Bena Kallick, Ph.D is a private consultant providing services to school districts, state departments of education, professional organizations, and public agencies throughout the United States and abroad. Kallick received her doctorate in educational evaluation at Union Graduate School. Her areas of focus include group dynamics, creative and critical thinking, and alternative assessment strategies for the classroom. Some of her written work includes: Assessment in the Learning Organization (ASCD, 1998) , the Habits of Mind series (ASCD, 2000), Strategies for Self-Directed Learning (Corwin Press, 2004) , Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind (ASCD, 2008), Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum (ASCD, 2009) ( all co-authored with Arthur Costa), and Using Curriculum Mapping and Assessment to Improve Student Learning (Corwin Press, 2009, co-authored with Jeff Colosimo). Her works have been translated into Dutch, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, and Arabic.
Formerly a Teachers’ Center director, Kallick also created a children’s museum based on problem solving and invention. She was the coordinator of a high school alternative designed for at-risk students. She is co-founder of Performance Pathways, a company dedicated to providing easy to use software for curriculum mapping and assessment tracking and reporting, an integrated suite. She is presently a strategic advisor for SunGard Public Sector’s K-12 Education business unit on behalf of PerformancePLUS, a transformational new products based on the work of Performance Pathways. She is known for her practical approach to making curriculum mapping and assessment a catalyst for improving teaching and learning.
Her work with Dr. Art Costa has led to the development of the Institute for Habits of Mind, an international institute that is dedicated to transforming schools into places where thinking and Habits of Mind are taught, practiced, valued and have become infused into the culture of the school and community. The Institute provides services and products to support bringing the Habits of Mind into the culture of schools and the communities they serve.
Kallick’s teaching appointments have included Yale University School of Organization and Management, University of Massachusetts Center for Creative and Critical Thinking, and Union Graduate School. She was formerly on the Board of the Apple Foundation, the Board of Jobs for the Future and the Board for Learning Effects and Weston Woods Institute. She presently serves on the Board of Communities for Learning.
Ramiro Zuniga, Ed. D. currently teaches graduate level courses at the University of Texas – Pan American in Edinburg, Texas. He is also a private consultant specializing in K-12 solutions and a speaker on educational technology integration, leadership, and the power of education. Dr. Zuniga has spent most of his professional career within the public school sector. Throughout this time, he has been instrumental in planning, acquiring, and implementing various technology solutions. Along with this, he also provided user support, user documentation, and staff development.
Dr. Zuniga began his public school career in 1985 as a computer programmer and quickly rose to become a central office administrator. Throughout his public school career, he took pride in simplifying and streamlining processes for his users and providing the best customer service, always with a smile. One of his most popular mantras was, “We’re like McDonald’s. We serve billions and billions every day and always with a smile…”
Dr. Zuniga earned his educational doctorate in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas – Pan American. He also holds a Master of Education degree in Educational Technology from The University of Texas – Brownsville in Brownsville, Texas, a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Computer Information Systems from The University of Texas – Pan American, and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Industrial Data Processing from Texas State Technical Institute in Harlingen, Texas.
He is now focusing on research related to the integration of technology in public schools for both administrative and educational purposes. One of his goals is to provide his graduate students (future public school administrators) and current public school administrators that he meets in the field, with encouragement and guidance toward modeling the use of technology for the benefit of their students.
