About our authors
Vern Jones, PhD, has been a junior high school teacher, a junior high school vice principal and a district coordinator for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. He is an emeritus professor of Teacher Education in the Graduate School of Education and Counseling at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he chaired and taught in the education department, directed the doctoral program in educational leadership and taught in the school psychology department. He received his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Texas.
Dr. Jones’s other books include Adolescents with Behavior Problems (1980), Responsible School Discipline (1981), Creating Effective Programs for Students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders (2004), Practical Classroom Management (2011) and Effective Supports for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Continuum of Services (2016). He has written chapters in Helping Teachers Manage Classrooms (1982), Management of Disruptive Pupil Behaviour in Schools (1986) and Severe Behavior Disorders of Children and Youth (1987). He was selected by the National Association of Colleges of Teacher Education to write the chapter on classroom management for the Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (1996). He also wrote the chapter “How Do Teachers Learn to Be Effective Classroom Managers?” for the Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues (2006). Dr. Jones is coauthor of the State of Oregon Technical Assistance Paper on the Identification and Treatment of Seriously Emotionally Disturbed Students. Comprehensive Classroom Management has been translated into Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Bahasa Indonesia.
From 1986 to 1989, Dr. Jones was co-chair of the American Educational Research Association Special Interest Group on Classroom Management. Dr. Jones has served as Scholar in Residence at several universities. He won the Burlington Northern Award as Graduate School Teacher of the Year at Lewis & Clark College. He has given keynote addresses at state conferences in more than 10 states and has consulted with school districts and staff in more than 25 states.
Louise Jones was a teacher in grades 3 through 6 for 32 years. She earned her master’s degree from Lewis & Clark College, where, after retiring from teaching, for 3 years, she coordinated cohorts of 20 graduate students simultaneously earning their master’s degrees and initial teaching licenses. Her graduate school teaching included courses on elementary school social studies methods, classroom management and student teaching seminar. She has presented at regional and national workshops on creating positive classroom climates and has worked with school staff to develop schoolwide student management plans.
Eric Toshalis has more than 32 years of experience in and around public secondary education. He has served as a middle and high school teacher, mentor teacher, teachers union president, teacher educator, community activist, curriculum director, researcher, professor, professional development provider, foster parent, and author. Recognized as Teacher of the Year by his school district in Santa Barbara County in 1997 and awarded the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching by Harvard College in 2002, he has long focused on what it takes to educate adolescents and adults who bring a diversity of racial, cultural, ethnic, gender, linguistic, sexual, (dis)ability, and socioeconomic insights. Dr. Toshalis is the author of the award-winning book, Make Me! Understanding and Engaging Student Resistance in School (2015) and is co-author of the widely used text, Understanding Youth: Adolescent Development for Educators (2006). He has contributed multiple chapters to edited volumes on matters related to racial equity in secondary level teaching and learning, and has published articles in a variety of scholarly and practitioner-oriented outlets, including The Urban Review, Educational Leadership, Harvard Education Letter, NEA Today, and the Journal of Curriculum Studies. He is the lead author and editor of the “Detracking for Equity” series at KnowledgeWorks.org, and is the lead author of the “Motivation, Engagement and Student Voice” white paper and its series of linked professional development curricula at StudentsAtTheCenterHub.com. Dr. Toshalis received his B.A., teaching credential, and M.Ed. from the University of California, Santa Barbara; his master’s degree in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School; and his doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a teacher educator, Dr. Toshalis was an instructor at Harvard, was on the faculty at the School of Education at CSU Channel Islands, and served as professor in the secondary M.A.T. program at the Graduate School of Education and Counseling at Lewis & Clark College. Dr. Toshalis’s work in the nonprofit sector at both Jobs for the Future and KnowledgeWorks included leading the Student-Centered Learning Research Collaborative, the REMIQS project, and the Students at the Center Distinguished Fellowship. Now at EngagingResistance.com, Dr. Toshalis provides interactive workshops, targeted trainings, technical assistance, keynote addresses, strategic thought-partnering, and awareness-raising interventions for a range of clients committed to designing schools and classrooms that promote high achievement, personal well-being, and social justice.
