2007 Conference Plenary Speakers

Sir Michael Barber
Expert Partner, Global Public Sector Practice, McKinsey & Company & Former Head of British Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit

Michael Barber joined McKinsey on 1 September 2005 as the expert partner in its Global Public Sector Practice. In this capacity, he has been working on major challenges of performance, organisation and reform in government and the public services in the USA, UK and other countries.

Prior to joining McKinsey he was (from 2001) Chief Adviser on Delivery to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. As Head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit he was responsible for the oversight of implementation of the Prime Minister’s priority programmes in health, education, transport, policing, the criminal justice system and asylum/immigration.

On behalf of the Prime Minister he worked closely with ministers and top officials to ensure the policies, systems and processes put in place would deliver promised outcomes.

The approach he developed is widely seen as constructive and innovative and has been described by the IMF as “the frontier” of performance management in Government.

Between 1997 and 2001, Michael Barber was Chief Adviser to the Secretary of State for Education on School Standards. In this role he was responsible for the implementation of the British government’s ambitions and hard-hitting school reform programme including successful programmes to improve literacy and numeracy at primary level, tackle school failure at all levels and contract out failing local education authorities.

Prior to joining government Michael Barber was a Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London and a prolific author whose major publications include The Learning Game: Arguments for an Education Revolution (Indigo 1997), How to do the Impossible: A Guide for Politicians with a Passion for Education (Institute of Education, London 1997) and The Virtue of Accountability (Boston University 2005).

His advice on public policy, especially education has been sought by governments in a number of countries including Australia, the USA, Russia, Estonia and Hong Kong and by major international organisations including the OECD, The World Bank and the IMF.

Doug Brown
Deputy Director – Head of Learning Technologies, Department for Education and Skills, UK

Doug Brown has been involved in the use of technologies in education since starting as teacher in the early 1970s. Prior to joining the civil service in 2001, he was the Birmingham adviser with responsibility for the strategic direction of ICT in schools across the LEA. In this role he led the development of the Birmingham Grid for Learning linking all schools in the area with each other and with global partners.

Having led the Government’s ICT in schools strategy for four years, Mr. Brown now leads on how Learning Technologies can support children and learners of all ages. This covers all aspects of infrastructure, content development and workforce training and support. England has an international reputation in this area and Mr. Brown is regularly invited to share their experiences at international events and by other governments.

Jack Dale, EdD
Superintendent,Fairfax County Public Schools

Jack Dale, EdD joined Fairfax County Public Schools—the nation’s 12th largest school system—as Superintendent on July 1, 2004. From 1996 until June 30, 2004, Dr. Dale served as Superintendent for Frederick County Public Schools. During his fourth year as Superintendent, he was named Maryland’s Superintendent of the Year. Previously, Dr. Dale was the Associate Superintendent for School Administration, Curriculum and Instruction of the Edmonds School District in Edmonds, Washington. He also served as Director of Personnel in the Everett Washington School District; Assistant to the Director at the Center for the Assessment of Administrative Performance at the University of Washington; Director of School Instructional Services; Assistant Principal; and mathematics teacher in the Bellevue School District, Washington.

Born in Seattle, Dr. Dale holds a B.A. in mathematics and education; a Master’s in educational administration; and a Doctorate in education, with an emphasis on effective school leadership and organizational change, from the University of Washington. Dr. Dale is active in professional associations, serving as president of the Washington Area School Superintendent’s Study Council, 2003-04; he also is a member of the American Association of School Administrators; the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; the National School Board Association; and serves on other local professional associations and boards. Dr. Dale is co-editor and author of the book: Creating Successful School Systems and has conducted workshops on teacher compensation systems for No Child Left Behind initiatives. He has also published papers in The Executive Educator; International Journal of Education Reform; American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) Research Brief; and SIRS. .

Chris Dede, EdD
Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

Chris Dede is the Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. His fields of scholarship include emerging technologies, policy, and leadership. His funded research includes a grant from the National Science Foundation to aid middle school students learning science via shared virtual environments and a Star Schools grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help high school students with math and literacy skills using wireless mobile devices to create augmented reality simulations. Dr. Dede has served as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Foundations of Educational and Psychological Assessment, a member of the U.S. Department of Education’s Expert Panel on Technology, and International Steering Committee member for the Second International Technology in Education Study. He serves on Advisory Boards and Commissions for PBS TeacherLine, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center, and several federal research grants. Mr. Dede serves on the Advisory Board for the George Lucas Education Foundation (GLEF). In addition, Dr. Dede is a member of the Board of Directors of the Boston Tech Academy, an experimental small high school in the Boston Public School system, funded by the Gates Foundation. His co-edited book, Scaling Up Success: Lessons Learned from Technology-based Educational Improvement, was published by Jossey-Bass in 2005. A second volume he edited, Online Professional Development for Teachers: Emerging Models and Methods, was published by the Harvard Education Press in 2006.

