Lori Smith is principal at Cheyenne Mountain Junior High in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She has served in public education for 15 years, 9 of which have been in school administration. She began her career as a high school biology and chemistry teacher in 1994 in Colorado. Her work and systematic implementation of RTI at Cheyenne Mountain has led to several state-level presentations, publications, and consultations on RTI implementation. Smith's commitment to action research on RTI at the secondary level was inspired by the support of Evelyn Johnson as Smith completes her doctoral degree in education leadership and administration.

Monica L. Harris is an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University in the College of Education. She began her career in education at the secondary level and has experience teaching adolescents in general and special education settings as well as developing and implementing programs for students who struggle academically or are at risk of school failure. Prior to joining the faculty at GVSU, she received her doctoral degree in special education from the University of Kansas, where her research focused on strategy instruction and adolescent literacy. Harris is part of the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) Professional Developer's Network and works with school districts to implement tiered intervention using research-based instructional strategies. Currently, her research interests include developing instructional strategies for use in academically diverse classrooms, teacher preparation, and collaborative teaching models.