We’ve gathered some of the most worth-mentioning education experts, authors, and blogs that you should follow this year!
Listed below, in no particular order, are 21 education experts. Let’s see what they have to offer:
Kristen Moon is the founder and CEO of Moon Prep and one of the top admissions counselors in the world, known for her expertise in Direct Medical Programs (BS/MD) and Ivy League admissions.
Kristen Moon, a sought-after speaker, and writer on college admissions topics is a regular contributor to Forbes and has been featured as a top university admissions expert in U.S. News & World Report, Mass Mutual, Investopedia, and countless national and regional publications. Kristen has written numerous articles on Direct Medical Programs (BS/MD) and is world-known as an expert in this niche area.
Kristen founded Moon Prep after spending over a decade as an SAT tutor and instructor. She saw her students scoring in the top percentiles, yet they still weren’t being accepted to their top-choice colleges.
At first glance, it wasn’t apparent what went wrong. The students had high GPAs, top SAT scores, and impressive extracurricular activities. After closer examination, it became clear what the issue was: THE APPLICATION.
The application did not set the student apart from the pack. It failed to convey what they had to offer the college and why they were a great fit.
By utilizing the valuable branding and marketing strategies she learned while getting her MBA from Emory University and drawing from her experience working with students over the years, Kristen created a series of detailed action items that help applicants go the extra mile, communicate their value, and stand out from the masses.
The Moon Prep team is trained in this unique methodology and are always finding new ways for their students to create college applications that will jump out to college admissions officers, landing students in the college of their choice.
Related: Why Is Education Important in Life?
Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine | Chief of the Division of International Health | Author, “How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper: The Step-by-Step Guide“
Most people have an idea in their head that a scientist is someone who spends their time in a lab, peering through a microscope or mixing chemicals into test tubes.
What many students don’t realize is how much writing is required to become a successful scientist. In fact, when I was an assistant professor, I tracked every minute of my working time in a log for a whole month. I discovered that, even at that early stage in my career, I was spending 67% of my time writing!
I am sure that now that I am a tenured professor, that percentage is a lot higher. Whether I am writing research papers or grant proposals, the bulk of my time is being spent in front of my computer putting science into words.
For more than 20 years, I have mentored hundreds of students and aspiring scientists and medical doctors. It became clear to me that I needed to help them improve their writing skills in order to help them succeed. Whether they were writing internship applications, medical school applications or research reports, I noticed that many of my brightest students were not well prepared for all of this writing.
Don’t get me wrong, many students already know the basics of writing in the English language. They know things like sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation. What they needed to learn was how to write effectively, systematically, directly, and well, scientifically!
Because I have so many students, at first I created a workshop to train my students on scientific writing. It got so popular, that I started to offer the workshop to other institutions. I also created handouts and fill-in forms in order to help attendees at my workshops follow along the different examples and exercises.
Eventually, this turned into a workbook that I would hand out at workshops and later it became a stand-alone book with an associated online course.
My students have published hundreds of papers, which I think is a testament to the effectiveness of this way of teaching how to write a scientific paper. My students have found out how important it is for their careers to have a paper published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.
Many medical schools, internship programs, and other programs are very impressed with applicants who have scientific publications listed in their resumes.
There is a saying that in academia if you don’t publish, you perish. This is true now more than ever.
Our Transizion blog is an up-and-coming blog that features detailed guides on the Common App, supplemental essays for specific schools, job interviews, networking, college success, and professional development.
The content is thorough – for example, we provide examples of responses to essay prompts and interview questions.
We began going all in on publishing in December 2017, and since then, we’ve seen massive growth in our email list and readership. This means our content resonates with students, parents, and professionals, who seek answers to college admissions and career success.
Furthermore, visitors to our blog are given the option to receive three eBooks on college essay secrets, college applications, and succeeding in college.
The overall goal is to provide value to our readers and customers. We want to demonstrate our expertise and willingness to answer customer inquiries on a daily basis.
