Barbara Steinberg- founder of PDX Reading Specialist

Barbara Steinberg has been mentoring and inspiring students, educators, and parents for more than 25 years, first as a classroom teacher and now as a dyslexia and educational consultant. She is the founder of PDX Reading Specialist, an organization whose mission is to inspire individuals to become CONFIDENT and CAPABLE learners. 

At her core, Barbara is an educator and advocate working to reshape the narrative of what it means to learn differently. She is a nationally recognized speaker, delivering keynote speeches for Learning Ally, EdWeb and Decoding Dyslexia. She is passionate about training educators on how to deliver evidence-based instruction, equipping them with tools to be successful, and inspiring all to believe that we can not only overcome reading challenges, but prevent them from taking hold. Barbara hopes her workshop inspires and empowers you to help students become confident and capable learners.    

Michael J. Kennedy is Professor of Special Education in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia

Michael J. Kennedy is Professor of Special Education in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia.  He is the head of the STORMED Lab (Supporting Teachers through cOaching, obseRvations, and Multimedia to Educate students with Disabilities). Before completing his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas, he was a high school special education teacher for six years and an elementary level teacher for three years.  

Dr. Kennedy's main area of research is the design, implementation, and experimental testing of multimedia-based interventions to support pre- and in-service teachers' knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practices.  He has designed and experimentally tested numerous multimedia products intended to support teacher and student outcomes.  Innovations include Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs), which are instructional vignettes intended to support teachers’ knowledge and readiness to implement evidence-based and high-leverage practices.  CAPs can also be used to support literacy and content related outcomes for students with high incidence disabilities. 

Dr. Ben Springer-Director of the Family Education Center in Wasatch County School District 

Ben Springer is an award-winning and Nationally Certified School Psychologist. Ben is also the author of the popular book, "Happy Kids Don't Punch You in the Face" and has just released a new book for parents called, "GPS: Good Parenting Strategies: The No-Guilt Survival Guide for Parents During the Pandemic and Beyond" from Corwin Press. 

Ben received his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Utah in Educational Psychology. Ben has worked professionally as a teacher, autism specialist, school psychologist, and director of special education. Currently, Ben works as the director of the Family Education Center in Wasatch County School District and manages Totem PD, a professional learning company focusing on practical, ready-to-use tools for educators