Leadership

Judith Hale, PhD, has worked with the public and private sectors across all industries, specializing in performance improvement, certification, and assessment. Her professional focus has been, and continues to be, on the development of performance-based and portfolio-based assessments.

Shan Jorgenson-Adam, MEd, is president of JAM Consulting in Camrose, Alberta. With over 30 years in education, she partners with schools across Canada to strengthen leadership, culture, and teaching through coaching, mentorship, and professional learning.

Join Janel Keating to learn proven strategies to break down silos, unify teams around shared goals, and drive achievement for every student. Experience inspiring real-world examples of school board leadership and dynamic teacher teams working together to monitor data and improve learning outcomes.

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.

Kyle is the principal of Powell Middle School in Powell, Wyoming. Prior to administration, he was an elementary teacher where he developed the passion for professional learning communities and the power behind building a strong culture and teamwork in a school.

Margaret Coughlan, EdD, is a classroom teacher, district leader, researcher, and adjunct faculty member at Saint Mary’s College of California. Her professional work includes teaching elementary students, teachers, and graduate school master’s candidates.

Building and sustaining a culture of collective responsibility requires a learning environment that fosters reflection, dialogue, and the courage to act. To create a culture of empowerment and a commitment to continuous improvement, educators need to engage in meaningful conversations about professional best practices.

Mark Anthony Gooden, PhD, is a Christian Johnson Endeavor professor of education leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Gooden has spent over two decades in higher education developing and teaching courses in culturally responsive leadership, race, law, and research methods.

Dr. Dawn Brooks DeCosta, EdD, is a distinguished educator and leader, currently serving as the deputy superintendent for Harlem Community School District 5. She is a renowned advocate for culturally responsive teaching and social-emotional learning.

A high-performing school district that functions as a professional learning community (PLC) reflects thoughtful alignment and integration of the PLC process by the superintendent and board of directors, central office, individual schools, and teacher teams. While highlighting the efforts of highly successful school districts, Janel Keating will describe how districts organize and align at each level to implement PLC concepts and practices systemwide.