Content in Context

Fernando M. Reimers
Ford Foundation Professor of International Education
Director, International Education Policy
Harvard University

Keynote Speaker, General Session: Future View
Monday, June 4
9:00 - 10:30 am

Fernando M. Reimers is the Ford Foundation Professor of International Education and Director of the International Education Policy Program at the Graduate School of Education and an Affiliated Professor at the Law School at Harvard University. He teaches courses on education policy, educational innovation and instructional improvement. He Chairs an annual Think Tank on Global Education, which is one of the premier global convenings of leaders of thought and practice on this subject.

Jill Abbott
CEO,  Abbott Advisor Group
Executive Director, SBAC System Architecture Development, Measured Progress 

International Markets Forum
Going Global: Mission Critical Strategies and Tactics 
Sunday, June 3
1:45 - 2:45 pm

Jill Abbott is the CEO of Abbott Advisor Group.  Her primary focus is on providing strategic planning and visioning and policy development for the role of educational technology in education transformation.  Ms. Abbott previously served as SIF Association’s Associate Executive Director/COO.  Her responsibilities included developing the vision and expanding the current specification to support and enable the teaching and learning process internationally, formulated policy development needs, empowered eLearning through open standards development and fostered strategic partnerships that advocate interoperability to support learning. Jill’s experience includes classroom teaching, curriculum and professional development, assessment and evaluation, virtual education and virtual learning strategic visioning and development in the vendor and state and international policy space.

Jane Benson
COO
Espresso Education

Reaching Your Customer: Sales and Service: There and Back Again
Monday, June 4
4:00 - 5:00 pm

Jane is responsible for effectively managing the Espresso customer lifecycle, from prospective customers through to renewing subscribers, and has developed the Group’s Shared Services capability to encompass marketing, operations, customer support and training. She successfully scaled the organisation and its processes to meet Espresso's demands during its steepest points of growth, while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction and staff retention. Under Jane’s direction, the company won the 2010 BETT award for Service and Support, a new category introduced that year, citing Espresso’s highly effective model of customer support.  

Robert Boyd
Principal
Governmental and Lobbying
Sachs Sax Caplan

Research & Policy: Future View:  State Policy Trends Impacting Curriculum & Educational Content
Monday, June 4
4:00 - 5:00 pm

Robert J. Boyd is the managing partner of the Tallahassee office of Sachs Sax Caplan.  Mr. Boyd practices primarily in the area of governmental affairs, education and administrative law and he is an AV Rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. Boyd has extensive experience representing clients before the Florida Legislature, including representation of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF) as their General Counsel and lobbyist, the Professional Educators Network (PEN) of Florida as their General Counsel, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the Florida Association of Academic Nonpublic Schools (FAANS), the Florida Cemetery, Funeral and Cremation Association (FCFCA), the Book Manufacturers Institute (BMI) as their General Counsel, Higher Educational Facilities Financing Authority (HEFFA), the Catholic Church of Florida and the Archdiocese of Miami, and the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS).

Randi Brill
President
Quarasan!

Publishing Know-How: Innovation Evolution: A Product Development Case Study
Monday, June 4
4:00 - 5:00 pm

Randi Brill founded Quarasan in 1982 and has built it into a leading educational product developer. The company provides full-service content development including editorial, design, interactivity, and management services for all major disciplines in Pre-K through 12. Randi's belief that innovation is a powerful fuel for our industry is evident in Quarasan's results.

Marcie Buckle
Education Program Consultant
Louisiana Department of Education

Research & Policy: Navigating Evolving Digital Markets
Tuesday, June 5
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Marcie’s primary responsibilities for the last eleven years at the Louisiana Department of Education have included the coordination of the state’s vetting process for instructional materials.

For many years Marcie has represented Louisiana in the State Instructional Materials Review Association (SIMRA), formerly the National Association of State Textbook Administrators (NASTA).  Since 2007, she has served in a leadership role, including two terms as President.  She continues to represent Louisiana by currently serving as Chair of the Advisory Commission on Textbook Specifications (ACTS) and Treasurer of SIMRA.  Marcie also serves on an ACTS focus group, facilitating dialogue among states, publishers, and providers regarding common problematic areas that surface during the review of digital materials.

Jack Buckley
Commissioner
National Center for Education Statistics
Institute of Education Sciences
U.S. Department of Education

Metadata Lab
Education Data Standards Overview
Monday, June 4
10:45 am - 12:15 pm

Sean P. “Jack” Buckley is Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. He is currently on leave from New York University, where he is associate professor of applied statistics. He also served previously as Deputy Commissioner of NCES from 2006 to 2008. Buckley is known for his research on school choice, particularly charter schools, and on statistical methods for public policy. He has taught statistics and education policy at Georgetown University, Boston College, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Buckley also spent five years in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer and nuclear reactor engineer, and he also worked in the intelligence community as an analytic methodologist. He holds an A.B. in Government from Harvard and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from SUNY Stony Brook. Buckley lives in Bethesda, MD, with his wife and two children.

Robert Calfee
Professor Emeritus
School of Education, Stanford University

Breakout Strand: Publishing Know-How: The Common Core in Action—or, Where Do We Go From Here? 
Tuesday, June 5
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Robert Calfee is a cognitive psychologist with interests in the effect of schooling on the intellectual potential of individuals and groups. His interests have evolved over the past three decades from a focus on assessment of beginning literacy skills to a concern with the broader reach of the school as a literate environment. His theoretical efforts are directed toward the nature of human thought processes, and the influence of language and literacy in the development of problem-solving and communication. He is presently Professor Emeritus from Stanford University and the University of California, Riverside, and remains actively engaged in studies of the relation of reading and writing, and the use of pen-based digital technology to support learning. He chaired the Educational Advisory Board for Leapfrog Educational Products, and is the Education Officer for Moonshoot Inc.

Charles Callis
VP Business Development
Waterford Institute

Hotspots: Around the World in 60 Mins
Sunday, June 3
2:45 - 3:45 pm

Market Specific Roundtables and 1-on-1 Meetings
Sunday, June 3
4:15 - 5:30 pm

Charles Callis is Vice President International for the Waterford Institute and leads Waterford's business development activities globally. Charles has over 25 years executive-level business development experience taking software and technology companies from early stage or startup to profitable multi million / multi billion dollar businesses. Charles has worked with educators, educational institutions, and ministries of education in more than twenty five countries.  He speaks several languages and has lived, worked and traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Charles has served as Managing Director and VP Marketing EMEA for Novell, VP of Global Sales and Marketing for Altiris, Clearone Communications, and Learnframe and as VP Business Development, Strategy and Marketing for Emida Technologies.

Charles received BA and MBA degrees from the University of Utah where as a graduate student he was a National Resource Center fellow and taught modern European history.

Frank Catalano
Principal
Intrinsic Strategy

Moderator: General Session 3: Game Changers: Pass or Play
Tuesday, June 5
9:00 - 10:30 am

Frank Catalano is a strategic marketing consultant and industry analyst. He has worked with a wide variety of education technology and digital learning companies, including Capstone Digital, Sokikom, Apple, Pearson, McGraw-Hill, MetaMetrics and others. His work ranges from developing practical marketing strategies with hands-on execution to longer-term interim executive assignments. Frank also spent four years as senior vice president of marketing for Pearson's U.S. school and assessment businesses. Frank is a well-known speaker, author and media commentator. He writes the Practical Nerd column for GeekWire.com, consults from IntrinsicStrategy.com and tweets @FrankCatalano.