Information About Barry Sweeny, President of Best Practice Resources, Inc.

Information About Barry Sweeny

Barry Sweeny

President, Best Practice Resources

Consultant, Presenter, Trainer, Facilitator, Coach, Planner, Program Evaluator
26 W 413 Grand Ave. Wheaton, IL 60187

630-668-2605 or, email Barry

A Short Bio on Barry Sweeny
Currently
Past Work Experience
Other Leadership Roles
Education
Awards and Recognition
Author

A Short Bio on Barry

Barry W. Sweeny is the President of Best Practice Resources, Inc. an independent consulting, training and research firm in Wheaton, Illinois.

He has been a consultant, facilitator, trainer, and author since 1987 and has been a presenter and keynoter at dozens of conferences.

Mr. Sweeny has trained thousands of mentors, proteges, managers, and boards, and helped develop or improve hundreds of programs in school districts, professional associations & collaboratives, universities, regional agencies, not-for-profits, and businesses of every kind all over the world.

He is probably best known in North America for his extensive mentor program design consulting services and his mentor training experience. He is known world-wide for his mentoring program publications, his mentoring web site at www.BusinessMentorCenter.com, and his role in founding the ASCD Mentoring Leadership and Resource Network in 1991 which is an international network at www.mentors.net, and his role as a Director of the International Mentoring Association for four years. He was awarded Director Emeritus status by IMA, and served in 2003-2004 as the part time IMA Executive Director.

Barry has also worked extensively in organization improvement, peer coaching, staff development, and performance-based instruction, learning, and assessment.

Previously, Barry was an award-winning classroom teacher for 22 years, staff developer and mentor program coordinator, and the Manager of Organization & Program Development at two different Regional Offices of Education in Illinois. He is also Past President of the Illinois Staff Development Council and has served on or led six national and state level commissions on mentoring and induction.

Mr. Sweeny’s specialty is development of mentoring and induction programs and practices which result in increased performance and strategic results. His “High Impact” model of induction and mentoring is known all over the world for helping organizations of all types accomplish their strategic initiatives. “High Impact Mentoring and Induction” is the only program of its kind in North America, and it is why Mr. Sweeny’s services and materials are in such demand.

He was born in 1945, has been married (in 2008) for 41 years, and is the father of a grown son and daughter, each with a child of their own.

CURRENTLY

President, Best Practice Resources, Inc. a consulting and training firm in Wheaton, Illinois, working as a consultant, facilitator, trainer and program evaluator with hundreds of government, military, community-based and public service agencies and businesse, as well as school districts, professional associations & collaborative organizations, colleges & universities, intermediate education agencies, and as a presenter and keynoter at conferences throughout the United States and Canada. 1987 to 1998 part time, 1989 to date full time.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE

Executive Director, part time, 2003-2004, International Mentoring Association

Manager of School & Program Development, Kane County Regional Office of Education, Geneva, Illinois, serving 139 schools in 9 districts from July 1995 to September 1998. My roles included conducting teacher & administrative development workshops & courses, consulting with schools & school districts in developing & refining curriculum, standards, assessment, staff & organization development, instructional & school improvement programs. I wrote many grants, served as a grant reader, and managed many state & federal grants.

Adjunct Instructor in Assessment, Aurora University/KCROE, MAT/MAEL programs, 4 terms, Aurora Illinois

Staff Development Program Coordinator, DuPage-Kane Education Service Center, Lombard, Illinois, serving 349 schools in 53 districts 1992 to 1995. My roles included conducting teacher & administrative workshops, consulting in curriculum, assessment, staff & organizational development, instructional & school improvement programs. I wrote many competitive and non-competitive grants, was a grant reader, and managed several million $ of grants each year.

Special Technical Assistant, Training & Human Resource Development Department, A.T. & T. Network Systems, (now Lucent Technologies) Lisle, IL. Summer 1989, conducted job analyses, training needs assessments and program evaluations, researched, developed & recommended programs and training

Barry's supervisor, Cathy Keefer, Sr. Training Supervisor, said, "Barry was an exceptionally fast learner, producing quick results. His visuals & presentations are tremendous & his expertise added value to the results."

Staff Development Specialist, Coordinator of the Mentor & Guide Programs, the District 200 Career Ladder, & school improvement consultant, half-time for 4 years, Wheaton-Warrenville School District, Wheaton, IL

Award winning Teacher, art & science, grades 6-12 for 22 years, most recently at Wheaton School District 200 in Wheaton Illinois.

Salesman, Owens Corning Fiberglas, Skokie, IL, seeking architectual specification of company products in new construction, and outside sales to building & roofing contractors and to retail home supply businesses.

Other Leadership Roles

Co-Founder and Executive Board Member, The Mentoring Leadership & Resource Network, an ASCD network in 1991, serving members & assisting mentoring programs in most of the United States & many other countries around the world.
Past President & Board of Trustees, Illinois Staff Development Council, serving on the ISDC Board of Directors 1990-95
Sponsor and leader of 7 national mentoring conferences, "The Best Practices in Mentoring", attended by hundreds of professionals from around the world, 1998-2003
Board of Directors, 2002-2006. International Mentoring Association
Director Emeritus, awarded in 2006, along with life membership, by the International Mentoring Association

EDUCATION

B.S. in Ed. & M. A. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL
A.B.D. in the Ed.D. program in Curriculum, Staff Development, Instruction & Administration, 51 hours completed, Northern IL. Univ, DeKalb, IL
Illinois Type 75 General Supervisory Certificate
Illinois Type 75 Administrative Certificate

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

"Award of Recognition- Teacher, 1989 "Those Who Excel", by the Illinois State Board of Education
"1995 - Award of Commendation", for Service to Illinois Educators, Illinois State Board of Education
2006 "Director Emeritus" and "Life Time Membership" status by the International Mentoring Association

AUTHOR

8 books & dozens of articles on mentoring, peer coaching, authentic assessment, staff development, and school improvement. For example:

Barry wrote the Facilitator's Guide and was the content consultant for ASCD's 2 tape video set "Mentoring to Improve Schools", April 1999
"Quality Mentoring for Novice Teachers", co-author 3 chapters, Assn of Teacher Educators & KDP, Feb. 2000
In 2000, authored the book "Leading the Teacher Induction & Mentoring Program" published by Skylight Professional Development
In 2007, the above book was purchased by Corwin Press, vastly improved by Barry and published in 2008 as "Leading the Teacher Mentoring and Induction Program: Second Edition".

Other Publications:

"Mentoring New Teachers" a video training set & web-based course, Skylight Profess. Dev. Fall 2001
Over 16 published articles on induction, mentoring, staff development, assessment, and standards

Barry's writing has been cited by NASSP, NFIE/NEA, KDP, and many other professional organizations and authors

Barry has been a contributor to:

"Academy Mentor Manual" by the National Staff Development Council
"The Mentoring Hardbook - Volumes I and II", Sylight Professional Development
"Coaching Guidelines for the Alberta Public Service", published by the Gov't. of Alberta, Canada
"A Solid Foundation" by the South Carolina Center for Teacher Recruitment,
"Creating a Teacher Induction Program" by the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education
"Tools for Professional Growth", Summer 1999, in ASCD "Professional Development".
Many other mentoring resources.

Barry has also self-published over 120 papers on mentoring, coaching, assessment, and organization and program improvement.