Panelist Bios

John E. Deasy

John Deasy has been Superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District since July 2001, where he has implemented whole-school and systemic reform initiatives resulting in steady improvements of student achievement. He has focused on districtwide reforms such as administrator and teacher evaluation models; intensive leadership training; collaborative use of student work as a means of assessment; development of a data-driven system for decision making; and high school redesign into Small Learning Communities. He has overseen the completion of a districtwide $90 million comprehensive building project. In addition, he led the development and passage of an historic Joint Use Agreement with the City of Santa Monica which provides millions of dollars each year for the public schools. He was formerly a superintendent and a high school principal in Rhode Island, where he was recognized as the state Superintendent of the Year in 2001. He has been an Annenberg Fellow Superintendent, and is currently an adjunct faculty member at California State College, Northridge, and a faculty member at Loyola Marymount University. John has a Ph.D. from the University of Louisville, a M.ED. from Providence College, and a BA from Providence College. He is the author of a number of publications on leadership in education and evaluation.

Mary E. Dietz

Mary Dietz is an international consultant specializing in assisting educators in building capacity to establish and facilitate learning communities. She is also co-founder of LearnCity, an educational technology firm offering a web-based solution for designing, implementing, and assessing standards-based instruction, K-12. Her work is focused on coaching educational systems through the design and implementation of school reform efforts. Much of her work with educators has been in the areas of continuous improvement, professional development, coaching, and alternative performance assessments for educators. She established the Portfolio Network for the National Staff Development Council (NSDC), dedicated to promoting the portfolio process for professional learning. She has coached teachers, administrators, school boards, and communities in establishing the relationships necessary for systemic change. Most recently she served as designer and facilitator of an online Knowledge Management System for managing standards-based instruction in California.

Nancy Giberson

Nancy Giberson is Assistant Superintendent of the Learning Resources & Educational Technology Division of the San Diego County Office of Education, where she is responsible for curriculum and professional development services and leadership for the 42 San Diego County school districts, representing approximately 500,000 students. She also assists in establishing partnerships with businesses, community groups, institutions of higher education and the CA Department of Education in support of policies and programs important to San Diego County and education statewide. She is past principal of Torrey Pines High School, a three-time National Blue Ribbon awardee. She has received the Sustainable Quality Award for implementing Baldrige Education Criteria for performance excellence in countywide school management teams, along with Administrator of the Year and Outstanding Leadership awards. She is the current Chair of the statewide Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee for the County Superintendent Association. Nancy has a Ph.D. in Human Behavior and Business, and has received postgraduate training as a visiting practitioner at Harvard University and a fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.

Carroll Stevens

Carroll Stevens is Senior Fellow of Foundation Legacy Development at the Stupski Foundation, where his responsibility is to draw on his broad expertise to help the foundation achieve its three levels of desired impact: sustainable reform in urban districts; positive changes to state-level policy affecting high-poverty/high-minority school districts; and improving the prospects for K-12 public education nationwide. Before joining Stupksi in 2004, he was Associate Dean at Yale Law School. He has been a leading innovator and change agent in higher education for more than 30 years; his work has entailed sector-change advising to colleges and universities, business organizations, non-profits, policy institutes and governments in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Asia. In relation to K-12 education, he co-founded and served as board chair of Amistad Academy, a high-performing charter school in New Haven, CT, and Achievement First, a CMO based on the Amistad model. Carroll has a BA and JD, and has been awarded alumni achievement awards by both of his alma maters, Georgetown College and the University of Kentucky. In addition, he holds fellowships at the Yale Law School, Regent’s Park College of Oxford University, and the National Center for State Courts.