Aurora Institute Symposium 2022

Dr. David Miyashiro, Superintendent, Cajon Valley Union School District
Dr. David Miyashiro is a forward-thinking, award-winning education leader with a 20-year career revolutionizing learning approaches, education models, and school district capabilities in Southern California. As a digital pioneer, he has navigated districts into the hi-tech era, delivering numerous innovation “firsts,” for which he has garnered professional honors. Those include Superintendent of the Year and recognition from the White House and U.S. Department of Education as one of the “Top 35 District Leaders in Personalized Learning.” Districts under his leadership have also won awards, such as the California School Boards Association’s Golden Bell Award, the National School Boards Association’s Magna Award for Digital Learning, and the California Distinguished Schools Award.

Dr. Miyashiro has a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy from UCLA, his Master’s in Education Technology and Curriculum from Grand Canyon University, and Bachelor’s from Cal State Long Beach.

Cecily Schmidt, Visual Art Teacher, Avanti High School, Olympia, WA
Cecily Schmidt is an artist and National Board Certified arts educator who currently has the privilege of working as part of the fabulous team of teachers at Avanti High School in Olympia, WA. She earned a Master’s degree in Teaching from The Evergreen State College in 2004 and has since taught visual art, language arts, humanities and yoga in varying capacities in public high schools. She is currently a member of Avanti’s School Leadership Team and is actively involved in designing an interdisciplinary educational model at the school. She loves being outdoors, spending time with friends and family, making things, and traveling.

Dr. Randy Spaulding, Executive Director, Washington State Board of Education
Dr. Randy Spaulding has served as the Executive Director for the Washington State Board of Education since 2018. Under his direction, the agency has prioritized mastery-based learning in its legislative requests and developed a mastery-based learning collaborative with legislative support and funding.

Previously, Dr. Spaulding had served as the Director of Academic Affairs and Policy at the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) and Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB). His work focused on the intersections of secondary and postsecondary education to improve student transitions and raise educational attainment. Prior to his work at the Council (HECB), Randy worked in student services, admissions, and financial aid at the University of Washington Bothell. Randy received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2003.

Facilitator: Dr. Eliot Levine, Research Director, Aurora Institute
Dr. Eliot Levine is the Aurora Institute’s Research Director and formerly led the CompetencyWorks initiative. He has led local, state, and national studies of educational programs and shared research findings in many formats for diverse audiences. Eliot was a teacher for seven years at innovative public high schools in the Big Picture Learning and EL Education networks. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical and community psychology from the University of Maryland and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in program evaluation at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.