Katie Novak, Ed.D., is an internationally renowned education consultant, author, professor at UPenn, and a former Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Massachusetts. With 19 years of experience in teaching and administration, an earned doctorate in curriculum and teaching, and eight published books, Katie designs and presents workshops both nationally and internationally focusing on the implementation of inclusive practices, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), multi-tiered systems of support, and universally designed leadership. Novak’s work has impacted educators worldwide as her contributions and collaborations have built upon the foundation for an educational framework that is critical for student success.

Dr. Novak is the author of the best-selling book, UDL Now! A Teacher’s Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Classrooms. Her book, Innovate Inside the Box, with George Couros, explores how to create innovative and purposeful learning opportunities for students within the constraints of educational systems. Let Them Thrive was endorsed by the PACER Foundation. Two additional publications, of which she is a co-author, have been endorsed by leading professors in the field of education and state departments of education. UDL in the Cloud was endorsed by the Executive Director of The Initiative on Learning and Teaching at MIT while Mitchell Chester, the late Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), endorsed Universally Designed Leadership.

Novak’s work has been highlighted in many publications including Edutopia, Language Magazine, NAESP Principal, ADDitude Magazine, Commonwealth Magazine, The Inclusion Lab, Think Inclusive, School news, the Huffington Post, Principal Leadership, District Administrator, ASCD Education Update, and School Administrator.

katie@novakeducation.com

Stéphanie Tremblay is a professor at UQAM's Department of Religious Studies and the Assistant Director of the Ethics and Religious Culture specialization for the Bachelor of Secondary Education program. Sociologist by training and holder of a doctorate in comparative education and educational foundations, she is interested, from an interdisciplinary perspective, in the links between religions, identities and the construction of borders between majority and minority groups, through the analysis of the place of religion at school and in the public space. She is the author of a series of articles on these issues as well as the two books Les écoles juive, musulmane et Steiner : pluralité des voies éducatives (PUQ, 2014) and École et religions : Genèse du nouveau pari québécois (Fides, 2010).