As a communications manager for McREL, Vicki Urquhart fulfills a variety of roles in writing, editing, and producing research-based publications and new products. An experienced presenter, she conducts workshops around the country. She has more than 20 years of experience as an educator, having taught at the secondary and postsecondary levels. Vicki coauthored Teaching Writing in the Content Areas, two booklets—Remove Limits to Learning With Systematic Vocabulary Instruction and Using Writing in Mathematics to Deepen Student Learning—and several articles for Phi Delta Kappan, Principal Leadership, and the Journal of Staff Development, among others. In 2007, she served on the planning committee that developed the 2011 NAEP Writing Framework.

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.