About the Authors
Mike Ruyle, EdD, has served as a classroom teacher, athletic coach, school principal, alternative program director, university professor, and school consultant for over thirty years. He led the creation and implementation of personalized, competency-based schools in Montana and California, and is a recognized authority in the areas of assessment practice, mindfulness in classrooms, social justice, and healing-centered schooling. Mike’s leadership experience and dynamic presentation style have made him a sought-after national and international speaker for numerous schools, districts, state agencies, and conferences. Mike is the author of the book Leading the Evolution: How to Make Personalized Competency-Based Education a Reality, as well as a coauthor of Cultivating Mindfulness in the Classroom, The New Art and Science of Classroom Assessment, and Professional Learning Communities at Work® and High Reliability Schools™: Cultures of Continuous Learning. Mike earned bachelor of arts degrees in history and English from the University of San Francisco, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees in educational leadership from Montana State University. To learn more about Mike’s work, follow @MikeRuyle on Twitter. ibby Child, MEd, has spent over twenty-seven years in L education as a high school special education teacher, a special education program coordinator, and an educational consultant for the Montana Office of Public Instruction in the areas of inclusive education, secondary transition practices for students with special needs, paraeducator development, and co-teaching. Her career has been deeply rooted in the belief that every student deserves an education with dignity and the best possible opportunity to learn and achieve at his or her greatest capacity. ix
