Authors & Presenters

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.

Hiawatha Smith, PhD, is an associate professor of literacy education. Prior to his work preparing educators to teach literacy, Hiawatha worked as a classroom teacher and an instructional coach.

Brian H. Smith, PhD, has been a leader in translating research into effective social-emotional learning programs for nearly twenty years.

Lyndsi Smith, PhD, has served the education community for over 20 years in a variety of capacities. Throughout her career, Dr. Smith has delivered professional learning workshops, provided in-classroom instructional support, and presented at local, state, and national conferences.

W. Richard Smith is former deputy superintendent of Sanger Unified School District in California. He has been involved in public education for more than 37 years.

Perry Soldwedel is a coach and consultant to district leaders. He specializes in systems thinking, shared leadership, strategic planning, data collection, measurement, and professional learning communities.

Tim Solley is an experienced leadership coach for the Alabama Department of Education’s Office of School Improvement. With more than 35 years of service in public education, he was previously a classroom teacher, K–12 school administrator, and assistant superintendent.