2023-24 Contributors
Nate Bowling
Nate Bowling teaches Political Science and Global Studies at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where he relocated in 2019. He was the 2016 Washington State Teacher of the Year, one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year, and in 2014 was a recipient of the Milken Family Foundation’s National Educator Award. His writing on teaching and justice has been published in the Washington Post, Slate, and the Seattle Times. Nate is also the creator and host of Nerd Farmer, an interview show on the Channel 253 Podcast Network. He and his wife blog about their adventures teaching and living overseas at BowlingsAbroad.com.
Heather Brothers
A graduate from SUNY Potsdam with a Bachelor’s in Biology and a Masters in the Science of Teaching, Heather Brothers has been teaching Science for 16 years (7 years in the States and 9 in Canada). A current teacher with the Ottawa Catholic School District, her experience ranges from Middle School Science (6-8) in the States and Grade 9-10 Science (all levels) in Ontario. An avid flipped classroom, going gradeless, and building Thinking Classroom teacher, Heather strives to consistently improve her craft for the success of her students.
Martin Compton
Dr. Martin Compton has been an educator for over 30 years, affording him ample time to realize that it takes a lifetime of teaching to get the hang of it. In that time, he has had the privilege of teaching children, young people, and adults. Much of his early career teaching was equity-centered, widening-participation projects where 'open college' qualifications offered alternative paths to university for adults failed by the conventional UK education system. His doctoral research focussed on unorthodox approaches to lecturer observation, and he has long been an advocate for removing grading and evaluation from teacher observations. He now teaches at King's College London where he leads on curriculum and assessment design. Much of his time currently is looking at ways in which the opportunities and threats of generative AI will necessitate changes to pedagogy, assessment, and feedback practices.
Josh Eyler
Josh Eyler is Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning and Director of the Think Forward Quality Enhancement Plan at the University of Mississippi, where he is also Clinical Assistant Professor of Teacher Education. Eyler is the author of the acclaimed book How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching (West Virginia University Press, 2018), which Book Authority named one of the “100 Best Education Books of All Time.” Called a “splendid repository of ways to rethink how we teach college” by the Los Angeles Review of Books, it was named a “Book of the Year” in the Chicago Tribune. His forthcoming book, Scarlet Letters: How Grades are Harming Children and Young Adults, and What We Can Do about It, is about one of the most urgent issues in education today, grading and alternative assessment.
Barry Fishman
Barry Fishman is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Learning Sciences in the University of Michigan School of Information and School of Education. His research focuses on video games as models for learning environments and the role of technology in supporting teacher learning through design-based implementation research. He is the co-creator of GradeCraft, a game-inspired learning management system. Dr. Fishman was co-author of the Obama Administration’s 2010 U.S. National Educational Technology Plan. In 2017, he was named the Michigan Association of State Universities Distinguished Professor of the Year. He received a B.A. from Brown University in English and American Literature, an M.S. from Indiana University in Instructional Systems Technology, and a Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University.
Rhonda Higgins
Rhonda Higgins has been an educator for 21 years, starting out teaching English as a second language to middle school students, then transitioning to teaching Spanish Pre-K through 8th grades. Currently she teaches high school IB/MYP Spanish. Rhonda’s gradeless journey began 7 years ago when she joined the North Carolina Teacher Action Research Network. She has since incorporated gradeless assessment practices while being in a traditional grades school environment. Rhonda has presented several professional development sessions on assessment practices and is a Teacher Leader in her district’s Teacher Academy. When not in the classroom, Rhonda enjoys spending time with her husband and daughters (2, 7, and 19 years old), running 5Ks, traveling, and gardening. You can find her on Twitter and Spoutible @rhonhigg.
Karis Jones
Karis Jones, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of English Language Arts for the School for Graduate Studies at SUNY Empire State College. As a teacher educator, literacy consultant, public humanities scholar, and community activist, she studies issues of equitable literacies learning across disciplinary, fandom, and gaming spaces. In collaboration with New City Kids, she is the recipient of the NJ Council for the Humanities Program Grant for supporting youth engagement with social media and fandom discourses. Dr. Jones recently received the 2022 Shelby Wolf Award for Outstanding Dissertation and her work has been published in the Journal of Language & Literacy Education, Linguistics and Education, The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, and others.
Lee Ann Jung
Lee Ann Jung, PhD, is founder of Lead Inclusion, a Clinical Professor at San Diego State University, and a consultant to schools worldwide. A former special education teacher and administrator, Lee Ann now spends her time in schools, working shoulder-to-shoulder with teams in their efforts to improve systems and practice. Lee Ann is the author of 7 books, numerous journal articles and book chapters on inclusion, universal design, and assessment. She serves on the advisory board for Mastery Transcript Consortium, as section editor of the Routledge Encyclopedia of Education, and on the editorial board member for several professional journals. In her community, Lee Ann is a board member for Life Adventure Center, a local nonprofit with a mission of healing for those who have experienced trauma.
