Deborah Loewenberg Ball
Dean of the School of Education, University of Michigan

Deborah Loewenberg Ball is dean of the School of Education and William H. Payne Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan. She conducts research on mathematics instruction and on professional education to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Michigan, she was on the faculty at the College of Education at Michigan State University from 1988-1996. Ball served as an elementary school teacher in East Lansing, Michigan from 1976–1988. Dr. Ball has authored or co-authored over 150 publications and has lectured world wide. She serves on the Board of the Spencer Foundation, is a trustee of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California, and was elected to membership in the National Academy of Education in 2007. Dr. Ball holds a B.A. in French and education from Michigan State University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in education with specializations in teacher education, education policy, and mathematics education, also from Michigan State University.

Anthony S. Bryk
President of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, New Jersey

Anthony S. Bryk is the ninth president of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He held the Spencer Chair in Organizational Studies in the School of Education and the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University from 2004 until assuming Carnegie's presidency in September 2008. Prior to Stanford, he held the Marshall Field IV Professor of Education post in the sociology department at the University of Chicago, where he founded the Center for Urban School Improvement which supports reform efforts in the Chicago Public Schools. Bryk also founded the Consortium on Chicago School Research which has produced a range of studies to advance and assess urban school reform. In addition, he has made contributions to the development of new statistical methods in educational research. At Carnegie he is leading work on strengthening the research and development infrastructure for improving teaching and learning. Bryk holds a B.S. from Boston College, an Ed.D. from Harvard University, and was recently honored by Boston College with an honorary doctorate for his contributions to education reform.

Robert Granger
Robert Granger has been president of the William T. Grant Foundation since 2003. The Foundation supports research and related activities intended to improve the lives of young people. The Foundation's current focus is on how social settings such as schools, community organizations, and neighborhoods influence young people; how to improve these settings; and how research influences policy and practice. In the past few years the Foundation has focused on building a robust portfolio of grantees studying how practitioners acquire, interpret, and use research evidence. An emerging foundation interest is in understanding why effects vary when intervention programs are brought to new sites. Before joining the Foundation in 2000 as Senior Vice President of Programs, Dr. Granger served as Senior Vice President of the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) and Executive Vice President at Bank Street College of Education. Dr. Granger also was the inaugural chair of the National Board for Education Sciences during the Bush administration and has been reappointed to the Board by President Obama. In addition, Dr. Granger serves on the editorial board for several professional journals. He received his Ed.D. in Early Childhood Education (1973) from the University of Massachusetts, and is an expert on the evaluation of policies and program for low-income children and youth.

Kris D. Gutiérrez
Professor of Literacy and Learning Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder

Kris D. Gutiérrez is Professor of Literacy and Learning Sciences and holds the Inaugural Provost's Chair at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is also Professor Emerita of Social Research Methodology at GSE&IS at UCLA. Professor Gutiérrez is a national leader in education, with an emphasis in literacy and learning. Gutiérrez is a member of the National Academy of Education and is the current President of the American Educational Research Association and President of the National Conference on Research on Language and Literacy. Gutiérrez received her undergraduate and master's degrees in English and Reading Education at Arizona State University and her Ph.D. in English and Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Bridget Terry Long
Professor of Education and Economics, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Bridget Terry Long is professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a research affiliate of the National Center for Postsecondary Research. An economist specializing in the study of education, Dr. Long examines the transition from high school to higher education and beyond. Her work focuses on college access and choice, factors that influence student outcomes, and the behavior of postsecondary institutions. Dr. Long received the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship and has been awarded numerous research grants and awards, including the Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award for excellence in research. Dr. Long received her A.B. from Princeton University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Harvard University Department of Economics.

Margaret R. (Peggy) McLeod
Education Consultant

Margaret R. (Peggy) McLeod serves as a consultant to national advocacy and professional organizations, universities, states, and school districts on issues related to the education of English language learners, immigrant youth and English language learners with disabilities. Dr. McLeod served as Executive Director of Student Services in the Alexandria (VA) City Public Schools. She served as Assistant Superintendent for special education in the District of Columbia (DC) Office of the State Superintendent of Education. She has also served as State Title III Director, Director of the Office of Bilingual Education, Title VII Coordinator, bilingual program developer, and ESL teacher in the District. She worked at the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services from 1995–2001. In her native Puerto Rico, she taught in two Montessori schools and owned a center that provided afterschool services to students with disabilities. Dr. McLeod holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Puerto Rico, an M.A. in Special Education from New York University, and an Ed.D. in Bilingual Special Education Leadership from the George Washington University.

Robert A. Underwood
President, University of Guam

Robert A. Underwood is currently the president of the University of Guam. A lifelong educator in Guam, he has been a classroom teacher, school board member, dean of the College of Education and academic vice president for the University of Guam. He also represented Guam in the U.S. House of Representatives for five terms and was a founding member and first chair of the Board of Directors for the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund.