Amber Evenson is a lead consultant at Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), providing services, strategies, and materials to support improvement in mathematics education, curriculum development, instructional coaching, and instructional technology. She also works with schools and districts to assist them as they align, plan, and implement the Common Core State Standards while building the internal capacity of the school or district. Ms. Evenson holds an MA in Teaching and Learning from Nova Southeastern University and a BA in Mathematics from Beloit College. Prior to coming to McREL, she served as a K–12 mathematics coach and has many years of experience as a secondary mathematics educator.

Monette McIver is a principal consultant at McREL and has worked on several design and development projects related to school leadership and systemic improvement efforts. A former assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, she taught a writing methods course for elementary teacher candidates and conducted research about writing instruction that focused on the interaction between teachers and students in the writing conference. Ms. McIver is an experienced elementary classroom teacher who has taught kindergarten through 4th grade. Her elementary classroom experiences include working with English language learners, adapting instruction to meet the diverse needs of learners, and mentoring preservice teachers. She is the coauthor of Teaching Writing in the Content Areas.

Susan Ryan is a senior consultant at McREL. She has reviewed, revised, and developed language arts standards documents for many districts, state agencies, and education organizations. Ms. Ryan has conducted alignment reviews on assessment items, instructional materials, and curriculum materials. Her work with the Common Core State Standards includes the production of gap analyses, crosswalks, transition documents, alignment reviews, and research support for state departments of education. Ms. Ryan has also facilitated teacher leaders in curriculum development and implementation of the Common Core. She was a consulting state content expert for English language arts during the development of the Common Core and a state consultant to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) consortium. A former high school language arts teacher, she holds a BA in English from the University of Colorado and a secondary teaching license through Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Amitra Schwols serves as a consultant at McREL. She has reviewed, revised, and developed standards documents for many districts, state agencies, and organizations. She has also reviewed instructional materials, created lesson plans, and conducted research on a wide variety of education topics. Ms. Schwols's work with the Common Core State Standards includes developing gap analysis, crosswalk, and transition documents, as well as facilitating implementation with groups of teacher leaders. She was a consulting state content expert for mathematics during the development of the Common Core standards and a state consultant to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) consortium. A former classroom teacher at the secondary grades and a Navy veteran, Ms. Schwols holds a BS in Science with an emphasis in physics and mathematics and a minor in English from Colorado State University.

John Kendall (Series Editor) is Senior Director in Research at McREL in Denver. Having joined McREL in 1988, Mr. Kendall conducts research and development activities related to academic standards. He directs a technical assistance unit that provides standards-related services to schools, districts, states, and national and international organizations. He is the author of Understanding Common Core State Standards, the senior author of Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K–12 Education, and the author or coauthor of numerous reports and guides related to standards-based systems. These works include High School Standards and Expectations for College and the Workplace; Essential Knowledge: The Debate over What American Students Should Know; and Finding the Time to Learn: A Guide. He holds an MA in Classics and a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder.