Authors & Presenters

Cath Hogan is an experienced teacher and consultant with a background in primary, secondary, special and gifted education. Her consultancy work involves professional learning communities (PLCs), 21st-century thinking skills and curriculum design. Cath is well known for her ability to convert academic theory into practice through professional learning, coaching, mentoring and curriculum development.

Timothy D. Kanold, PhD, is an award-winning educator, author and consultant. He is former director of mathematics and science, and served as principal of Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125, a model professional learning community district in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

Dr Jane Kise is an educational consultant, specialising in leadership development, team building, coaching, professional learning communities and school staff development for differentiated instruction, especially in mathematics. She is the author or co-author of over 20 books on these subjects. Jane is also is a frequent workshop speaker and has presented at numerous major international conferences.

Nansi Kunze began her teaching career in 1997, after receiving a Graduate Diploma in Education, a Bachelor's Degree in German and Classics and an Honours Degree in German from the University of Adelaide. Over the last two decades, she has taught students aged 5 to 85 a wide range of skills, from how to mummify each other in foil and toilet paper to the advanced use of Australian slang. She is the author of several novels for teenagers and has twice won the FAW Mary Grant Bruce Award for children's literature. A lifelong explorer and fan of our planet, she's been involved with LandCare, school-based upcycling projects and the promotion of sustainable food and cooking. Nansi shares a hillside property in Victoria with her husband and son, two cats and a thriving society of wild wombats.

Sonya Mackenzie has spent over 20 years working in the field of education. Her professional work during the past 12 years has largely focused on building leadership and individual staff capacity with an explicit focus on self-directedness across various organisational levels.

Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is cofounder and chief academic officer of Marzano Research in Denver, Colorado. During his 50 years in the field of education, he has worked with educators as a speaker and trainer and has authored more than 50 books and 200 articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership and school intervention.

Mike Mattos is recognised throughout North America for his work in the areas of response to intervention and professional learning communities. He is coauthor of the best-selling book Pyramid Response to Intervention, and How to Respond When Kids Don’t Learn, which was a 2009 finalist for the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers.

Janelle McGann is the leading Understanding by Design (UBD) training associate for Hawker Brownlow Professional Learning Solutions (HBPLS). She has been working with Jay McTighe for the past three years to successfully implement UBD in her own and other Australian schools.

Jay McTighe has a wealth of experience developed during a rich and varied career in education. He has published numerous books and articles, and he is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and workshops. Jay is coauthor, with Grant Wiggins, of the bestselling Understanding by Design (UBD) series.

Steve Meade is the executive director of curriculum and assessment at Singapore American School. He has been a teacher and administrator for over 29 years, with educational experience across elementary, middle, and high schools.

Dr Anthony Muhammad is a much sought-after educational consultant. A practitioner for nearly 20 years, he has served as principal for a middle and high school and as a middle school teacher and assistant principal. As a researcher, he has published multiple books and articles, and he regularly gives seminars on the subject of transforming school culture.

Glen Pearsall was a teacher at Eltham High School and a board member of the Curriculum Assessment Authority in Victoria, Australia. Pearsall is the author of the best-selling And Gladly Teach, Classroom Dynamics, and The Literature Toolbox and coauthor of Literature for Life and Work Right. Pearsall works throughout Australia as an educational consultant, specializing in feedback and assessment, workload reduction for teachers, and instructional practice. He has a particular interest in the work of graduate and preservice teachers and has worked as a research fellow and tutorial leader at the Centre for Youth Research, University of Melbourne, Australia. He is a Cambridge Education associate and a master class presenter for TTA and has a long association with the Teacher Learning Network and a wide range of teacher unions.