associates

Ruth Mattingley has provided leadership in education provincially, nationally and internationally.  Ruth was formerly the senior executive officer at the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ontario Ministry of Education.  In this role, Ruth worked closely with Ontario’s Chief Student Achievement Officer, Dr. Avis Glaze, to develop Ontario’s provincial strategy for improving achievement in literacy and numeracy for elementary school students.

Ruth also worked closely with school districts and schools across Ontario to implement high-yield research informed strategies to close achievement gaps and improve outcomes for all students. Prior to joining the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ruth was a superintendent of education with the Lambton Kent District School Board.  During her years with the board Ruth supervised a family of schools and had system responsibilities for Special Education, K-12 curriculum development and implementation, and leadership development.  Ruth also has experience as an elementary school principal, classroom and special education teacher. Ruth has worked with educational leaders both within Canada and internationally with a focus on district and school improvement planning, high-yield strategies for improving student achievement, equity and diversity and improving student achievement in schools in challenging circumstances.

Ruth has written numerous articles and has co-uthored two books:  Breaking Barriers: Equity and Excellence for All (Glaze, Mattingley, Levin: Pearson, Canada 2012) and High School Graduation:K-12 Strategies that Work (Glaze, Mattingley, Andrews:  Corwin, Thousand Oaks, California, 2013).  Ruth worked with Dr. Glaze as senior advisors for the published series of educational resources entitled, Class Interrupted: Strategies for Positive Behaviour (Pearson Canada, 2008.) Ruth is a past president of the Ontario Public Supervisory Officers Association (O.P.S.O.A.) and a past president of the Canadian Association of School Administrators (C.A.S.A.).  Ruth was the recipient of the O.P.S.O.A. Distinguished Leadership Award and the Ontario recipient of the CASA Excel Leadership Award. Ruth is very pleased to be an associate with Edu-quest International Inc. and looks forward to sharing her experience and expertise to support schools and districts achieve their improvement goals.

Roderick Benns is the publisher of Leaders and Legacies, a social purpose news site focused on progressive news and policy, including leadership dialogues. An award-winning author and journalist, Roderick has interviewed former Prime Ministers of Canada, Cabinet Ministers, Senators, and Mayors across Canada.

He has written for The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, and many small and mid-sized newspapers and magazines over a 24-year career in writing and communications. He served for nine years as Senior Writer for the Student Achievement Division of the Ministry of Education, working closely with Dr. Avis Glaze. Roderick’s focus at the Ministry was on coordinating communications, creating the staff newsletter, overseeing and developing the website ‘Inspire: The Journal of Literacy and Numeracy for Ontario,’ and developing promising practices communiques to system leaders in education.

Roderick is also the owner of Fireside Publishing House, creator of the young prime ministers book series that has captured national media attention for its focus on increasing Canadian youths’ historical literacy.