Meet the experts

Stephanie Bivins has been in education for over 14 years, has a master’s degree in early childhood education (ECE), and was a prior Center Director, bringing the center to high quality. Stephanie is a credentialed coach, trainer, and infant toddler specialist. She coordinated a community initiative in an effort to increase quality and capacity. Stephanie is the Director of the Colorado Early Childhood Council, leading current strategic efforts to impact early childhood.

Kelly Gfroerer, PhD, is Executive Director of the Positive Discipline Association. She has worked as a teacher, school counselor, and educational consultant in early childhood education for over two decades. She has a wide variety of work experience in preschool and early childhood settings including implementing Positive Discipline and specifically class meetings as a counselor and consultant in early childhood programs. Kelly is a frequent speaker on Positive Discipline and a Positive Discipline Certified Trainer. Kelly is the co-author of the book, Positive Discipline Tools for Teachers, and Positive Discipline in the Classroom Tool Cards. Both of these publications include practical, easy to implement classroom management tools that teach social and emotional life skills to young children.

Laura Ritter has worked passionately with individuals with disabilities for over 20 years. She specializes in the field of special education. She has been an instructor and administrator at the elementary school, high school, and post-high school age levels. 

She has served as a special education teacher, homebound educator, tutor, and educational consultant in the Orlando and Indianapolis areas. She works with students, families, and colleagues to develop IEP plans that meet the unique needs of her students.

As a director at an agency for adults with disabilities, located near Indianapolis, she developed Individual Support Plans for numerous participants and supervised case management, behavior management, and classroom instructors. In addition, she developed training sessions for those with disabilities on topics such as life skills, resume building, and job interview preparation.  

She has been a professor at the University of Phoenix for five years, currently teaching a variety of classes in teacher preparation and has served as a student teaching mentor for the education department. Laura looks forward to sharing her knowledge with other educators on the IEP and IFSP process.