Dan French, executive director of the Center for Collaborative Education, is the former director of instruction and curriculum for the Massachusetts Department of Education and special educator. He holds an EdD from University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has published many articles, including the 1998 Phi Delta Kappan article, The State's Role in Shaping a Progressive Vision of Public Education, and a commentary in Education Week, Boston s Pilot Schools: Progress and Promise in Urban School Reform (April 19, 2006).