Shirley M. Hord, PhD, is the scholar laureate of Learning Forward (previously National Staff Development Council), following her retirement as Scholar Emerita at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory in Austin, Texas. There she directed the Strategies for Increasing Student Success Program. She continues to design and coordinate professional development activities related to educational change and improvement, school leadership, and the creation of professional learning communities. Her early roles as elementary school classroom teacher and university science education faculty at The University of Texas at Austin were followed by her appointment as co-director of Research on the… Improvement Process at the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education at The University of Texas at Austin. There she administered and conducted research on school improvement and the role of school leaders in school change. She served as a fellow of the National Center for Effective Schools Research and Development and was U.S. representative to the Foundation for the International School Improvement Project, an international effort that develops research, training, and policy initiatives to support local school improvement practices. In addition to working with educators at all levels across the U.S. and Canada, Hord makes presentations and consults in Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Mexico. Her current interests focus on the creation and functioning of educational organizations as learning communities and the role of leaders who serve such organizations. Dr. Hord is the author of numerous articles and books, of which a selection of the most recent are: Implementing Change: Patterns, Principles, and Potholes, 3rd ed (with Gene E. Hall, 2011); Reclaiming Our Teaching Profession: The Power of Educators Learning in Community (with Edward F. Tobia, 2012); A Playbook for Professional Learning: Putting the Standards Into Action (with Stephanie Hirsh, 2012).
James L. Roussin has been committed to improving teaching and learning in schools across the United States and abroad for the past 26 years. He has worked as a language arts teacher; gifted coordinator; ESL coordinator; curriculum director; executive director of teaching, learning, and school improvement; adjunct professor; and educational consultant.Roussin is currently working as a strategic change consultant, and is the executive director for Generative Human Systems. Roussin helped to revitalize the Minnesota Staff Development Council from 1998 to 2004 and served as its president for four of those years. He is currently serving as a board trustee on the National Staff Development… Council. He is a teaching associate for Human Systems Dynamics (an institute that is using complexity theory to impact organizational development work). He is also a national trainer for leadership development, cognitive coaching, adaptive schools, QLD (quality leadership by design)-S.M.A.R.T. goals, and program evaluation.In February of 2006, Roussin traveled to India on a Berkana Learning Journey to explore new forms of leadership that are emerging in global communities. More recently, he spent four months working in the Middle East with ASCD-Middle East in supporting the Ministry of Education in implementing new teacher development standards.Roussinrsquo;s current interests focus on healthy organizations and human development through the lens of natural systems theory and complexity science.