About the Authors

 

Dr. Avis Glaze is a well-known international leader in education. As Ontario’s first chief student achievement officer and founding CEO of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, she played a pivotal role in improving student achievement in Ontario. Avis is currently the founder and president of her company, Edu-quest International, Inc.

Avis has worked at all levels of the education system—from classroom teacher to superintendent of schools, director of education, and education officer. She was research coordinator with the Ontario Women’s Directorate of the Ministry of Labour. She also served as Ontario’s education commissioner and senior adviser to the Minister of Education.

Avis was commissioner on the Ontario Royal Commission on Learning, influencing the direction of education in the province. She represented the Canadian government with education reform in South Africa and at the UNESCO conference on inclusive education in Riga, Latvia. As well, she has worked with educators in Australia, New Zealand, England, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Singapore, the Caribbean, and many parts of the United States.

Avis has received honorary doctorates from several Canadian universities, including her alma mater, the University of Toronto. She has won more than 40 awards for outstanding contribution to education, including Educator of the Year, the Sandford D. McDonnell Lifetime Achievement Award for Character Education offered by the Character Education Partnership in the United States, and the Order of Ontario.

She has been involved in a landmark research on Ontario high school girls and has written many articles on topics as diverse as leadership, career development, character education, diversity, equity, and inclusive education. She co-authored Towards Freedom: The African-Canadian Experience (with Ken Alexander) and Breaking Barriers; Excellence and Equity for All (Glaze, Mattingley, & Levin, 2012).

Ruth Mattingley has provided leadership in education provincially, nationally, and internationally. Ruth was formerly the senior executive officer at the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ontario Ministry of Education. In this role, Ruth worked closely with Ontario’s chief student achievement officer, Dr. Avis Glaze, to develop Ontario’s provincial strategy for improving achievement in literacy and numeracy for elementary school students. Ruth also worked closely with school districts and schools across Ontario as they developed strategic plans that focused on improving student achievement. Ruth is currently an associate with Edu-quest International.

Prior to joining the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ruth was a superintendent of education with the Lambton Kent District School Board with portfolios ranging from curriculum development and implementation, special education, and human resources, as well as supervising a family of schools. Ruth also has experience as an elementary school principal, classroom, and special education teacher.

Ruth has worked with educational leaders both within Canada and internationally with a focus on district and school improvement planning, high-impact strategies for improving student achievement, equity and diversity, and improving student achievement in schools in challenging circumstances. Ruth has written numerous articles and recently co-authored Breaking Barriers: Excellence and Equity for All (Glaze, Mattingley, & Levin, 2012).

Ruth is a past president of the Ontario Public Supervisory Officers Association (OPSOA) and a past president of the Canadian Association of School Administrators (CASA). She was the recipient of the OPSOA Distinguished Leadership Award and the Ontario recipient of the CASA Excel Leadership Award.

Rob Andrews is the director of the Student Success/Learning to 18 Strategic Implementation, Innovation and Support branch of the Student Achievement Division at the Ontario Ministry of Education. He has also served as a teacher, vice principal, principal, and superintendent of education with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (Peterborough, Ontario) with responsibility for student success, alternative education, and secondary school reform. Rob spent an additional year serving as an education officer for the Strategic Policy Branch of the Student Success Branch at the Ontario Ministry of Education in 2005–2006. He has been involved with Ontario’s Student Success initiative since its inception in 2003 and has worked in this capacity with directors of education, supervisory officers, Student Success leaders, secondary school principals, Ministry of Education staff, teacher teams, and consultants to develop and implement professional supports. With an emphasis on the four “pillars” of student success, these supports focus on the leadership, facilitation and strategies that allow for broad changes in secondary school programs, transitions to secondary schools, supporting students at risk, and changing school and system culture with respect to serving all students. He has also been engaged in planning for the enhanced use of instructional technology in the teaching and learning process.

Rob has been involved in school and community collaboration and has engaged key stakeholders in the analysis of system data, in the performance of baseline establishment, gap analysis, goal and target setting, strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring for initiatives related to the Student Success portfolio. He has been a secondary school teacher and administrator since 1987 and has extensive experience with adult and alternative education. He holds a master of education degree in educational administration and has been a supervisory officer in Ontario since 2006.