Ron Walker

Speaking/Consultation Areas: Behavior Problems,Classroom Management, Inclusion, Section 504 Compliance, Bullying Prevention, Working with Parents

Presentation Style: Animated, witty, and inspiring; convincing; thought-provoking observations and stories from real-life experience.

Mr. Walker is the President of Walker Educational Consulting, Inc., a company specializing in work with teachers and parents, and is the Educational Consultant to the National Professionals' Consortium on Attention Deficit Disorders. The 2004-2005 school year is Ron's 28th in education. He began his career as a classroom teacher and has taught in a wide variety of settings at both elementary and secondary levels. He was an administrator at Woodward Academy in Atlanta where he directed a program for college-bound learning disabled students; he was a middle school principal; and he directed both day and boarding programs for the dePaul School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ron is a graduate of Woodward Academy in Atlanta and of Duke University, from which received class and departmental honors and where he won a national debate championship. His graduate work was at Emory University in Developmental Psychology where he also served as President of the Graduate Student Council.

Ron has spent the last twelve years working with more than 600 school districts in approximately 30 states, giving workshops, providing school consultation, and speaking at conferences. he continues to find strength in classroom teaching and he spent nearly 20 days last year teaching in real classrooms in different settings around the country. Ron is also active in promoting Christian youth programs and has spent a number of years as a leader of the Journey to Adulthood  programs at Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Georgia.

Consultant Services Provided

School Improvement Consultation

These consultations are generally a minimum of two days and sometimes much longer. They include consideration of the improvement plan, analysis of current testing data, and observation and discernment of school-based activities, beginning with bus arrival and breakfast and often lasting through afterschool activities. These consultations usually include meetings with administrative staff and faculty and, at older age levels, student representatives, and often also include work with parent groups. There is generally a classroom teaching component (to get a better feel for the students) and sometimes attendance at extracurricular events. Following the school visitation, a comprehensive report is issued within ten working days which includes a list of school strengths and weaknesses, a list of prioritized suggestions for building improvement, and answers to any specific issues requested by the administration.

Teacher Improvement Consultation

These consultations are usually undertaken as a part of beginning teacher training or as part of a plan of improvement for struggling or difficult staff. There is an initial review of needs with administration and staff, followed by a minimum of three visitations per faculty member involved in the consultation. The first visitation is observation and discussion, followed by Mr. Walker's demonstration lesson and discussion, with a concluding observation of the faculty member's instruction. A report is issued with ten work days for each teacher. In some cases, these consultations have been greatly extended with followup meeting regarding the report, review of IEPs written by the teacher, or specific training on individual classroom skills.

Workshops

(Workshops vary in length from two hours to three days depending on the nature of the consultation and depth of the instruction.)

Behavior Problems in Childhood - An overview of the behavioral issues we face in school with an outline of effective versus ineffective practices.

Ten Critical Classroom Management Strategies - 10 strongly research-based, practical, cheap strategies which emphasize the role of the teacher managing his/her own behavior as critical to good classroom discipline.

Working with Behaviorally and Socially Difficult Students - Specific strategies in working with oppositional and conduct-disordered students.

Inclusion Strategies in Language-Based Subject Matter - Practical strategies for assisting the performance in reading and writing of all students in inclusive classrooms (content specific to grade levels).

Inclusion Strategies in Mathematics - Practical strategies for assisting computational and mathematic concept skills for all students in inclusive classrooms (content specific to grade levels).

Section 504 Compliance and the Writing of 504 Plans - An overview of the Section 504 law with simple rules for classroom, building, and system compliance, along with specific designs for writing and managing 504 plans.

Bullying Prevention - A down-to-earth set of rules and building supervision policies to minimize bullying and maximize legal protection from complaints.

Working with Parents - A research- and experience-based workshop on how to best hold parent conferences, communicate problems, and build rapport and support, with special emphasis on how to work with different types of difficult parents.

Test Score Improvement Consultation

These consultations use a research basis for gauging what variables most impact language arts and math test scores to produce single or multiple year improvement. Strategy demonstration (including videotaping) is included, but these consultations require administrative accountability plans to ensure that faculty are actually using the strategies needed to produce score improvement. These consultations are designed to improve educational quality, but focus on statistical improvement to avoid funding cuts or state sanctions.

Conference Keynote Addresses

Eight prepared keynotes are currently available (list available on request), but others are also designed to enhance and further particular conference themes or school system goals.