Julie M. Wood
Educational Consultant, Teacher, School Reformer, and Writer
An international educational consultant, Julie M. Wood, EdD, served as a faculty member and former director of the Jeanne Chall Reading Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), where she also earned a second master’s degree in technology, innovation, and education and a doctorate in language and literacy. She also directed a HGSE-led comprehensive school reform initiative called Three to Third, aimed at helping to close the achievement gap for young children. As of the spring of 2013, she serves as the academic learning specialist at the Kingsley Montessori School in Boston.
Julie’s writing has been featured in Instructor magazine, in Scholastic Administrator, on the Teacher Radio program (on Scholastic.com), on the PBS Expert site, and in the journal Language Arts. She has written chapters for an edited volume published by Harvard Education Letter (The Digital Classroom) and Harvard Education Press (Better Teaching and Learning in the Digital Classroom). Her book Literacy Online (Heinemann) expands upon these themes.
In addition, Julie has spoken at events, such as a forum on No Child Left Behind legislation at the Harvard University Law School; for organizations including the International Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, American Educational Research Association, and Texas Dyslexia Institute; and at international conferences.
A long-time educator, Julie began her career as a public school teacher and reading specialist. She has also served as a university lecturer, an editor/media developer in educational publishing, and a consultant on transmedia products for teachers and students. Her clients include Apple, Inc., Disney Interactive, Nickelodeon, Heinemann Publishers, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin, the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready to Learn Partnership, and PBS Interactive, where she serves as the senior literacy advisor for new projects.
Nicole Ponsford
Educational Writer and Coach
Nicole Ponsford is an award-winning advanced skills teacher and former senior leadership team member who is now working as a freelance school improvement consultant and coach. She has worked in a variety of schools in the U.K., from leafy Surrey schools to inner-city academies, from “failing” to “outstanding” secondary schools. After developing a range of fourteen to nineteen subjects in multimedia, film, and the digital arts for adolescents, she moved on to advising principals, schools, local education authorities (LEAs), and national audiences.
Nicole has been nominated twice by her students and staff for the Teaching Awards, winning her first as “Outstanding New Teacher.” She has been rated “Outstanding/1” several times as a teacher, head of department, and senior leader. She has worked with LEAs in the U.K. to transform services and change the way that education is delivered. Given her holistic view of education as a classroom practitioner and senior leader, as well as her experience as an A-level examiner/moderator and with creating networks for LEAs and advanced skills teachers, she offers a wealth of expertise in running curriculums, procuring resources, and raising standards in teaching and learning.
Her main current role is achievement coach for the international charity Achievement for All. In this position, Nicole works across the south of England to support accelerated progress in schools for the most vulnerable students across the school years. She has also worked with Early Support (reviewing its online resources and how they can be accessed by the public) and is part of a national case study involving schools and families who have school-age children with severe additional needs.
