Challenge Friday: User-Centered Continuous Improvement

Moderated by:

Susan Carlile has over 50 years of experience in K-12 education as a teacher, middle and high school principal, director of curriculum and Instruction for a large, suburban school district near Portland, Oregon. As an associate professor and program lead for the Educational Leadership and Policy Program, she has facilitated the leadership development of over 600 school leaders, received 18 grants for her work, and presented and published in dozens of state, national and international forums of leadership, including collaborating with change leadership researchers, Antony Bryk, Louis Gomez and Paul LeMahieu, Improvement Science experts. Susan Carlile has a BA in English and Fine Arts from the University of California, Berkeley, an MA in Curriculum and Instruction and Leadership certification from the University of Oregon and graduate work in education at the University of Washington and Harvard University. Most recently, her work has focused on examining the issues facing women in leadership positions and strategies for navigating the workplace to ensure gender, racial, ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic equity in education.

Deborah Peterson has been recognized as an award-winning leader and professor, published author, career coach, and accomplished speaker. Deborah Peterson has served in roles as varied as preparing students for international inter-cultural experiences, high school department chair, elementary and high school principal, human resources administrator, and university professor. With over 40 years of experience as an educator, she has taught future teachers, future administrators, current administrators and doctoral students, presented at state, national, and international conferences, received numerous grants, and published on various aspects of leadership for equity. Deborah is an Associate Professor at Portland State University, with a BA from the University of Washington and University of Oregon; MA from Portland State University, and EdD from Lewis and Clark College. She resides in Portland, Oregon, where she has successfully led numerous equity-focused initiatives in k-12 schools and at the university.

Professors Peterson and Carlile have published five chapters regarding Improvement Science and currently have two forthcoming books on equity and Improvement Science.