Authors & Presenters

Julia A. Simms, an author, is director of content and resources at Marzano Resources. A former classroom teacher, she and her team develop research-based resources and provide support to educators as they put them into practice.

Passionate about innovation, critical thinking, and deep learning, Shannon Simpson has been active in education for over 30 years, serving in various teaching roles and capacities.

Shawn Slakk, Chief Learning Officer for ABCDS&S Consulting, works with teachers, administrators, schools, and state agencies to offer strategies and support for multilingual learners and their classmates, in grades K–12 and adults.

Dena D. Slanda, PhD, is a research associate in the College of Innovation and Education at the University of Central Florida. She is also a professor in residence for the Teacher Quality Partnership grant project, which emphasizes mathematics and disciplinary literacy for preservice teachers.

Cara Slattery is an author, consultant, and teacher. She has also served as a magnet program coordinator, data and assessment coach, enrichment specialist, and technology integrationist.

Colin Sloper has been a teacher, assistant principal, and principal in government schools since 1983. In the course of his career, he has been involved in the establishment of five new state government schools.

Mignon Smith is an Assistant Principal at a middle school in the District of Columbia. Previously, she served as a math instructional specialist (grades K-8), curriculum planner, math department chair, grade level chair and math and physics teacher. She has taught in public, charter and private school environments across elementary, middle, and high school.

Rea Smith is an elementary mathematics and science curriculum specialist in northwestern Arkansas. She passionately supports the work of professional learning communities with a focus on common assessments to improve student and teacher learning.

Stephenie Smith is an assistant principal at Hazel Green Elementary School in Alabama. Previously, she served as instructional coach at Sparkman Middle School, a Model PLC at Work® school in Alabama that has earned Highly Effective Schools Accreditation. With a background as a middle school science teacher, she works with teachers, school administrators, and district leaders to implement effective professional learning communities (PLCs) and response to intervention (RTI) in order to close achievement gaps in key subgroups. Her focus is emphasizing teacher expertise and building collective efficacy through PLCs.

Jordan Smith is the professional learning community (PLC) coach at Bowman Middle School in Plano, Texas. Previously a science teacher and instructional coach, she now works with collaborative teams and their leaders to ensure student growth through the PLC process.