Authors & Presenters

John Darnell is the principal at Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Throughout his career, he worked across the state of Kentucky in both urban and rural schools as a social studies teacher and principal.

Shawn DeRose is an accomplished educator and school leader with over 20 years of experience in educational administration. Under Shawn’s leadership, both Annandale High School and Glasgow Middle School achieved recognition as a Model PLC at Work® School.

Eileen Depka, PhD, has a background in assessment, common assessment design, rubric development, standards-based assessment, question design, classroom questioning practices, positive practices in grading and reporting, and the implementation of standards-based grading and reporting.

Melissa Dickson, EdM, is an outstanding presenter and educator. She is passionate about providing teachers with research-based ideas and strategies that they implement immediately. In her decades as an educator, Melissa has been a literacy coach, staff developer, site-based team leader, mentor teacher, inclusion teacher, classroom teacher, and early childhood teacher.

Nicole Dimich works with elementary and secondary educators in presentations, trainings, and consultations that address today’s most critical issues, all in the spirit of facilitating improved support of student learning.

Tom Dodd, PhD, is a speaker and leader with over 30 years of experience in public education and higher education combined. He served as president of the Colorado Association of School Executives and as an International Baccalaureate® leader.

Cara Dudley, EdD, currently serves as the director of curriculum and instruction in east Texas. With over 20 years of experience working in rural and high-poverty schools, over 10 of those years were devoted to curriculum, assessment, and accountability.

Britney Dueling is an MTSS specialist for a Model PLC at Work® district in Phoenix, Arizona. She supports districtwide implementation of RTI at Work™ practices across K–6, K–8, middle schools, and high schools.

Amanda Dunn, EdD, currently serves as an academic coordinator in the north Houston area. She has over 20 years of experience teaching fine arts, special populations, and English in addition to leading the professional learning communities process.

Kessa Early, EdD, brings 23 years of distinguished experience in education, transforming schools into award-winning institutions. As a principal of alternative education in California, she has successfully overseen multiple schools, each achieving remarkable success under her leadership.