Jay McTighe brings a wealth of experience developed during a rich and varied career in education. He served as Director of the Maryland Assessment Consortium, a state collaboration of school districts working together to develop and share formative performance assessments. Prior to this position, Jay was involved with school improvement projects at The Maryland State Department of Education where he directed the development of the Instructional Framework, a multi-media database on teaching. Jay is well known for his work with "thinking skills," having coordinated statewide efforts to develop instructional strategies, curriculum models, and assessment procedures for improving the quality of student thinking. In addition to his work at the state level, Jay has experience at the district level in Prince George's County, Maryland as a classroom teacher, resource specialist, and program coordinator. He also directed a state residential enrichment program for Gifted and Talented students.

Jay is an accomplished author, having co-authored eleven books, including the best-selling Understanding by Design series with Grant Wiggins. He has written more than thirty articles and book chapters, and has published in a number of leading journals, including Educational Leadership (ASCD) and The Developer (National Staff Development Council).

Jay has an extensive background in professional development and is a regular speaker at national, state, and district conferences and workshops. He has made presentations in forty-six states in the U.S., seven provinces in Canada, and eighteen countries outside of North America on six continents.

Visit Jay's website -- jaymctighe.com

Grant Wiggins, EdD, is the President of Authentic Education in Hopewell, New Jersey. He earned his Ed.D. from Harvard University and his B. A. from St. John's College in Annapolis. Grant consults with schools, districts, state and national education departments on a variety of reform matters; organizes conferences and workshops; and

develops print materials and Web resources on curricular change.

Grant is perhaps best known for being the co-author, with Jay McTighe, of Understanding By Design, the award-winning and highly successful program and set of materials on curriculum design; and Schooling by Design. He is also currently a co-author to Pearson Publishing on more than a dozen textbook programs in which UbD is being infused. His work has been supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

Over the past twenty five years, Grant has worked on some of the most influential reform initiatives in the world, including Ted Sizer's Coalition of Essential Schools, the International Baccalaureate Program, the Advanced Placement Program; and national school reform efforts in China and Thailand.

Grant is also widely known for his work in assessment reform. He is the author of Educative Assessment and Assessing Student Performance, both published by Jossey-Bass. And he was a lead consultant on many state assessment reform initiatives, such as the portfolio project in Vermont and the performance assessment consortia in New jersey and North Carolina.

His many articles have appeared in such journals as Educational Leadership and Phi Delta Kappan. His work is grounded in 14 years of secondary school teaching and coaching. Grant taught English and electives in philosophy, coached Varsity soccer, Cross Country, JV Baseball, and Track & Field. He also plays in the Hazbins, a rock band. He can be reached at grant@authenticeducation.org.

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