A Teacher?s Guide to Change: Understanding, Navigating, and Leading the Process

This professional development resource provides a step-by-step approach that engages K-12 teachers in learning to prepare for change, which enhances their career satisfaction and professional effectiveness.

Jan Stivers is Associate Professor of Special Education at Marist College in Poughkeepsie NY, where she has won awards for excellence in teaching five times. Her specialization is helping teachers master instructional strategies that lead to increased achievement for students with disabilities, especially those who are taught in general education classes. She also serves as a consultant to school districts implementing inclusive education, regularly presenting workshops on collaboration and co-teaching. Dr. Stivers began her career as a special education teacher and experienced many changes - from teaching in self-contained classes to resource programs to inclusive classes, from middle to elementary and finally to the high school level, sometimes relocating and each time teaching students with different disability classifications and educational needs. These changes were not always welcome, but all eventually proved to be valuable as opportunities for professional growth.

Dr. Stivers was awarded the Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Statistics from The State University of New York at Albany. In addition to teaching and consulting, she serves on the Board of Directors of Literacy Connections, a non-profit agency that promotes adult and family literacy in New York¿s Hudson Valley.

Sharon F. Cramer, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Service Professor at Buffalo State College, where she has been a member of the Exceptional Education faculty since 1985. Her prior experience includes chairing the Exceptional Education Department and leadership roles in state and national professional organizations, including serving as President of the New York State Federation of the Council for Exceptional Children, and Publications Chair of the Division of Developmental Disabilities 1997-2001. In 2003, she received the Burton Blatt Humanitarian Award from the Division of Developmental Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children, the highest honor the Division bestows upon its senior members, and in 2008 she received was the recipient of the Leo D. Doherty Memorial Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service, the highest award given by the Northeastern Educational Research Association.

Her publications include a 2006 book with Corwin Press of The Special Educator¿s Guide to Collaboration: Improving Relationships with Co-Teachers, Teams and Families, which is a 2nd edition of Collaboration: A Success Strategy for Special Educators (published by Allyn & Bacon in 1998) and "Keys to Successful Collaboration" in M. Lupi & S. Martin (eds.) Special Women, Special Leaders: Special Educators and the Challenge of Leadership Roles, published in 2005 by Peter Lang. She serves as a governance leader, both on her own campus (as Chair of the College Senate, 2007-9) and on a broader level, as Chair of the Governance Committee of the State University of NY (SUNY) University Faculty Senate (2007-9). Her leadership in the area of enrollment management led to her completion of Student Information Systems: A Guide to Implementation Success, a 320 page book published by AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) in 2005.

A sought-after presenter, Dr. Cramer has given over 100 presentations and keynotes in 21 states and Canada. She completed her Ph.D. studies at New York University, earned an M.A.T. degree from Harvard University and a B. A. from Tufts University. She has been listed in Whös Who in America (60th edition, 2006), Whös Who in American Education (2006-present), and Whös Who in American Women (62nd edition, 2008). Further information about her can be found at her web site, www.sharoncramer.com