Beverley H. Johns, M.S., is a Professional Fellow for MacMurray College, where she teaches courses on special education law, emotional and behavior disorders, and diverse learners. She also teaches a class on autism at Illinois College. In addition, she is a learning and behavior consultant. She is a graduate of Catherine Spalding College in Louisville, Kentucky, and received a fellowship for her graduate work at Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale, where she received a master of science degree in special education. She has done postgraduate work at the University of Illinois, Western Illinois University, SIU, and Eastern Illinois University.
Ms. Johns has 40 years of experience working with students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) within the public schools. She supervised LD and EBD teachers in 22 school districts, was the founder and administrator of the Garrison Alternative School for students with severe EBD in Jacksonville, Illinois, and was later the coordinator for staff development for the Four Rivers Special Education District.
Ms. Johns is the lead author of 13 books and coauthor of four others in the field of education, including the seminal college textbook, Learning Disabilities and Related Disabilities (13th Edition) with Janet Lerner. (Cengage, 2015). She has written her first fiction book, Secrets of the Teachers' Lounge (Truth Book Publishers, 2014). She wrote and appeared in a DVD for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Conducting an Effective IEP Meeting Connecting to the Common Core, and wrote an online course for ASCD, Role of the Classroom Teacher in Implementing the Common Core for Students with Disabilities.
She has presented workshops across the United States and Canada and in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Sydney, Australia (keynote); Warsaw, Poland; Wroclaw, Poland (keynote); Hong Kong, China; Lima, Peru; and Riga, Latvia. She chaired the 10th Biennial Conference of the International Association of Special Education, held June 10-14, 2007, in Hong Kong; served as President from 2006 until January 1, 2010; and presided over the 11th Biennial Conference in Alicante, Spain, in 2009. She presented the Inaugural Marden Lecture at The University of Hong Kong in January 2006.
She is the 2000 recipient of the CEC Outstanding Leadership Award from the international Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Past International President of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD), Past President of the CEC Pioneers, Past Secretary and Governmental Relations Chair for the Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD), current Secretary for DARTS (the newly formed CEC Division for the arts and special education), and the 2007 recipient of the Romaine P. Mackie Leadership Service Award. Ms. Johns is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in American Education, and Who's Who Among America's Teachers.
