 Chris
O'Neal is a former elementary and middle school teacher originally
teaching in the Calcasieu Parish School System in Louisiana, where
he received numerous Teacher of the Year honors and chaired the Mayor’s
Committee for Youth Leadership for the City of Lake Charles. After
leaving the classroom, Chris went on to work in the Curriculum and
Instruction office for the school district. There he worked with teachers
in high-risk schools to enhance classroom practice through the use
of new teaching strategies and tools, developed content to support
the classroom, and provided professional development to teachers and
administrators. In addition, he coordinated several community-school
public relations efforts including teaching job-seeking and resume-skills
at the Women's Shelter and teaching computer technology and Internet
skills to senior citizens at the Council on Aging. He went on to work
at the State Department of Education in Louisiana for 5 years, focusing
on grant management, policy and planning issues, district support,
and eventually becoming the state director of technology. His work
with the Governor’s Office and the Louisiana Legislature earned
him status as an honorary State Senator. He was also named in the
“Who’s Who of American Teachers” and featured as
a “Shaper of Our Future” in Converge Magazine. In the
winter of 2003, he received the "Making it Happen" award
for leaders in the field of education.? ?He is now working at the
University of Virginia in conjunction with the Virginia Department
of Education providing outreach and professional development to school
administrators across the state. In addition, he teaches classes for
the University of Virginia in both a traditional and online format,
and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Research and Evaluation. He also serves
as a faculty associate for the George Lucas Educational Foundation;
provides leadership professional development, content development,
and consulting for ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education);
conducts educational leadership institutes, workshops, and evaluations
for several districts around the country, and serves as a leadership
facilitator for SETDA (the U.S. State Educational Technology Directors
Association.) He has recently completed publication of a resource
book to assist middle school teachers in designing real-world, project-based
lessons, and is working on a book to assist districts in leading school
improvement efforts through effective use of data. |