This is a long-term play – the blog’s goal is to one day propel our company into a thought leader in the college and career spaces. The blog is our way to communicate this to students, teachers, counselors, parents, and professionals.
A part of our mission is to donate a portion of profits to low-income students and veterans who need college prep and career development assistance.
Black Female Computer Science Ph.D. | Professor | Author, “Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field“
Dr. Nicki’s book focuses on the lessons that aren’t taught in classes or textbooks on how to handle issues ranging from marginalization and microaggressions to self-doubt.
Given the push for diversity and inclusion in tech, this book is very timely in helping Black women and girls (and honestly any woman of color) face challenges in this diversity-starved field.
Project Stella Resources is a new blog that is getting attention. Through this blog, Kim David helps parents and educators plan meaningful service projects for young volunteers by providing step-by-step guides, event checklists, and tips to make student-led service projects a success.
In 2019, Project Stella Resources is starting the Let’s ROCK in the Classroom. ROCK stands for Radiate Outrageous Compassion & Kindness, something educators want to see their students do more.
The blog will feature interviews, curriculum, and “send home” guides to reinforce students doing Acts of Compassion & Kindness in and out of the classroom.
The founder of Project Stella Resources is a former fifth and sixth-grade teacher that now works with student leaders in high school and college. She is an AmeriCorps alum, Daily Points of Light Honoree, and Presidential Service Volunteer Award Lifetime Award recipient. She has a passion for developing leaders and helping more service projects be student-led so the young volunteers gain valuable real-world experience.
Her advanced degrees in Human Development & Family Sciences, Social Work, and Education, as well as her 20+ years of LGBT activism, have all contributed to making her a leader in her field.
She continues to travel the country working with educators and corporations to guide them to become more inclusive in their schools and in their businesses via keynote addresses, training seminars, workshop leading, and personalized consulting.
In 2019, she is scheduled to speak at numerous conferences throughout the nation and she is being sought after for interviews and guidance by some of the world’s biggest companies. Following her via her website or through reaching out to her directly allows individuals to learn, to grow, and to prepare to guide their own communities towards LGBT equality.
Did you know that education actually starts from birth? Often times education is thought of only for children from preschool age and up.
However, babies and toddlers are learning and processing information continuously in the early years. Parents have a crucial role as they are their child’s first and most significant educator.
Kayla O’Neill provides parents with in-depth information about child development and gives them easy ideas and strategies on how to encourage learning through daily routines and play.
Kayla has previous experience working with parents and children from birth to age 3 as a developmental therapist in early intervention for 6 years.
She has her bachelor’s degree in special education with credentials in early childhood special education and developmental disabilities. She also has her masters in education.
She currently works part-time as a developmental therapist and also stays at home with her two young children.
Praveen has been conducting Project Management training for about 13 years and writing for about 7 years.
He regularly writes about tools & techniques, best practices and methodologies for doing effective Project Management. You can find thought provoking articles on Scheduling, Budgeting, Risk Management, Contracting and many other aspects of Project Management.
The blog also provides tips, tricks, and strategies to pass the PMP and other certification exams in first attempt. You can read about his recommendations on books and training programs for succeeding in the certification exams.
Mary Stephens
Expert Edtech Executive | Engineer | Entrepreneur | Educator | Founder and CEO of PrepForward
Mary’s enthusiasm for e-learning combines extensive education experience with a love of technology, beginning with BS and MS degrees from MIT in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.
For over 20 years, Mary has designed curricula and taught all levels from discrete math at MIT to K-12 math, computers, humanities, and science.
Mary has spoken at international education conferences and has served as research and development manager at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, professional math consultant at Merrimack College, founder of Omega Teaching, evaluator at Woodrow Wilson Academy, and board member of Alpha Public Schools.
In addition, she taught math instruction courses to prospective teachers as an adjunct faculty at UMass and Elms College.
Ilene B. Miller, M.S. Ed.
Educational Consultant | Special Needs Advocate
I provide Educational Consulting and Special Needs Advocacy to families for children with special needs.
