KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Judy Elliott, Ph.D.,

Chief Academic Officer, LAUSD

Judy Elliott, Ph.D., is the Chief Academic Officer of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Most recently she was the Chief of Teaching and Learning in the Portland Oregon Public Schools; and prior to that an Assistant Superintendent of Long Beach Unified School District in CA. Judy was also a Senior Researcher at the National Center on Educational Outcomes at the University of Minnesota and started her career as a classroom teacher and then school psychologist.

Some of Dr. Elliott’s many interests include the problem-solving process and data-based decision making to improve effective instruction, the use of formative assessments and progress monitoring to increase instruction and behavior outcomes, and the role of leadership in systems change.

She has trained thousands of staff, teachers, and administrators in the United States and abroad, in the areas of inclusive schooling that include: the problem-solving process, Response to Instruction and Intervention, linking assessment to classroom instruction/intervention, strategies and tactics for effective instruction, curriculum adaptation for students with disabilities.

She received her degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her book writing efforts include:

• Strategies and Tactics for Effective Instruction-II (SoprisWest, Inc);
• Timesavers for Educators (SoprisWest, Inc), Testing Students with Disabilities:
• Practical Strategies for Complying with State and District Requirements (2nd ed Corwin Press), Improving Test Performance of Students with Disabilities on District and State Assessments (2nd ed. Corwin Press),
• Response to Intervention: Policy Considerations and Implementation (NASDSE, 2004)
• Most recently she was a lead author on the Response to Intervention Blueprint: District Level Edition (NASDSE, 2008)

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Matthew Peterson, Ph.D.,

Co-founder & CTO, MIND Research Institute

Matthew Peterson, Ph.D. is Co-Founder, Senior Institute Scientist & Chief Technical Officer of the MIND Research Institute. He is the creator of ST (Spatial Temporal) Math -- instructional software for teaching math. After completing his undergraduate degrees in Biology, Electrical Engineering and Chinese Language and Literature from UC Irvine, he went on to obtain his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UC Berkeley. Dr. Peterson is an expert in the neural basis of visual processing and develops cutting edge methods to convey sophisticated concepts visually. In addition to his scientific publications, he is also the author of Interactive QuickTime: Authoring WiredMedia, Morgan Kaufman, 2003.