Yvette Jackson, Ed.D.
Yvette Jackson is internationally recognized for her work in assessing the learning potential of disenfranchised urban students. Her research is in literacy, gifted education and cognitive mediation theory of Dr. Reuven Feuerstein. She has applied her research to develop an integrated process to motivate and elicit potential in underachievers. This research was the basis for her design of the New York City Gifted Programs Framework when she was the Director of Gifted Programs. As Executive Director of Instruction and Professional Development for the New York City Board of Education, she led the development and implementation of the Comprehensive Education Plan which optimizes the delivery of all core curriculum and support services in the Public Schools of New York City.Dr. Jackson currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban Alliance, founded at The College Board and Teachers College, Columbia University. She works with school district administrators and teachers across the country to customize and deliver systemic approaches to literacy development through instructional practices that integrate culture, language and cognition to expand and accelerate student learning and achievement. She is a visiting lecturer at Harvard University, a member of ASCD’s Differentiated Instruction Cadre and a keynote presenter at national and international conferences.
Richard Cummins
Richard spent twenty one years as a teacher in secondary schools in the UK. From there he went to work for the Advisory Service of a local authority education department and over several years pursued his interest in the development of thinking skills in young people. Working with a number of international companies, he organized the creation of classroom resources, workshops and conferences for teachers across the UK. This led eventually to the establishment of a consultancy group where the focus was a whole-school approach to the teaching of thinking. Working with leaders in the field, such as Gill Hubble from New Zealand, Dr. David Hyerle from the US and Professor Bob Burden from the University of Exeter, an increasing number of schools took this whole-school approach. In 2011 Richard and David Hyerle established Thinking Schools International (TSI). Their first overseas contract was with the Malaysian Government who commissioned the company to lead a project involving all 10,000 state schools. TSI worked with ten pilot schools and trained over 400 Ministry of Education personnel. From there TSI has entered into partnerships with organizations in Thailand, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, the US, Norway and Lithuania while also expanding the work in the UK. The scale and scope of the work continues to grow and discussions are taking place with organizations in other countries who wish to bring the Thinking Schools approach to their teachers and students.
Estrella (Estee) López, Ed.D.
Conspire to Inspire has been the lifelong mantra Estrella (Estee) López has espoused throughout her career. Assistant professor, school district administrator, Principal, BETAC Director, National and State consultant, professional developer, reviewer for publishers, classroom teacher, author and artist Estee Lopez has, over her career, promoted excellence and achievement on behalf of all students in particular English language learners. During her professional 38 year trajectory in education, Estee is known for her candid, outspoken advocacy for equity and excellence for all children of public schools, most especially English language learners. Estee combines leadership with scholarship in every professional venue. She has supported quality bilingual and ESL programs, as well as general education to ensure cognitively challenging teaching and learning experiences. She has encouraged teachers and administrators to support these programs and processes through research, conference presentations, capacity building, and networking. Her leadership style is inclusive, collaborative and strategic. Her major area of expertise is the application cognitive research to educational practice to support struggling learners and English language learners She has gained recognition by the New York State Board of Regents, as she co-chaired the ELA-ESL Standards Review Initiative. She has worked with the New York State Superintendents Council, New York State TESOL, various Board of Cooperative Education Service organizations, and higher education institutions. Her current work with the Thinking Foundation and the New York State Education Department has served to bridge language acquisition and cognition for ELLs at the state and national level as the state is preparing to implement the national Common Core Standards. She has received numerous awards including the Life Time Achievement Award from The New York State TESOL and The New York State Association for Bilingual Education; however she claims no award can compare with the joy of knowing that in some small way students and teachers have achieved their potential because of her efforts. Estee Lopez is a native of both New York and Puerto Rico. She completed her undergraduate at Dowling College, postgraduate studies at C.W. Post and her doctoral studies at St. John Fisher College. Her dissertation topic that focuses on the Effects of Thinking Maps on academic language development of ELLs.
Arthur L. Costa, Ed.D.
