Dr. Charles M. Achilles is currently a part-time professor of Educational Administration at Seton Hall University and Eastern Michigan University. He was a professor at Eastern Michigan University from 1994-2001 and at the University of North Carolina Greensboro from 1988-1994, where he served as Department Chair. From 1967-1988, he was professor of Educational Administration at the College of Education at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Charles has a bachelor's degree in Classics, masters in Education, and a doctorate in Educational Administration all from the University of Rochester.

Dr. Achilles is engaged in the on-going study of class size and schooling. He was one of four Principal Investigator's of Tennessee's Project STAR from 1985-1989, the largest longitudinal, experimental design study in education. He has evaluated policy implementation of small classes in 16 Tennessee counties. A major strand of his work includes determining how the use of research results can improve conditions and outcomes of schooling.

Dr. Achilles has experience in "effective school" efforts, including Project SHAL in St. Louis and the Knoxville Proficiency Project as an evaluator. He was a member of the Phi Delta Kappa Commission on Public Confidence in the Schools from 1985-1988, and co-author of Handbook on Developing Public Confidence in the Schools (1988). He is co-editor and contributor to Inside Classrooms: Studies in Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication (1977). Charles was Principal Investigator in 1995 of Success Starts Small, a yearlong observational study of teaching in primary classrooms. He has also chaired numerous observational studies of teacher and teacher aide processes in classrooms.

Dr. Achilles has worked on school improvement, equity, and desegregation issues in Richmond, Cleveland, Kansas City, Woodland Hills, Wilmington, and Knoxville. He is author, co-author, or editor of 60 books, chapters, monographs, or major research reports. Co-authored books with Corwin Press are Finding Funding and Handbook on Gangs (both in 1993); Grantwriting, Fundraising and Partnerships (1995); Let's Make a Deal (1996); and author of Let's Put Kids First, Finally: Getting Class Size Right (1999).