Reflective Practice to Improve Schools

Jennifer York-Barr received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her development, research and teaching has been grounded in partnerships with schools and school districts. Her early worked focused most specifically on creating classroom communities in which students with various exceptionalities were included. That work grew into a broader focus on growing school communities grounded in conversations that support ongoing reflective practice and learning. She has been honored with several college and university level teaching awards and has authored or co-authored more than 100 publications most of which are focused on instructional collaboration, inclusive schooling, teacher leadership and professional learning.

William A. Sommers, Ph.D. of Austin, Texas, continues to be a learner, teacher, principal, author, leadership coach, and consultant. Bill has come out of retirement five times to put theory into practice. He was on the Board of Trustees for five years and President for the National Staff Development Council now called Learning Forward.



Dr. Sommers is the former Executive Director for Secondary Curriculum and Professional Learning for Minneapolis Public Schools, and a school administrator for over 30 years. In addition to being an adjunct faculty member at several universities, he has been a program director for an adolescent chemical dependency treatment center and on the board of a halfway house for 20 years.



Bill has co-authored eight books, and co-authored chapters in several other books. In January 2016 Bill and his colleague Skip Olsen launched a website www.learningomnivores.com which includes educational blogs, new rules, and book reviews. Bill is a practitioner who integrates theory into leading and facilitating schools. Dr. Sommers has continued to be a leadership coach for over 25 years to school administrators.


Gail Ghere

Gail received her PhD from University of Minnesota in educational policy and program evaluation. She has a Masters degree in Special Education with practice experience as a related service provider. Over her career, she worked in Pre K-12 education in rural, suburban, and urban school districts. She also has served as a program evaluator for K-12 education, higher education, and private foundations. She is the co-author of several publications on collaboration, program evaluation, and paraprofessional development. Her belief in equitable outcomes and inclusive learning opportunities for students has guided her work throughout her career whether she was working directly with students, supporting adult learning or developing programs that met the needs of diverse learners.




Jo Montie

Jo received her MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota (1996) and a BS in Behavioral Disabilities from the University of WI-Madison (1984) when she started her work in schools as a special education teacher. She has been teaching at the University of St. Thomas since 2003 where she also contributes leadership in the areas of teacher education program development and online teaching and learning. Jo's over 25 years of teaching and work in schools continues to stress the need for more collaboration, reflective practice and greater access and equity for all learners.