James B. Earley, EdD, is an independent special education consultant, contracted for the LABBB Collaborative, the SEEM Collaborative, the Northshore Education Consortium, and Seaside Educational Consultants. He has 52 years of public education experience as a teacher, teaching assistant principal, and Massachusetts Department of Education supervisor and acting regional special education director; nearly 30 years as administrator of special education and interim superintendent of schools for the Watertown Public Schools; and 12 years as managing director of Walker Partnerships prior to assuming his current consulting activities. Dr. Earley has been a senior lecturer at Lesley University and Wheelock College, an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and a student teacher supervisor for Salem State University. Dr. Earley has consulted for numerous educational organizations, has participated in a variety of special education task forces and committees, and was a member of the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Administrators for Special Education for 24 years. He has conducted over 125 independent program reviews and evaluations for public schools, private special education schools, and charter schools. He has conducted numerous professional development trainings for school districts within Massachusetts and several other states. He has been recognized for his contributions to the field of special education and received several awards, culminating with being named the 2003 Outstanding Administrator of Special Education by the Council of Administrators of Special Education. He received his bachelor’s in education and his master’s in education, social rehabilitation administration, from Northeastern University in Boston; his Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in organizational and administrative theory at Boston University; and his doctorate in education, with an emphasis on educational leadership, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
