Ellen Kottler, Ed.S., has been a teacher for over 30 years in public and private schools, alternative schools, adult education programs, and universities. She has worked in inner-city schools as well as in suburban and rural set­tings. She was a curriculum specialist in charge of secondary social studies and law-related education for one of the country's largest school districts. Ellen is the author or coauthor of several books for educators, including Secrets for Secondary School Teachers: How to Succeed in Your First Year, On Being a Teacher, Secrets for Beginning Elementary School Teachers, Counseling Skills for Teachers, English Language Learners in Your Classroom: Strategies That Work, Secrets to Success for Science Teachers, and Students Who Drive You Crazy: Succeeding with Resistant, Unmotivated, and Otherwise Difficult Young People.

She teaches secondary education and supervises intern teachers at California State University, Fullerton.

Jeffrey A. Kottler is one of the most prolific authors in the fields of counseling, psychotherapy, and education, having written more than 90 books about a wide range of subjects. He has authored a dozen texts for counselors and therapists that are used in universities around the world and a dozen books each for practicing therapists and educators. Some of his most highly regarded works include Creative Breakthroughs in Therapy, The Mummy at the Dining Room Table: Eminent Therapists Reveal Their Most Unusual Cases and What They Teach Us About Human Behavior, Bad Therapy, The Client Who Changed Me, Divine Madness, Change: What Leads to Personal Transformation, Stories We've Heard, Stories We've Told: Life-Changing Narratives in Therapy and Everyday Life, and Therapy Over 50. He has been an educator for 40 years, having worked as a teacher, counselor, and therapist in preschool, middle school, mental health center, crisis center, nongovernmental organization, university, community college, private practice, and disaster relief settings. He has served as a Fulbright scholar and senior lecturer in Peru and Iceland, as well as worked as a visiting professor in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Nepal. He is professor of counseling at California State University, Fullerton.

Chris Street, Ph.D. is an associate professor of Secondary Education at California State University, Fullerton. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin. He earned his M.A. from California State University, San Diego and his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Chris has taught English language learners at both the middle-school and college levels. He currently serves on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Content Area Reading and is a teacher consultant with the National Writing Project. His research interests include adolescent literacy and the teaching of reading and writing. His work has appeared in a variety of journals and books, including Teacher Education Quarterly, The Social Studies, Journal of Content Area Reading, Multicultural Education, Journal of College Reading and Learning, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, and Comprehending Nonfiction 6-8.