I work with families nationwide to secure the support services their school district isn’t providing but should.
Families are often at a loss when they come to me because they know their children are suffering and need help but the system can be overwhelming and confusing. Because I’ve been a teacher myself, I understand how school districts operate.
MBA | Author of “From an Idea to…” World’s Only Business Biographies for Kids | Instagram
This middle grade, nonfiction book series takes young readers into the world of entrepreneurship and business through stories of how our favorite companies came to be.
Each book begins with the founder’s childhood and unveils where his or her big idea came from. Along the way, readers learn all about entrepreneurship, identify with the struggles and challenges that every entrepreneur faces (yes, even Walt Disney and Phil Knight), and realize the importance of grit, perseverance, and perhaps most importantly, following your passion.
Each book reveals Fun Facts about the brands we love (e.g. Walt Disney was the voice of Mickey Mouse for the first 20 years.), introduces new business terms in easy-to-understand definitions, and includes humor on every page with awesome illustrations from C. S. Jennings.
These are the books kids, parents, and teachers have been waiting for! From an Idea to Nike and From an Idea to Disney launch February 12, 2019 followed by From an Idea to Google and From an Idea to LEGO on July 9, 2019.
Alison G. Clark, EdS NCSP
School psychologist | Mental Health Expert
Nationally Certified School Psychologist
Founders of Healthy Minds, Safe Schools | Twitter
Alison and Katherine are the authors of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support in Secondary Schools: The Definitive Guide to Implementation and Quality Control (Routledge), an innovative how-to guide to help school leadership teams build foundational supports and tiered interventions, in a preventative and responsive framework, to provide students the academic, social-emotional, and behavioral learning opportunities they need to thrive in the 21st century.
Based on their insightful grounded theory of LIQUID (leadership, inclusiveness, quality control, universality, implementation and feedback looking, and data-based decision making), the authors demonstrate how every school can successfully replicate and customize best practices in a school setting by reallocating existing resources and growing multi-tiered systems of support in their secondary schools’ practices and cultures.
Clark and Dockweiler demystify the steps needed to have significant impact within schools, from supporting educators and families to advocating for evidence-based policies and practices. Additonally, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support in Elementary Schools: The Definitive Guide to Implementation and Quality Control (Routledge) is due for publication early 2020.
Clark and Dockweiler are also the founders of the school-based mental health model Healthy Minds, Safe Schools.
Healthy Minds, Safe Schools is a multi-tiered framework for integrated social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) supports on a school campus. An integrated approach to SEB health has shown to be more impactful than either social-emotional learning or behavioral programming independently (Cook et al., 2015).
Today’s students experience more adverse childhood events and trauma, but are treated with less empathy and are taught less coping strategies (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2017; Perry, 2002).
As public schools have been forced into the accountability movement, our students are being denied experiences to develop critical thinking skills and social problem-solving skills.
Education must be about more than passing standardized tests, more than just teaching students how to keep their heads above water. They need to learn how to be resilient learners and civic citizens.
Healthy Minds, Safe Schools combines the evidence-based practices of social-emotional learning and positive behavior intervention supports into a socially just, whole-child framework that supports students, families, and educators.
This model was designed to reduce school violence, student suicides and suicidal ideation, and student-to-student violence, and is a preventative team approach.
It also aligns with recent reports by the United States Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (2018) and may well be the gold standard.
Healthy Minds, Safe Schools data repeatedly show that implementation of this model significantly reduces student-to-student violence and reduces discipline office referrals, while proactively identifying students at-risk for internalized and externalized behaviors.
Schools with strong leadership who are looking to decrease their schools’ acts of violence, decrease instances of self-harm, improve achievement, and improve their overall school culture, are the ideal fit for Healthy Minds, Safe Schools.
Clark and Dockweiler are scheduled to present at several distinguished conferences in 2019 including the National Association of School Psychologists (February) and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (July).
