About our authors Ann Turnbull is the Beach Distinguished Professor Emerita of the University of Kansas. Her son, Jay Turnbull, had several disabilities. As a special education faculty member for 4.5 decades, she has specialized in family quality of life and family-professional partnerships. She hopes that you will embrace and experience trusting family-professional partnerships leading to win-win-win outcomes for students, professionals and families.Rud Turnbull, also the Beach Distinguished Professor Emeritus, is a lawyer concerned with the human condition in a policy context; he specializes in disability policy, particularly its justifications and effects on families, individuals and professionals. He wants you to understand that, as a professional in education, you and your students' families are partners in a civil rights movement, the liberation of students' capacities through education.Grace L. Francis is an Assistant Professor of special education at George Mason University. Her research interests include family-professional partnership policies and practices and postschool outcomes that result in a high quality of life for individuals with significant support needs. She hopes educators continuously interrogate their own perceptions and values in order to better understand others.Meghan Burke is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research examines disability policy and service delivery systems, parent advocacy, and roles of siblings of individuals with disabilities. She hopes you serve as a lifelong advocate with students and their families.Kathleen Kyzar is an Associate Professor of early childhood education in the College of Education at Texas Christian University. She specializes in family-school partnerships within early childhood/elementary school settings. She hopes that you integrate partnership practices as a part of your daily work with students and families, and that you advocate for partnership practices to be a priority in your school and district.Shana J. Haines is an Associate Professor of education at the University of Vermont. She focuses her research on family-professional partnerships for families whose children have disabilities or who arrived in the U.S. as refugees, and on improving teacher preparation. She wants you to participate actively in increasing equity by improving the education system for diverse learners through partnering with families.Tracy Gershwin is a Professor of special education at the University of Northern Colorado. She specializes in family-professional partnerships, conflict prevention, alternative dispute resolution, and special education law. She hopes you can develop and nurture meaningful and trusting family-professional partnerships that will continue to encourage growth for all students.Katharine G. Shepherd (Katie) is the Levitt Family Green and Gold Professor in the College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermont. Her research interests include collaboration among families and school professionals, leadership for inclusive schools and implementation of tiered systems of support. She hopes you place families at the center of efforts to ensure that our schools promote equity, accessibility, inclusion and an ethic of care.Natalie Holdren is the education specialist credential coordinator at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her orientation toward issues of equity has become the basis for her work on training preservice educators to partner with all families to meet student needs. She believes that you, when provided with the appropriate training and support, can be an agent of change for social justice.George H. S. Singer is a Professor of special education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the son, grandson, brother and grandfather of individuals with disabilities. He specializes in studying family support with a focus on how parents help other parents. He wants you to understand the importance of science-based practices in supporting individuals with disabilities and their families within a framework of genuine partnerships.
