Leadership

Often schools overlook the greatest vehicle to positively transform school culture: student voice.

Heather Bell-Williams is principal of Milltown Elementary School in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada. She has been in education since 1988 and has served as a classroom teacher, resource teacher, vice principal, district coordinator, and elementary principal.

Steve Gruenert, PhD, has been at Indiana State University since 2002 teaching educational leadership courses and doing research in the field of school culture and climate.

Ryan Donlan, EdD, is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership in the Bayh College of Education at Indiana State University and served for 20 years in traditional and charter schools in K–12 education.

Ann Delehant is an experienced facilitator, learning leader, and agent of systemwide change. Her work focuses on developing, supporting, and coaching leaders at all levels, building collaborative cultures, and facilitating systems change.

Joellen Killion serves as the senior advisor for Learning Forward. With more than 40 years’ experience, she leads, facilitates, and contributes to initiatives related to examining the link between professional learning and student learning.

James Rawls serves as a principal in a large metropolitan school district in Georgia. His passion for education is evident through his experience of more than 20 years in the field.

Closing student achievement gaps requires specific actions focused on acceleration and leveling up strategies to achieve grade-level proficiency or beyond. Acceleration is the pathway; we cannot continue to go backward if our goal is to move forward. Discover how to erase inequities in student learning while building hope and confidence in both teachers and students. This is equity in action.

Dr. Tonya Balch is a professor in the Department of Applied Clinical and Educational Sciences in the Bayh College of Education at Indiana State University and has been the program coordinator for the School Counseling M.Ed. program for 15 years. She is passionate about ensuring excellence in graduate programming and providing authentic experiences in practice.

Tina (Merriweather) Seymour is a veteran principal and leadership coach with 21 years of experience in urban education. She began her educational career in 1998 as a middle school language arts teacher.