Rachael Kettner-Thompson
Rachael Kettner-Thompson is a National Board-Certified Science Teacher who teaches Science and Yearbook in beautiful Washington State. She has over 20 years teaching experience in Arizona, Idaho, and Washington. Rachael holds a Master’s Degree in English as a Second Language. Rachael’s passion for metacognition and soft skills in the classroom has provided her opportunities to speak to teachers around the world, publish numerous articles, and push other educators thinking. She uses her passion to help other teachers implement alternative ways to assess learning and growth in the classroom. When Rachael isn’t teaching, she spends her time exercising, coaching basketball, and hanging out with her family and dogs. You can find her on Twitter @GoSunDevils.
Firas Moosvi
Firas Moosvi is a Lecturer in the Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics department at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. Though he has a PhD in Physics (from UBC Vancouver), he also teaches computer science and data science at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He strongly believes in computational literacy for all and aims to make STEM courses accessible through Active Learning techniques and open education resources. His research interests are varied, but the two main umbrellas are the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), and Learning Analytics. Firas is looking at how learning analytics data can provide insight to surface and ultimately reduce inequities in STEM programs. He is also heavily invested in promoting and implementing alternative grading systems in large classes, at scale.
Juuso Nieminen
Dr. Juuso Nieminen is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, and a Banting Fellow at Ontario Tech University. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at Deakin University, Australia. His main research interest is to unpack the social, cultural and political aspects of educational assessment. Dr. Nieminen has particularly focused on understanding the social effects of assessment on students’ learning, inclusion, belonging and identities. Dr. Nieminen’s research has been published in multiple leading journals in the fields of assessment, higher education and mathematics education, such as Studies in Higher Education, Teaching in Higher Education and Educational Studies in Mathematics.
Greg Pask
Greg Pask is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT. An insect neurobiologist, Pask studies the powerful sense of smell insects use to locate food, find mates, and communicate with others. His pedagogy centers around making STEM education more inclusive, accessible, and enjoyable. After just two years at Middlebury, Pask received the school’s 2022 Perkins Award for Excellence in Teaching. When not in the classroom, you can find Greg doing research with ants and fireflies, playing pick-up basketball, cooking with his family, reading Marvel comics, or playing board games. He currently resides in Ripton, VT with his wife (a homeschool educator!) and two kids. You can find his latest teaching and research happenings on Bluesky @gpask.bsky.social.
Ameena L. Payne
Ameena L. Payne is a strategic PhD scholarship holder at Deakin University’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning. Ameena’s current research aims to better understand the lived feedback experiences of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse postgraduate coursework students in Australia. She is a recipient of her alma mater’s Outstanding Young Alumna Award (2022) and is interested in socially just and equitable education, specifically assessment design and feedback. Her recent publications include the article ‘Humanising feedback encounters: a qualitative study of relational literacies for teachers engaging in technology-enhanced feedback’ (with Rola Ajjawi and Jessica Holloway) in Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. Her website is ameenapayne.com, and she tweets as @AmeenaLPayne.
Miriam Plotinsky
Miriam Plotinsky is an instructional specialist who addresses challenges in both teaching and leading across schools with a wide range of differentiated needs. A strong advocate for student-centered learning, she provides coaching and professional development for teachers and administrators. She is the author of Teach More, Hover Less: How to Stop Micromanaging Your Secondary Classroom and Lead Like a Teacher: How to Elevate Expertise in Your School. She is also a National Board-Certified Teacher with additional certification in administration and supervision. She has a third book coming out this November (Writing Their Future Selves) and another in the works with ASCD. She can be reached at her website or on Twitter @MirPloMCPS.
Fabiola Torres
Fabiola Torres is an Ethnic Studies instructor, a self-proclaimed “good trouble maker,” and Academic Chola who takes her hoops off to challenge injustice. During the pandemic, Fabiola collaborated with a number of colleges throughout the country offering professional development workshops, keynote presentations, and publications focusing on applying equity-minded methods such as culturally responsive teaching in the online environment, humanizing online teaching and learning, and ungrading practices. Her teaching principles are inspired by her M.A. in Chicana/o Studies from California State University, Northridge, and her second M.A. in Learning Technology from Pepperdine’s School of Education and Psychology. She recently was named one of EdTech Magazine’s 30 Higher Ed IT Influencers to Follow. Fabiola is a fur-mommy of Luke, Leia, and Wookie.