Presenters
James Toole, Ph.D.
James Toole, Ph.D., is President of Compass Institute and a Teaching and Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota in the School of Social Work and College of Education. He has taught at every level from preschool and kindergarten through graduate school. James works with a wide variety of organizations on issues including service-learning, global youth leadership development, organizational change, connecting spiritually and service, and global health. His main mentor is his four-year-old daughter Christiana.
Dr. Alexa Posny
Dr. Alexa Posny has been the Kansas Commissioner of Education since June 2007. As Commissioner, Dr. Posny works with the Kansas State Board of Education (KSBE) and the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE) in their commitment to help all students meet or exceed high academic standards and to prepare them for their next steps after high school. Prior to this, she was appointed as the Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) for the U.S. Department of Education. In this position, she assisted state and local efforts to effectively educate all children and youth with disabilities, served as the primary communication link between OSEP and constituencies regarding the administration's priorities and initiatives, responded to constituency concerns and needs, and provided leadership for development of national consensus on the issues facing special education.
Other positions Dr. Posny has held include the Deputy Commissioner of Education with KSDE, in which she provided leadership and supervised the delivery of services for school districts, other local education agencies, and teacher preparation institutions regarding school improvement and accreditation, curricular standards, state assessments, licensure and teacher education, state and federal education programs, special education and technical education, and research, data analysis, and reporting. Dr. Posny has also held the positions as Assistant Commissioner for Learning Services, State Director of Special Education, Director of Special Education for the Shawnee Mission School District, Director of the Curriculum and Instruction Specialty Option as part of the Title 1 Technical Assistance Center (TAC) network of TACs across the United States, and a Senior Research Associate at Research and Training Associates in Overland Park, Kansas.
At the heart of what she has been driven to accomplish are the principles of intervening early, providing visionary leaders, ensuring effective teachers, and designing a system to meet students' changing needs in light of the 21st century. Additionally, throughout her career, Dr. Posny has been heavily involved in program, policy, and compliance issues at the district, state, and federal levels. Most importantly, she has been a teacher at the elementary, middle, and high school levels and remains a teacher today, serving as adjunct faculty with the University of Kansas.