Ed Tech Hour Dr. Kelly Torres

Dr. Courtney Kelley has been teaching at Cuyahoga Community College since 2009 and is currently a full-time psychology professor at the Eastern Campus. She holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Bowling Green State University and received her B.A. in Psychology from Wittenberg University. While in graduate school, her areas of research included child and adolescent aggression and prosocial behavior, child and adolescent body image, eating attitudes and eating behavior, and academic motivation. Dr. Kelley regularly teaches General Psychology, Child Development, Lifespan Development, Honors Lifespan Development, and Psychology of Human Sexuality. She takes pride in bringing enthusiasm into the classroom and strives to create an active learning experience for students. 

Dr. Jessica Lester is a professor of Qualitative Methodology in the School of Education at Indiana University, Bloomington. Having been trained in cultural studies and qualitative research methodology, she takes an interdisciplinary approach to her scholarship, including both the methodological and substantive foci of her research program. In her methodological work, Dr. Lester focuses on the study of language-based methods, digital tools in qualitative research, and disability in qualitative inquiry. Her substantive research has focused on examining interactional practices in clinical and educational contexts that involve children and youth. Dr. Lester has received numerous awards for her scholarship, among them the 2014 AERA Division D Early Career Award in Measurement and Research Methodology, the 2018 APA Distinguished Early Career Contributions in Qualitative Inquiry Award, and the 2022 American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Book Award. At Indiana University, Dr. Lester teaches qualitative methods courses and was recently recognized by the 2022 Gorman Distinguished Teaching Award.  

Shena Sanchez, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Qualitative Research at the University of Alabama. As a critical qualitative researcher, she uses Critical Race Feminisms to understand the experiences of Girls and Women of Color in K-12 public schools. Her scholarly interests include intersectional research methods, student identity and voice, education policy and leadership, and the social-political-historical contexts of schooling. Dr. Sanchez is the founder of the Lavender Girls Project, a national mentoring and research group for and with Girls of Color from Title I high schools. She is currently conducting a study about the experiences of Women of Color public school administrators who lead using principles of social and educational justice. 

Dr. Tony Adams (PhD, University of South Florida) is a Caterpillar Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at Bradley University. Before Bradley, he worked at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) for nine years. In 2017, he was honored to be named the Bernard J. Brommel Distinguished Research Professor, the highest research award at NEIU. In 2021, he was honored to be named a Caterpillar Professor, the highest research award at Bradley. Dr. Adams has published more than 75 articles and book chapters as well as nine books including Narrating the Closet: An Autoethnography of Same-Sex Attraction (Routledge), Autoethnography (Oxford University Press), and two editions of the Handbook of Autoethnography (Routledge). He has facilitated workshops on qualitative research at numerous institutions, including the University of Edinburgh, Texas A&M, the University of Alabama, and the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes. He is the executive director of the International Association of Autoethnography and Narrative, a co-editor of the Writing Lives: Ethnographic Narratives book series (Routledge), and the founding co-editor of the Journal of Autoethnography (University of California Press). 

Dr. Tom Hoerr holds a Ph.D. in educational planning and policy development from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Master's in Education and Educational Administration from the University of Missouri St. Louis, and a BA in Education from Harris Teacher's College. He led schools for 37 years and is now a scholar in residence at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, where he teaches Prospective Principles. Dr. Hoerr began as a teacher and then moved into a leadership role as a principal in the school district of University City. In 1981, Dr. Hoerr became the head of the New City School in St. Louis, a school founded on a commitment to progressive learning and respect for human diversity. Under his leadership, New City began implementing the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) in 1988 and created the world's first MI library in 2006. During his 34 years at New City, the school raised funds to renovate the building, expand the campus, refurbish the theater, build the MI library, and establish an endowment for need-based financial aid. He was given emeritus status when he retired in 2015. He has also led the Independent Schools Association of the Central State's New Heads Network since its inception in 2010. This program for New Heads of Independent Schools focuses on leadership skills, faculty, collegiality, and school government. He also designed and led the Washington University Program in Nonprofit Management. He has written seven books and more than 175 articles or book chapters. He was the author of the Principal Connection Column in Educational Leadership from 2004 to 2018 and now writes a leadership blog for ASCD. In addition, he has given presentations at conferences and schools throughout the US and abroad on topics like the Formative Five, Grit, faculty, collegiality, leadership, multiple intelligences, school culture, and school governance. Dr. Hoerr has also worked with independent schools on governance issues and planning and led the ASCD Professional Interest Community's MI network for 20 years. 

Dr. Pornchanok Ruengvirayudh is a faculty member of the School of Politics and Government, Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Her goal is to apply her knowledge and experiences in statistics and quantitative research to the field of Political Science. When working as Associate Director of Grant Evaluation and Statistical Support at Loyola Marymount University in California, she collaborated with faculty and staff, consulting and conducting analyses. Her application of statistics to research studies has led to publications in STEM and other fields. She has expertise in statistics and public speaking, making her a statistician who can present statistical results in lay language. She is also a storyteller through data visualization. She earned her PhD in Educational Research and Evaluation from Ohio University. During her PhD, she served as a Graduate Associate in the Statistics and Research Lab, which allowed her to practice consulting with students on their doctoral dissertations in the field of Education, especially in research design and statistical analyses.