Cultivating Attendance and Engagement: Why Teachers Matter More Than Ever

About the Presenters

Hedy Nai-Lin Chang is the founder and Executive Director of Attendance Works, a national- and state-level initiative aimed at advancing student success by addressing chronic absence. A skilled presenter, facilitator, researcher, and writer, she co-authored the seminal report Present, Engaged, and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades, as well as numerous other articles about student attendance. Deeply committed to promoting two-generation solutions to achieving a more just and equitable society, Hedy has spent more than three decades working in the fields of family support, family economic success, education, and child development. She served as a Senior Program Officer at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and as Co-director of California Tomorrow, a nonprofit committed to drawing strength from cultural, linguistic, and racial diversity. In February 2013, Hedy was named by the White House as a Champion of Change for her commitment to furthering African American education.

Katreena Shelby was born in Mississippi and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She took her first teaching job at an urban high school in Jackson, Mississippi and quickly discovered her love for leadership and coaching. As a member of Lanier High School’s faculty, she served as department chair, new teacher mentor, and a curriculum developer for the district. She joined the DCPS community as a 9th Grade Academy Coordinator at Ballou High School in 2013. From there, she served in several capacities, including 9th Grade Academy Assistant Principal, Assistant Principal of Humanities, and Interim Principal. In the 2018-19 school year as a Mary Jane Patterson Fellow, she served as an Assistant Principal at Columbia Heights Education Campus before moving to Jefferson Middle School Academy as Interim Principal. Ms. Shelby holds a Bachelor of Social Science from Jackson State University and a Master of Social Science from Mississippi College.

Principal Shelly Gray began her career 29 years ago in Maryland. She spent 13 years in Tampa, Florida before joining DC Public Schools in 2013. Principal Gray has served as a teacher, writing resource teacher, language arts professional development writer, and trainer. She also served as an ELA Instructional Coach, Manager of Elementary Literacy Curriculum and Professional Development, an assistant principal, and principal. Principal Gray established LaSalle-Backus as a Computer Science Education School in 2022. She believes in creating a community that is built on trust, respect, integrity, love, and excellence.

Principal Gray holds degrees from University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Maryland University College. She is part of the inaugural Leadership and Innovation Program, Executive Leadership Certification for Assistant Principals, a DCPS partnership with Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. She is also part of the inaugural DC cohort of the Cahn Fellowship for Distinguished Principals.

Dr. Amanda Alexander serves as Scholastic’s Chief Academic Officer. In this role, she leads research and validation efforts to ensure the efficacy of products, the delivery of professional learning services, and the company’s partnership with the Yale Child Study Center, focusing on the intersection of literacy and health. Before joining Scholastic, Dr. Alexander served as the Vice President of Policy and Partnership Development at Teachstone. With more than 20 years of progressive leadership experience, the majority of Dr. Alexander’s service has been as a practitioner in the public sector. She has a B.A. in English and an M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from Howard University, an M.S.Ed. in educational leadership from Baruch College, and a Ph.D. in education from American University.