Arthur L. Costa, Ed.D.
Expertise: Habits of Mind/Cognitive Coaching
Title: Five Thoughts for a More Thought-full Curriculum

Description:
Curriculum, instruction, learning and assessment are the pulse of the school. They are what drive everything else. They are the currency through which we exchange thoughts and ideas. They are the passions that bind our organization together. Educators recognize the growing need for informed, skilled and compassionate citizens who value truth, openness, creativity, interdependence, balance and love as well as the search for personal and spiritual freedom in all areas of one's life. This demands that the school's curriculum must be open and flexible enough to accommodate these new perspectives. In this presentation, five themes will be presented as "lenses" with which to view a thought-filled curriculum.

Biography:
He is an Emeritus Professor of Education at California State University, Sacramento and Co-founder of the Institute for Intelligent Behavior in El Dorado Hills, California.

He has served as a classroom teacher, a curriculum consultant, an assistant superintendent for instruction and as the Director of Educational Programs for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

He has made presentations and conducted workshops in all fifty states as well as Mexico, Central and South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Islands of the South Pacific.

Author of numerous journal articles, he edited the book, "Developing Minds": A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking; is the author of "The Enabling Behaviors", "Teaching for Intelligent Behaviors", and "The School as a Home for the Mind." He is co-author (with Larry Lowery) of "Techniques for Teaching Thinking","Cognitive Coaching: A Foundation for Renaissance Schools", (with Bob Garmston) and co-editor of "Assessment in the Learning Organization", "The Habits of Mind Series" (with Bena Kallick) and the trilogy, "Process as Content" (with Rosemarie Liebmann,).

Active in many professional organizations, Dr. Costa served as President of the California Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and was the National President of A.S.C.D. from 1988 to 1989.

Jay McTighe      ++ Download Powerpoint Slide
Expertise: Assessment
Title: Schooling by Design

Description:
This Keynote session will provide an overview of the new book, Schooling by Design (ASCD, 2007), and explore the following essential questions:
• What is the Mission of Schooling and how should a school’s mission guide its work?
• How should principles of learning influence educational practice?
• In what ways can “backward design” enhance school improvement planning?

Biography:
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. 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. He also directed the development of the Instructional Framework, a multi-media database on teaching. 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 served as director of the Maryland Summer Center for Gifted and Talented Students, a statewide residential enrichment program held at St. Mary's College.

Jay has published articles in a number of leading journals and books, including Educational Leadership (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development [ASCD]), Developing Minds (ASCD), Thinking Skills: Concepts and Techniques (National Education Association), and The Developer (National Staff Development Council). He co-authored three books on assessment - Assessing Learning in the Classroom (NEA), Assessing Outcomes: Performance Assessment Using the Dimensions of Learning Model (ASCD), and Evaluation Tools to Improve as Well as Evaluate Student Performance (Corwin Press). He is co-author, with Grant Wiggins, of the best-selling Understanding by Design series, Understanding by Design (1998), The Understanding by Design Handbook (1999), The Understanding by Design Study Guide (2000), and the newly-released, The Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook (2004).

Jay has an extensive background in staff development and is a regular speaker at national, state, and district conferences and workshops. He is also a featured presenter in four videotape programs, Performance Assessment in the Classroom (Video Journal of Education), Developing Performance Assessments, and Understanding Understanding (ASCD), Using Backward Design (ASCD).

Jay received his undergraduate degree from The College of William and Mary, earned a Masters degree from The University of Maryland and has completed post-graduate studies at The Johns Hopkins University. He was selected to participate in The Educational Policy Fellowship Program through the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, DC. He served as a member of the National Assessment Forum, a coalition of education and civil rights organizations advocating reforms in national, state and local assessment policies and practices. Jay also completed a three-year term on the ASCD Publications Committee, serving as Committee chair during 1994-95.