Mitchell L. Yell, Ph.D., is the Fred and Francis Lester Palmetto Chair in Teacher Education and a Professor in Special Education at the University of South Carolina. He earned his Ph.D. in special education from the University of Minnesota. His professional interests include special education law, IEP development, progress monitoring, and parent involvement in special education. Dr. Yell has published 118 journal articles, 5 textbooks, 32 book chapters, and has conducted numerous workshops on various aspects of special education law, classroom management, and progress monitoring. His textbook, Special Education and the Law, is in its 5th edition. He also serves as a State-level due process review officer in South Carolina. Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Yell was a special education teacher in Minnesota for 16 years.

Tessie Rose Bailey, Ph.D., is a Principal Technical Assistance Consultant at American Institutes for Research and the Director of the Promoting Rigorous Outcomes and Growth by Redesigning Educational Services for Students with Disabilities (PROGRESS) Center. In addition, she supports states and districts in implementing MTSS/RTI through several other national centers--Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center, National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI), and National Center on Intensive Interventions (NCII)-- and state contracts. Prior to her current work, she served as university faculty member, education consultant, and classroom special education teacher. Dr. Bailey has conducted more than 100 PD workshops and presentations on effective implementation of MTSS/RTI, secondary MTSS/RTI and transition, MTSS/RTI law, and special education within MTSS/RTI systems in 43 states. She recently released “Aligning Intensive Intervention and Special Education with Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS)” in the Essentials of Intensive Intervention and has written a series of MTSS/RTI blogs. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Utah in special education and post-doctoral work in RTI/MTSS and secondary transition at Lehigh University’s Center for Promoting Research to Practice.