Arthur L. Costa, Ed.D. is a Professor of Education, Emeritus from California State University, Sacramento, where he taught graduate courses to teachers and administrators in curriculum, supervision, and the improvement of instruction. He edited the book, Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking; is the author of The Enabling Behaviors, Teaching for Intelligent Behaviors and Supervision for Intelligent Teaching; and is co-author of Cognitive Coaching and Techniques for Teaching Thinking. He has also written numerous other articles and publications on supervision, teaching strategies and thinking skills. Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick, define and describe 16 types of intelligent behavior in their four book series, Habits of Mind: A Developmental Series, published in 2000 by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in Alexandria, VA. Habits of Mind aid students in school and adults in everyday life as they are challenged by problems, dilemmas, paradoxes, and enigmas for which the solutions are not immediately apparent. Drawing on the Habits of Mind means knowing how to behave intelligently when you don't know the answers. It means not only having information, but also knowing how to act on it. Go to the following websites for more information: Habits of Mind website www.habits-of-mind.net; Australia Habits of Mind network website www.habitsofmind.org Dr. Costa has made presentations and conducted workshops for educators throughout the United States and in Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the South Pacific. He taught in the Bellflower School District, worked as a curriculum consultant in the Los Angeles County Superintendent of School’s Office, and served as Director of Educational Programs for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the Western States, and was Assistant Superintendent of the Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools office.
Kimberly Williams, PhD.
Kimberly has served on the faculty of the following institutions: Syracuse University, Dartmouth College, State University of New York colleges at Cortland and Morrisville, Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Plymouth State University. She has taught courses about cognitive neuroscience and education; education policy, history, and philosophy; assessment; educational equity; and teaching methods. She has authored numerous books and articles including a recent journal article on assessment.
Gerald Lauber, Ed.D.
Dr. Gerald Lauber Senior Advisor to the Thinking Foundation and a principal in the Cognitive Process Associates. Gerry was Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the NUA’s Teaching Financial Literacy Education initiative and brings to the Thinking Foundation a background that includes academic, technological and corporate experience. As a Senior Advisor to the Thinking Foundation, Dr. Lauber works on helping transform information into knowledge using the latest brain based visual tools that are supported by the foundation. Dr. Lauber served as an advisor to Master Cards Senior Advisory group on financial literacy and was recently appointed to the Education Committee of JumpStart.
Joyce Graham, Ph.D.
Dr. Joyce M. Graham is a nationally known expert in designing and developing professional development for several educational publishers as well as numerous school districts. With over 30 years experience working with a wide range of teachers and students from urban, Native American and suburban districts she has been responsible for planning, implementing and developing successful models of professional development. Dr. Graham has also worked extensively with several professional development groups including the National Urban Alliance and the Innovative Learning Group conducting workshops in Thinking Maps. Dr. Graham has co-authored several books for classroom teachers and writes for several non-profit groups. She is the recipient of the Excellence in Education Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a Penn State College of Education alumnus, for significant contributions to the field of education.
Kathy Ernst, MS.Ed.
Kathy Ernst has served as co-founder of an alternative Pre-K-6 school, classroom teacher,developer and teacher of gifted programs, adjunct professor, mathematics coach and national consultant. She holds a MS.Ed in Educational Leadership from Bank Street College of Education. She has taught courses for teachers in curriculum and assessment, differentiation, mathematics instruction, and problem solving. She was one of the teacher developers of the Vermont Mathematics Portfolio Assessment Program, a statewide assessment program for students in grades 4, 8, and 11. Kathy also served as a consultant with the US DOE’s Teacher-to-Teacher initiative. The workshop she conducted for them in developing computational fluency continues to be offered to teachers nationwide as a digital course. For over thirty years she has served as a consultant providing support to schools and systems throughout the US to improve mathematics education. Her work with teachers focuses on using Thinking Maps to develop collaborative and explicit processes of coaching, supervision, and lesson study. Her practice also involves using Thinking Maps to facilitate the development of students’ metacognition in problem solving. Kathy is the co-author of the published text, Success from the Start: Your First Years Teaching Elementary Mathematics , National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2014).