Welcome to the Bridges to Learning Institute 2004!

TOBI-specific Sessions (attendance required)

The following are sessions that are mandatory for TOBI participants only to attend during the Bridges to Learning Institute:

**June 29 - TOBI Speaker Meeting (8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.): Location to be announced

**June 30 - TOBI Luncheon Speaker (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.): Location to be announced

At this institute, you will receive expert instruction from today’s education leaders. You’ll gain practical knowledge that will better prepare you for the challenges you’ll face in the fall. You’ll walk away with cutting-edge strategies. And, you’ll do it all at an exciting summer resort location!

Dozens of sessions will cover such diverse topics as the following:

• Educational Initiatives
• Functional Assessment
• Schoolwide Literacy
• Fluency
• Math Collaboration
• Social Skills and Conflict Resolution
• School and Classroom Positive Discipline
• Inclusion and Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners
• Academic Success for Students with Learning Disabilities

Hildegarde Ayer, ACSW, MDR
is the executive director of the Lee Pesky Learning Center. She has worked extensively with Casey Family Programs, which provides direct services and promotes advances in child-welfare practice and policy. As a consultant, she completed a project for the Idaho Supreme Court to assess and address the needs of children in the Idaho court system.

Randall L. De Pry, Ph.D.
is an associate professor of Special Education at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He specializes in the development of educational programs that provide academic and behavioral support for learners with challenging behaviors. De Pry is a fellow in the University of Colorado’s Emerging Leaders Program and is on the State Leadership Team for the Colorado Behavior Initiative.

David J. Francis, Ph.D.
is a professor of quantitative methods and chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Houston. He has authored or coauthored over 90 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association. He is a codeveloper of the Texas Primary Reading Inventory and Tejas Lee Early Reading Assessments.

Mickey Garrison, Ph.D.
heads Educational Support Services, a firm that provides workshops on effective behavioral interventions. She has taught, supervised, developed, and consulted for programs for students with behavioral/emotional difficulties and learning disabilities. In addition, she has taught general education and has been an administrator at both the elementary and middle school levels.

Margo Healy, M.Ed.
is a national literacy consultant for the Lee Pesky Learning Center. She has over 20 years of experience in the classroom and has taught in Grades K–8. She was also involved with Title 1 reading and Special Education. She served at the district level as director of Language Arts and Professional Development.

Stevan Kukic, Ph.D.
is vice president of Professional Support and Sales for Sopris West Educational Services. Previously, he was an independent consultant for Franklin Covey’s Education Division, and for 11 years prior to that, he was the director for At-Risk and Special Education for the Utah State Office of Education. Kukic is a past president of NASDSE. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in School Administration.

Kim Marcum, M.Ed.
is an independent reading, writing, and behavior consultant. She was involved in education as a learning specialist and special education teacher for 14 years. Later, as a principal, she earned the Distinguished Principal of the Year 2000 award. In addition, she has published materials and given presentations in the areas of behavior, discipline, and study skills.

Lynda McKelvey, B.A.
is the program director of mathematics at Sopris West Educational Services, where she collaborates with authors and oversees the sales and marketing activities for math programs. She has 14 years of teaching experience at the middle school level, working with students in grades 6-8 in the subjects of Language Arts and Math.

Louisa Moats, Ed.D.
is known for her publications on reading, language, and professional development. She authored the American Federation of Teachers’ Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science, Learning First Alliance’s Every Child Reading: A Professional Development Guide, and The Reading First’s Leadership Academy’s Professional Development Blueprint. Dr. Moats is also the creator of LETRS, Colleague in the Classroom, and Spellography.

Marti Monroe, Ph.D.
works as an early literacy specialist for The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation in The Open Book Initiative (TOBI) and for the Lee Pesky Learning Center. She complements that work with Positive Discipline; being a licensed marriage, family, and child therapist; and her involvement with Nonviolent Communication.

Bonnie Seibert, MSW, LCSW
is a licensed clinical social worker who has worked with children with behavioral and emotional difficulties for over 20 years in various settings such as, school, residential treatment, and psychiatric hospitals. Areas of expertise include behavior management, preventative interventions, student assessment/plan intervention, class and schoolwide effective behavior support, and clinical expertise.

Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D.
is professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and chief of Pediatric Neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Shaywitz has a long-standing interest in disorders of learning and attention in children and young adults. Recently he has used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to discover differences in brain organization and function in children and adults with dyslexia.

Sally Shaywitz, M.D.
is professor of Pediatrics and Child Study at the Yale University School of Medicine. She is codirector of the Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention. Dr. Shaywitz’s research provides the basic framework for the scientific study of learning disabilities, particularly dyslexia, in children. Dr. Shaywitz is the author of Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at any Level published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2003.

Randy Sprick, Ph.D.
an independent consultant, is a nationally recognized expert on discipline and motivation. A former teacher and assistant professor, he has abundant experience teaching students with emotional and behavioral disorders, and has supervised programs for students who struggle in school.

Carol Tolman, Ph.D.
an educator and consultant, brings over 20 years of experience to the field of reading, writing, and spelling. Dr. Tolman is a teacher trainer in collaboration with Dr. Louisa Moats’s work with Language Essentials for the Teaching of Reading and Spelling (LETRS). She also provides staff development for Spellography, an innovative spelling curriculum for students in grades four through seven.

Chauncey Veatch, J.D.
is a national and worldwide educational spokesperson. In 2002, President George Bush introduced him as the National Teacher of the year. Veatch believes literacy and student relationships are the keys to lifelong learning and identifies service learning as an important part of his curriculum. He served in the U.S. Army infantry and the medical services corps, retiring with the rank of colonel.

John Woodward, Ph.D.
is currently a professor of education at the University of Puget Sound. Dr. Woodward has coauthored four technology-based programs for students with learning disabilities and a series of math texts for middle school students. He has been principal investigator on 12 federal grants and has published over 70 articles in professional journals.

Anita Archer, Ph.D.
serves as an educational consultant to school districts. She has taught elementary and middle school students and is the recipient of eight Outstanding Educator awards. She has been a faculty member at San Diego State University, the University of Washington, and the University of Oregon. Archer is nationally known for her presentations and publications on instructional procedures and design.

Jonathan Brendefur, Ph.D.
is assistant professor of Elementary Education and Specialized Studies in the College of Education at Boise State University. He is also a principal investigator on two grants— Instructional Learning Teams and Creating High Performance Schools. His areas of scholarly work lie in mathematics education, teacher beliefs, instructional practices, assessment, curriculum development, and mathematical discourse.

Marybeth Flachbart, M.Ed., C.A.L.T.
is director of Reading First in Idaho. She is also a member of the National Governors Association Early Childhood Task Force and serves on the Governor’s Coordinating Council for Families and Children. She is president-elect of the Idaho Branch of the International Reading Association. She was a reading specialist and reading teacher trainer and is certified as an academic language therapist.