Dr. Dylan Wiliam Publishes Leadership Book

Learning Sciences International has released Leadership for Teacher Learning, by formative assessment expert Dr. Dylan Wiliam, author of the company's current bestseller, Embedding Formative Assessment, and a wide array of other resources and instructional guides.

In Leadership for Teacher Learning, the first book he has written with an explicit focus on leadership, Dr. Wiliam describes key components of effective professional development for teachers and the use of best-evidence synthesis for identifying what works in education. He also explores the importance of differentiated instruction, response to intervention, group leadership's role in ensuring productive collaboration, and ways to integrate formative assessment into teacher evaluation.

One of the most critical factors in successful leadership is allowing teachers time to devote to professional development, according to Dr. Wiliam. "Leaders aren't prioritizing teacher learning as the primary route to school improvement," he says. "There's nothing a leader can do that's going to have bigger impact on students' learning in a school than creating a learning environment for the teachers."

The title captures the book's primary message. "Leaders aren't prioritizing teacher learning as the primary route to school improvement," says Wiliam. "There's nothing a leader can do that's going to have bigger impact on students' learning in a school than creating a learning environment for the teachers."

A growing demand for training on short-cycle formative assessment techniques has put Dr. Wiliam in the pedagogical spotlight around the world and, more recently, in the United States. An internationally acclaimed authority on formative assessment, Dr. Wiliam guides schools worldwide in efforts to accelerate learning, improve pedagogy, encourage collaboration among teachers, and implement classroom formative assessment techniques.

His professional development services are in use in a wide array of countries, including Singapore, Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom. In partnership with Learning Sciences International, he now provides professional development to a growing number of schools in North America-and is quickly becoming a formidable force in American education.

The Learning Sciences Dylan Wiliam Center has also launched Strategic Formative Assessment, a series of full-day workshops delivered by certified Dylan Wiliam Center staff developers, the goal being to allow teachers to seamlessly conduct formative assessment throughout each lesson without interrupting the learning. All based on Dr. Wiliam's research, the sessions focus on establishing standards-based learning intentions and success criteria, eliciting and Interpreting evidence, providing productive feedback, activating all learners, and conducting strategic coaching on formative assessment practices.

Having served as Dean and Head of the School of Education (and later Assistant Principal) at King's College London, Senior Research Director at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, and Deputy Director (Provost) of the Institute of Education, University of London. Dr. Wiliam now devotes most of his time to research and teaching. He will serve as a keynote speaker at Building Expertise 2016, the annual Marzano conference in Orlando. Among numerous other engagements, he will also speak at the Maryland Assessment Group's annual conference, MAG 2016.

The Learning Sciences Dylan Wiliam Center offers research-based training, resources, and techniques for implementing classroom formative assessment and teacher learning communities in schools worldwide. The Center was developed as a partnership between Dr. Dylan Wiliam and Learning Sciences International, a leading provider of professional development and performance management in education.

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