Presenters

Dr Tessie Rose Bailey  

Tessie is a principal technical assistance consultant at AIR . Her primary responsibilities include developing high quality technical assistance resources and providing technical assistance to states, districts, and institutions of higher education. She provides support through the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center, National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI), and Center for Response to Intervention (CRTI). She has extensive experience in response to intervention, special education services and law, secondary and transition services, teacher education and evaluation, and scaling up evidence-based practices.

Prior to AIR, Dr. Bailey was an assistant professor at Montana State University Billings (MSUB). In this role, she taught general and special education undergraduate and graduate courses, co-chaired the Montana Higher Education Consortium, and received the 2014 Montana State University Billings Faculty Excellence Award and the 2015 ASMSUB Outstanding Faculty Award. Dr. Bailey has conducted over 100 professional development workshops and presentations in evidence-based practices and publishes in special education law and policy, RTI/MTSS, and teacher preparation. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Utah in special education curriculum and assessment and post-doctoral work in RTI/MTSS and transition at Lehigh University’s Center for Promoting Research to Practic

Dr Eliza Thomas

Eliza Thomas is a proud Montana educator educated in Wolf Point, Montana K-12, and the University of Montana, Missoula (Bachelors in Elementary Education, Administrative Endorsement and a EdD in Literacy) She has dedicated her life to teaching and learning and she loves to share her passion and expertise with others..

Currently, she’s a full time, tenured, faculty member and division chair at Flathead Valley Community College developing future teachers. In her spare time, she consults with districts across Montana and the United States. She holds a Master’s degree in multicultural, bilingual, and ESL education and a Doctoral degree in Literacy. Eliza currently leads FVCC’s Early Childhood Education classes and co-chairs the Teaching and Learning Center on campus designed to support all faculty in teaching and learning techniques.

No matter where she has worked, from the small rural multiage classroom where she began her career, to the specialist classrooms in the capital of Bangladesh, to the community college campus, she thrives when working to support student success. During the last twenty-six years, her career spans from early childhood education to higher education and all areas in between.

Eliza has worked in all content areas and specialty areas as well as authored several teacher math resource books including Math Play and Times Up on Timed Tests (co-authored).

Currently, she resides in Northwest Montana with her mom, husband, two bonus-daughters, and two fur babies.  When she’s not teaching and learning, she enjoys the great outdoors in her “glamper”(glamor camper) and creative endeavors involving pens and paint in her “croffice” (creative office).

Dr Keith Radley III

 Dr Keith Radley, Ph.D., BCBA-D, NCSP is the Dee Endowed Professor of School Psychology and director of training of the School Psychology Program at the University of Utah. He is also a licensed psychologist and behavior analyst. Dr. Radley’s research interests center on the application of behavioral interventions within academic settings, particularly for individuals with developmental disabilities. Further, his research focuses on data collection, visualization, and decision making in both research and applied contexts.

2024 – Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Utah

Director of Training, School Psychology Program, University of Utah

2023 – Associate Chair, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Utah

2018 – 2024 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Utah

Director of Training, School Psychology Program, University of Utah

2012-2018  Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Southern

Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

2012-2018 Director, Southern Miss Autism Research and Treatment (SMART) Lab,

University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Stephanie Lester

Stephanie Lester has over 35 years in education including: teaching preschool and a Project-Based Learning Multiage K-1st program, professional development speaker, author, Assistant

Principal, Early Childhood Education Director, and Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment.

Currently Stephanie partners with school communities as an Educational Consultant focusing on providing literacy support aligned with the science of reading, as well as professional development training on a variety of topics. Stephanie believes that children learn best when they are excited, engaged, and experiencing success in the learning environment. Stephanie has published two books: Year-Round Project-Based Activities for STEM and Science Through the Year. Stephanie is passionate about inspiring, educating, and motivating teachers to implement evidence-based instructional practices with the goal of developing the social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills that children will need to experience SUCCESS as 21st Century learners.

When Stephanie isn’t exploring with her grandchildren, you will find her creating hands-on STEM activities, presenting workshops on a variety of topics, and consulting with teachers throughout the country. Stephanie Lester holds a MA degree in Education: Curriculum and Instruction, an Administrative Credential, a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, a CLAD Certification, CLASS certification, and a Program Director Child Development permit. 

Carrie Cole                                                                                           

One of Carrie's greatest strengths is her ability to communicate and demonstrate how to put the latest research into action in the “real world” classroom. She is a contributing author to the Teaching Reading Sourcebook (2nd Ed.), working for over two years on this project from conception to publication.  This was a thought-provoking experience that allowed her the time to pour over the recent published research and then work with an amazing team to develop a thorough but concise graphic explanation of research-based content and best practices in reading instruction. Specifically, Carrie's experience with “real world” implementation issues gave her the background needed to work on several of the book’s lesson models, providing a bridge between the research and classroom.

Currently, much of Carrie's work consists of writing and delivering on-site professional development at the school, district, and state levels that is centered around fundamental knowledge in effective research-based reading instructional practices, based on the latest reading and writing research, with explicit connections to the Common Core Standards.  Her biggest strength lies in working side-by-side with teachers to bridge the research to practice gap, bringing these research-based instructional strategies to the classroom in a very real way.

Dr Rob Watson

 Rob has spent over 30 years in K-12 public education leadership roles. Currently, he's the Executive Director at School Administrators of Montana. Rob advocates for public education, develops policies, and provides leadership professional learning. He also facilitates a consensus process to develop comprehensive solutions for complex issues.

Rob's experience includes serving as the school superintendent in two of Montana’s most progressive communities, Bozeman and Missoula, for over ten years. Rob holds a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education from Montana State University, a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Alaska, and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Montana.

Rob has received numerous awards, including the GV Erickson Award in 2016 and the Superintendent of the Year award in 2018, awarded by his superintendent colleagues from Montana. Rob believes in using the consensus process to solve complex issues by building trusting relationships through transparency and honest communication.

Sara Cole

 PK-8 Assistant Superintendent at Kalispell Public Schools, Montana and mother to three beautiful children, brings 20+ years of experience in education, administration, and professional development. She has a B.A. in History and Special Education, an M.Ed. in Organizational Leadership and champions safety, equity, and student growth. In collaboration with district leaders, Sara drives a shift to Personalized Competency-Based Education, aiming to empower all learners. 

"Rocket" Rob Reynolds

 Technology and Learning Coach - TLC, recently retired from Eureka Public Schools (2024). Masters in Educational Technology from Lesley University, and BS in Elementary Education from Montana State University.  Been a driving force in Eureka and other Montana schools in helping to adopt and implement the Google suite of collaborative tools and create custom automated tools for gathering, analyzing and presenting data. A mentor for FIRST robotics teams and Chairman of the Board for Montana Robotics Alliance.

Montana Empowerment Center - Heidi Gibson, Executive Director

Montana Empowerment Center is Montana's Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs). PTI's are federally-funded nonprofits helping families of children with disabilities have meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children. We do this through individualized assistance, training, and resources that help parents work with schools, providers, and educational systems to meet the unique needs of their children.  As a PTI, we help families of children with disabilities understand their rights, navigate special education systems, and access resources. We draw on the evidence-based resources from our network of 100 other parent centers to: 

-Provide workshops, support, and one-on-one help to empower parents to advocate for their child’s education and needs. 

-Provide information and training for people with disabilities on special education, transitioning from school to adulthood, employment, and self-advocacy. 

-Help parents understand how to navigate the special education process.  

-Offer one-on-one support for individual needs related to special education and transitioning.  

-Assist with planning the move from high school to adult life. 

-Free for families.

-Confidential.