Professional Learning Communities at Work®

Dennis King, EdD, has focused on school improvement throughout his career, first as a practicing school administrator and now as an educational presenter. His 28 years in education include teaching in an alternative school, an urban high school, and two suburban school districts where he also served as a district administrator.

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.

Jeanne Spiller is assistant superintendent for teaching and learning for Kildeer Countryside District 96 in Illinois. Her work focuses on implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

Jonathan G. Vander Els specializes in supporting teachers and administrators in schools and districts across the country in developing, sustaining, and enhancing structures to support all learners.

Karen Power is an educational presenter and a former teacher, principal, superintendent, and senior advisor for professional learning and leadership. Karen has implemented the PLC process both as a principal and as a superintendent, and for several years, she has supported collaborative work in schools to meet the needs of students.

Kim Bailey is former director of professional development and instructional support for the Capistrano Unified School District in California. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at Chapman University in California.

Maria Nielsen, educational speaker and author, specializes in supporting teachers and administrators in the areas of PLCs, RTI, school culture, curriculum design, the highly engaged classroom, and assessment systems. Her life’s work is to help schools build successful systems to ensure high levels of student learning.

Sarah Schuhl specializes in professional learning communities, mathematics, assessment, school improvement, and RTI. She has been a secondary mathematics teacher, high school instructional coach, and K–12 mathematics specialist.

Tim Brown, a consultant, has 30 years of experience in education. As principal of elementary, middle, and high schools in Missouri, he led each to become a successful professional learning community.

Troy Gobble is principal of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Illinois. He previously served as assistant principal for teaching and learning at Stevenson.