Karol Galcik, PhD
Superintendent, Highlands School District, PA

Dr. Karol L. Galcik has been Superintendent of the Highlands School District, located in Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania, since 2006. Prior to being appointed Superintendent, Dr. Galcik was the Assistant Principal at Highlands Middle School from 1991 to 1996, Principal at the Middle School from 1996 to 2003, and Assistant Superintendent from 2003 to 2006.

Dr. Galcik received her Master's Degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and her Principal and Superintendent Certificates from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She began her career in education as an English teacher at the Freeport Area School District, Freeport, Pennsylvania.

Norton Gusky
Coordinator of Educational Technology, Fox Chapel Area School District, PA

Norton Gusky has worked over his educational career as a classroom teacher, consultant, technology leader, staff developer and instructor in graduate-level programs. At the present time he is the Coordinator of Educational Technology for the Fox Chapel Area School District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an adjunct staff member in the Masters of Educational Technology Management Program at Carnegie Mellon University, and the chair of the Three Rivers Educational Computer Conference. He has presented on a variety of topics at regional, state and national conferences.

Vince Humes
Director of Technology Solutions and Services, Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit #5, PA

Vince Humes has been in the information technology field for 27 years. He currently is the Director of Technology Solutions and Services for the Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. Previously, he was the Assistant Director of Networking at Gannon University and the Technology Coordinator for the Millcreek Township School District in Erie, Pennsylvania.

In his current position, Mr. Humes focuses on shared services and educational technology opportunities for the 17 school districts and 2 technical schools assigned to the Intermediate Unit. He also works closely with two other Intermediate Units that comprise the Northwest Pennsylvania Regional WAN.

Mr. Humes obtained his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Edinboro University in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. His Master’s degree in education was earned at Gannon University with a specialization in educational computing technology.

Over the past twenty years, he has been the president of the Erie Technology Management Association several times. He was an initial member of the executive board of directors for the Technology Council of Northwest Pennsylvania. Mr. Humes continues to be a member of the Technology Council’s board of directors and actively participates in the planning of the Technology Council’s annual Business Intelligence Technology Summit (BITS).

Jean Johnson
Project Director, Notschool.net

Jean Johnson worked for a number of years in industry in a variety of roles from Financial Planning to Public Relations. She joined the teaching profession in 1980. Ms. Johnson worked in inner London Schools with difficult and disaffected teenagers over a number of years. In 1993 she became involved in the introduction of the internet to schools working in a variety of national and international projects focusing on the development of digital technology in the curriculum. These include Learning in the New Millennium, Web for Schools, Schools on Line, Comenius, ENIS and the Virtual Classroom. In 2000 she was invited to lead Notschool.net a Department for Education funded research project. Her brief was to develop an online learning community for disaffected youth. In August 2005, Ms. Johnson formed TheCademy, a charity dedicated to social inclusion through education. Notschool.net and TheCademy won the national Ewellbeing award in 2005 for digital inclusion. Ms. Johnson has published a number of papers and is a frequent contributor to TV and radio including the BBC, Channel 4, and Horizon.

Katie Lovett
Chief Information Officer in Fulton County Schools, GA

Katie Lovett has been the Information Technology leader for two of the largest school systems in Georgia. As Chief Information Officer in Fulton County Schools, Ms. Lovett is currently responsible for leading the development and implementation of an enterprise strategic plan enabling positive student learning through the use of information and communication technologies. Under her leadership, Fulton County Schools has implemented enterprise decision support systems, assessment systems, and instructional management systems aligned to the District’s Balanced Score Card. To sustain the district’s mission and goals, Ms. Lovett dramatically redirected IT staff and resources to enable a strategic infrastructure scalable to a new generation of “digital natives” for anytime anywhere learning. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Lovett served as the Executive Director for Information Management in Gwinnett County Public Schools where she led the development of an Enterprise Information Management System. Ms. Lovett also has experience in assessing the impact of technology on student learning, where she led the development of a technology assessment model that was awarded first place in the Category of Advances in Methodology by the American Education Research Association (AERA).

Ms. Lovett is currently on the Board of Directors for Consortium of School Networking (CoSN), 2007 Board Chair-elect, 2006 and 2007 CoSN Conference Co-Chair, and has served on CoSN’s CTO Council. Ms. Lovett facilitated the development of the Metro-Atlanta Chief Information Officers Council in 2003 as well as the Georgia CoSN Chapter in 2007. Prior to her executive leadership roles in Information and Communication Technology, Ms. Lovett served as Director in public education for 10 years with responsibilities for leading information technology, planning, strategy development, implementation and evaluation.

Sean McDonough
Information Technology Specialist, Bureau of Educational Technology, Pennsylvania Department of Education

Sean McDonough's work at PDE includes reviewing and developing technology and education processes to help create educational technology policies for the Commonwealth. Prior to joining PDE, Sean served 11 years as the Technology Coordinator for the Milton Area School District in Milton, PA and, before that, was an audio-visual communications teacher at West Side AVTS in Pringle, PA. Sean also serves as the Vice-President for the Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications and Technology (PAECT) and is Past President of the Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference (PETE&C). Sean holds a B.A. in Mass Communications and Government from King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, PA and a M.S. in Instructional Technology from Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA.

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2007 Conference Plenary Speakers