Beane’s most recent book is A Reason to Teach: Creating Classrooms of Dignity and Hope. He is also author of Curriculum Integration: Designing the Core of a Democratic Education, Affect in the Curriculum: Toward Democracy, Dignity and Diversity and A Middle School Curriculum: From Rhetoric to Reality; co-author of Self-Concept, Self-Esteem and the Curriculum, Curriculum Planning and Development, The Middle School and Beyond, and When the Kids Come First: Enhancing Self-Esteem at the Middle Level; co-editor of Democratic Schools; and editor of the 1995 ASCD Yearbook, Toward A Coherent Curriculum. In addition he has written forewords and chapters for many books as well as articles for a variety of professional journals. He has spoken at numerous international, national and state conferences, been a consultant for educational projects in the U.S. and elsewhere, and served in various capacities for several professional associations.

Braun y Harycki finished his dissertation about the influence of the Ten Essential Elements of a True Middle School in 2001. Drs. Braun y Harycki and McBeth were recognized by the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents in 2002 for creating the first Middle Level Masters cohort off-campus in Belleville, Wisconsin.

Currently, Dave is the co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of Educational Development Unlimited. In addition to his tenured position at UWP, he is an adjunct professor with graduate status for Bemidji State Univeristy in Minnesota. Dave was elected chair of the Graduate Council for the School of Graduate Studies at UWP. Also, he served as an elected representative to the Wisconsin Association of Middle Level Education. Dave co-advises the local middle level student group. He is a writer for the Center of Powerful Education. Currently, he is researching the the Socialists' negative reaction to the historical establishment of junior high schools in Berkeley.

Barbara Brodhagen

Barbara Brodhagen is a Learning Coordinator at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin and holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As Learning Coordinator she provides professional development and support to teachers in all areas of curriculum and teaching, including democratic classrooms, integrative curriculum, student voice, and student engagement. Prior to her present position, Ms. Brodhagen was a teacher and a Program Manager for Staff Development. She has also been a Carnegie Scholar in the national teacher research network sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Chair of the National Middle School Association’s Curriculum Committee, and a member of the committee that rewrote “This We Believe,” the guiding document of that association. She has spoken at numerous conferences and written for a number of books and journals on curriculum integration and democratic education. She received the John Lounsbury Award from the national Middle School Association in 2006.

M. Bruce King

M. Bruce King is a faculty associate with the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work in ELPA concentrates on leadership and school improvement, and building effective partnership between the department and schools and districts. Bruce has been a researcher with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research where his work focused on school and instructional reform (especially authentic pedagogy and achievement), leadership, and professional community. His completed projects include the Research Institute on Secondary Education Reform for Youth with Disabilities (RISER), the Study of Professional Development to Build School Capacity, and the School Restructuring Study conducted by the Center for Organization and Restructuring of Schools (CORS). He received his PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from UW-Madison and taught school for eleven years including a year in Quito, Ecuador.

King has been Research Fellow at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales in Australia. He also consults with the state departments of education and schools on their school reform initiatives. His work has appeared in the Harvard Educational Review, the Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Urban Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, and Phi Delta Kappan.

Ann Yehle

Ann Yehle is the Assistant Director of Title I and School Support at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction as well as an instructor for the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ms. Yehle holds her doctorate from the UW-Madison and has additional leadership training from National Louis University and the Principal Center at Harvard University. Prior to her present position, Yehle served as the principal of Sherman Middle School in Madison, WI for six years. During this time, Yehle was instrumental in establishing the school as a leader in the areas of developmentally responsive strategies related to school-wide discipline. Yehle is a seasoned grant writer and recognized for her ability to creatively locate resources to support school improvement efforts and professional development. Yehle has presented at the local and national level on the areas of leadership and inclusive educational practices.

Kenneth Harycki

Ken Harycki is the CPA for EDU's board. He handles the financial affairs of the non-profit corporation.

Ken is the Mayor of Stillwater, Minnesota. He was elected to a four-year term in 2006. Prior to serving as mayor, Ken was elected to a four-year term on the City Council. Also, Ken is the proprietor of his own accounting firm.

Ken met his wife, currently a middle-school Spanish teacher, in Montevideo, Uruguay where they were both attending high school. Ken earned his undergraduate degree in accounting at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. After managerial experience in the private sector, Ken earned his MBA at the University of Minnesota in the mid-1990s. Shortly afterwards, he passed his exams and become a licensed CPA in Minnesota. Then, he entered the non-profit public sector becoming the Comptroller for the St. Paul Foundation. Later, he served in the same capacity for the National Heart Association in the Twin Cities.