Professional Learning Communities at Work®

Luis F. Cruz, PhD, is a sought-after presenter, coach, thought leader, and accomplished author with over 30 years of experience in education.

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.

Mike Mattos is an internationally recognized author, presenter, and practitioner who specializes in uniting teachers, administrators, and support staff to transform schools by implementing response to intervention and professional learning communities.

Paul C. Farmer is a practitioner who has worked at the classroom, building, and central office levels. As principal of Joyce Kilmer Middle School, Paul was one of the first principals in Fairfax County, Virginia, to build a PLC.

Regina Stephens Owens, EdD is an internationally recognized presenter and practitioner who specializes in creating a culture of connectivity and collaboration while utilizing systems thinking.

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 is an internationally recognized presenter and practitioner who specializes in helping school leaders and teachers align their school improvement efforts across an entire campus and/or district.

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

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.

William M. Ferriter uses his 29 years of experience as a full-time classroom teacher to design professional development sessions for educators on topics ranging from establishing professional learning communities and effective systems of intervention to integrating meaningful differentiation, extension, and student-involved assessment opportunities into classroom instruction.