Christine Chaille, PhD, is a professor of curriculum and instruction at Portland State University. She has been involved in promoting quality early childhood and elementary education through her teaching and research, and as president-elect of the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators. Dr. Chaille co-authored, The Young Child, now in its third edition, and is currently completing a book on constructivist early childhood curriculum.

Frank Mahler has been an early childhood educator since 1989, was a Head Start and Early Head Start teacher for 13 years, and is currently working with one- and two-year old toddlers at the Helen Gordon Child Development Center at Portland State University, where he recently earned his Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in early childhood education.  He presents his work and shares his ideas about young children at professional development conferences and as a consultant to other early childhood programs, including collaborating on the creation of a child development curriculum for training the caregivers of orphaned and otherwise vulnerable children worldwide for the nonprofit agency Hands to Hearts International.  He also teaches graduate level courses in early childhood education at Portland State University.

Cheryl Price, MSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 30 years experience working with young children and their families. Cheryl has a master’s degree in social work with a post-graduate certificate in infant mental health. She has worked and taught in a variety of settings, including early childhood programs for infants, toddlers and pre-school children, mental health, child welfare, schools, colleges, child-placement agencies, and juvenile probation. Ms. Price has taught in the Blue Mountain Community College early childhood Program, in Portland State University’s Social Services Competency-Based Training program, and at Arizona State University in the graduate school of social work.

Shiela Rector, MS, is an energetic teacher with over 20 years experience. She has taught children with a range of special needs in Oregon. Ms. Rector currently works with ESL students K-5 and is a doctoral student at Portland State.

Jamie Steinfeld, MA, received her Master’s of Arts in Elementary Education from Columbia University. Her teaching background reaches from Paraguay to New York City to Oregon. Her diverse experience in elementary education brings rich insight into the online classroom. Ms. Steinfeld’s expertise includes developmental reading and writing, classroom management, curriculum development, and inquiry-based mathematics.