Serra De Arment, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. In this role she prepares special educators for working with young children and students with disabilities and their families, particularly within urban and underserved contexts. Dr. De Arment’s research interests include development of special educator adaptive expertise, application of the universal design for learning framework for supporting learners across diverse learning environments, and co-teaching and inclusive practices.

Kathryn Best, Ph.D. is the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment at St. Michael’s Episcopal School in Richmond, Virginia. Her research interests are Universal Design for Learning and professional development; she is especially interested in ways to help veteran teachers in regular education classes embrace and design for learner variability.

Dr. Frances Smith is an Educator/Consultant. Dr. Smith currently teaches as an adjunct professor for GW University and consults with a number of organizations and institutions including Virginia Commonwealth University. She is also a nationally certified vocational evaluation specialist. Her scholarship and consulting work focuses on the framework of universal design for learning in higher education, college classrooms, career transition and assessment.