The authors welcome contact from school teams and offer consultancy to assist with all aspects of implementation including, but not limited to systemic organizational planning, implementation science troubleshooting, and reflective analysis.
Ronna Glickman Ed.M.
Middle School Home and Careers Teacher for 25 years in the Williamsville, NY School District | Founder, Social Media Safety
I have been a middle school Home and Careers teacher for 25 years in the Williamsville, NY school district.
I have been teaching social media safety as part of my curriculum for the past 10 years as well as speaking to PTA groups, Community Education, Girl Scout Troops, and at the NY State Middle School Association Conference.
I have seen first- hand how being immersed in social media has a horrible effect on our youth. The anxiety, depression, and bullying are at an all time high.
After I retire at the end of this school year, my mission will be to go to as many schools across the USA to talk in small groups with kids about the dangers of social media.
Kids are getting online and pretending they are 13 to get accounts, yet are not emotionally mature to see some of the images they are exposed to as well as the vulgar language.
I will also diary my school visits and recount what I have learned from talking to kids from all over. I have already asked my current 8th grade students to tell me what they regret about starting a social media account younger than they should have. Each participant I asked said they regret even getting a social media account because of the ‘drama’ it caused, lower grades and broken friendships.
Former Teacher – turned stay-at-home mom who created a method of helping students win college scholarships | Author of “How to Win College Scholarships” | Twitter
College costs have skyrocketed and student loan debt is getting completely out of control for today’s students. What is the alternative to student loans? College scholarships!
By learning how to find and apply correctly and strategically, students can win more scholarships, which results in borrowing less money for school and not graduating with crippling student loan debt.
Many students don’t realize that applying for scholarships involves much more than simply filling out forms online and submitting them. Learning how to find right-fit scholarships, procuring the best letter of recommendation, and submitting essays that speak to the judges are absolutely necessary to set students apart from the thousands of applicants trying to win the same award.
There is a definite way to apply for scholarships that is different and memorable. Monica Matthews has helped her own son win over $100,000 in scholarships and now shares her expertise with other parents and their students.
She truly has “been there, done that” in regards to helping families navigate the scholarship process. Ms. Matthews’ step-by-step scholarship guide has taught desperate parents to help their own students win thousands of scholarship dollars.
Technology is constantly changing our world and most recently, our educational system. As a parent, supporting your student in the digital age can be stressful, problematic, and exhausting. It can even be difficult to find help especially when you don’t always know the right questions to ask. The MoreThanATech blog seeks to help parents become better connected with their student’s digital lives.
The intention of this blog is to educate parents and teachers on how to interact with a generation of students raised in a digital world. Articles on the site focus on topics such as screen time, dangerous apps to be aware of, communicating digitally, and taking a digital detox. The site is updated on a regular basis to ensure readers can stay relevant with kids. Technology should be a tool in an educator’s toolkit, not a barrier to success.
I have been reporting the news, writing for business and nonprofits, and teaching students how to tell their stories for three decades. I have made it my mission to understand college admissions and the essay’s role within it.
My business partner calls me her “personal Google alert”; I can get a story out of anyone, and I never run out of ideas for a story of my own. I write my company blog about college admissions and the essay’s role within it, and I write for a variety of college-admission publications, in print and on the web.
I am Wow’s social media specialist,managing our online presence, and I teach businesses and nonprofits how to communicate their messages using the written word and a variety of publishing tools.
I am co-author of 3 books; my business partner and I collaborated on an award-winning documentary for PBS, No Ordinary Joe: Erasing the Stigma of Mental Illness.
Kathryn Starke
Urban Literacy Specialist | Keynote Speaker | Author | Founder of Creative Minds Publications | Twitter
I grew up dreaming of being an elementary school teacher. As a young girl, I attended school from 7:20 am to 2:20 pm daily then came home to play school until dinner time and all day on the weekends. I turned my bedroom into a classroom with a podium, chalkboard, dry erase board, lesson plan books, and imaginary students.
At eleven-years-old, I started my own business that included tutoring young children in reading and teaching piano lessons. My high school and summer college job included being a nanny and a preschool summer camp instructor.
