He holds a PhD in Educational Psychology/Gifted Education from the University of Virginia. While at UVA he worked at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) under Carol Ann Tomlinson and Carolyn M. Callahan. He taught for the Los Angeles Unified School District, where he served as a classroom teacher, literacy coach, lead teacher, gifted coordinator, and arts prototype coordinator in conjunction with the J. Paul Getty Museum. Stephen teaches at Knox College where he has, with his colleague Jason Helfer, written curriculum for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and is the Chair-Elect of the Arts Network of the National Association for Gifted Children.