Stephen W Smith Author & Editor

Stephen W. Smith is professor of special education at the University of Florida. He is the author of 20 professional books and book chapters and has presented over 200 professional papers and research findings at many state, regional, national, and international professional conferences. Smith was awarded the 2018 Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Education Research Association, Special Education special interest group. Smith is a panel scientist for the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, and is on the editorial board of numerous professional journals in education and special education.

Mitchell L. Yell is the Fred and Francis Lester Palmetto Chair in Teacher Education and professor in special education at the University of South Carolina. Yell has published 134 journal articles, six textbooks, 36 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. In 2020, he was awarded the Researcher of the Year from the Council for Exceptional Children. Yell also serves as a state-level due process review officer (SRO) in South Carolina and is on the board of directors of the Council for Exceptional Children. Prior to working in higher education, Yell was a special education teacher in Minnesota for 12 years.