Knowing exactly the profession I wanted to choose, I accepted my offer to attend Longwood University, once known as the State Teachers College in Virginia. I couldn’t wait to have my own classroom with real students.
I accepted a teaching position in inner-city Richmond, Virginia, and saw instantly that more than half of my students read significantly below grade level.
While teaching full-time, I returned to school to earn my master’s in literacy and culture to equip myself with the tools to teach children to read.
I wrote songs and stories to help my students learn content while learning to read. I wrote and published Amy’s Travels, a multicultural children’s book to teach the seven continents.
In order to spread awareness of Amy’s Travels, I started a reading educational business and spoke at schools and conferences around my home state of Virginia.
The book took off when the California Department of Education and an educational center in Melbourne, Australia, recommended the book as a must-have classroom resource. The book has been turned into a musical by the Latin Ballet of Virginia and Calliope Dance Studio in San Francisco.
This March, 1, 2019, my company will kick off the third annual Tackle Reading day supported by the NFL to promote a love of literacy with a passion for football. NFL athletes, coaches, owners, and alumni visit their local elementary schools to read their favorite Dr. Seuss or football themed books.
Since only 32 cities have an NFL presence, schools across the country have extended the mission of the day to their local college or high school football teams. Tackle Reading began as a book to motivate, support, and inspire parents and teachers to create a love of reading at home and in school.
I wrote this resource to share my expertise in literacy education. I travel around the country helping schools achieve literacy success, especially in urban education. My next venture is in EdTech. I have created a literacy application to help teach the world to read. I always consider myself a teacher, just of a much larger classroom.
Paul Stevens-Fulbrook
Science Teacher | Middle Leader at a Grammar School in the South of England | Facebook
Teacherofsci was set up in April 2018, its aim is to help support teachers in three areas where they find life most difficult; teaching strategy, health and well-being and extra income.
These areas are common pinch points for many teachers across the globe and, whilst there are lots of straight education websites, teacherofsci fills a niche in between education and lifestyle blogs.
The goal is to emulate the helpful conversations you may have with teacher friends on a Friday evening over a glass of wine, conversational but supportive with easy to implement advice.
Digital Literacy Educator and Advocate | Cofounder of Cyberwise | Founder of Cyber Civics | Twitter | Author, “Raising Humans in a Digital World“
Cyber Civics is the popular and innovative middle school digital citizenship and literacy program currently being taught in over 40 US states, as well as the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Africa.
Cyber Civics, the first-of-its-kind, comprehensive middle school program, has been recognized as an “Innovation in Education” finalist by Project Tomorrow. Both Cyberwise and Cyber Civics were launched after Graber earned one of the first-ever master’s degrees in a new field of study called “Media Psychology and Social Change.”
Graber earned a BA in Communications Studies at UCLA and her MA from Fielding Graduate University. She has taught “Media Psychology for the 21st Century” for the Media Psychology MA program at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP).
She currently teaches Cyber Civics to middle school students at Journey School in Aliso Viejo, CA, and travels widely, speaking to parent groups and training teachers to teach Cyber Civics in their own schools. The National Association for Media Literacy Education honored her with the 2017 Media Literacy Teacher Award.
Diana’s new book, Raising Humans in a Digital World, out January 15, 2019, provides help and hope to parents and educators by demystifying the complicated digital landscape facing today’s kids. Throughout the book, Diana defines buzzwords, answers crucial technology questions and provides activities that can teach children to harness technology rather than be harmed by it.
Zen Admissions offers a “Zen Advice” blog covering all aspects of college admissions. From strategies for tackling specific essay prompts to tips for de-stressing during application season, the Zen Admissions blog is an ideal resource for high school students seeking thoughtful advice on the college application process.
Zen Admissions provides college admissions consulting services that make the application process manageable. With each of their unique services, ranging from essay coaching to high school mentorship, they provide students with powerful tools to minimize stress while achieving maximum success.