for four sites. He is involved in teacher education accreditation reviews, chairing visits around the country. His current research interests are focused primarily on factors that enhance the effectiveness of STEM education programs and on strategies to develop quality PDS relationships. He is also on a writing team developing model Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) curriculum, is serving as a consultant to other NGSS projects, and is treasurer of the Illinois Science Teachers Association.