Fisher received an International Reading Association Celebrate Literacy Award for his work on literacy leadership. For his work as codirector of the City Heights Professional Development Schools, Fisher received the Christa McAuliffe Award. He was corecipient of the Farmer Award for excellence in writing from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) as well as the 2014 Exemplary Leader for the Conference on English Leadership, also from the NCTE.
Fisher has written numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design. His books include Teaching Students to Read Like Detectives, Checking for Understanding, Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, and Rigorous Reading.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in communication, a master’s degree in public health, an executive master’s degree in business, and a doctoral degree in multicultural education. Fisher completed postdoctoral study at the National Association of State Boards of Education focused on standards-based reforms.
Nancy Frey, PhD, is a professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University. She teaches courses on professional development, systems change, and instructional approaches for supporting students with diverse learning needs. Frey also teaches classes at Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego. She is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California.
Before joining the university faculty, Frey was a public school teacher in Florida. She worked at the state level for the Florida Inclusion Network, helping districts design systems for supporting students with disabilities in general education classrooms.
She is the recipient of the 2008 Early Career Achievement Award from the Literacy Research Association and the Christa McAuliffe Award for excellence in teacher education from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. She was corecipient of the Farmer Award for excellence in writing from the National Council of Teachers of English for the article “Using Graphic Novels, Anime, and the Internet in an Urban High School.”
Frey is coauthor of Text-Dependent Questions, Using Data to Focus Instructional Improvement, and Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading. She has written articles for the Reading Teacher, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, English Journal, Voices From the Middle, Middle School Journal, Remedial and Special Education, and Educational Leadership.
To book Douglas Fisher or Nancy Frey for professional development, contact [email protected].
About the Authors
Tom Hierck has been an educator since 1983 and has held a variety of roles, including teacher, department head, vice principal, principal, director of international programs, sessional university instructor, Ministry of Education project coordinator, and assistant superintendent. This has allowed him the opportunity to see education from a myriad of perspectives that are reflected in his writing.
Hierck is a compelling presenter, infusing his message of hope with strategies culled from the real world. He has presented to schools and districts across North America and overseas with a message of celebration for educators seeking to make a difference in students’ lives. Hierck’s dynamic presentations explore the importance of being purpose driven in creating positive learning environments and a positive school culture, responding to the behavioral and academic needs of students, and utilizing assessment to improve student learning. His belief that “every student is a success story waiting to be told” has led him to work with teachers and administrators to create the kinds of learning environments that are effective for all educators while building strong relationships that facilitate learning for all students.
Hierck was a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medallion, presented by the premier and lieutenant governor of British Columbia, for being a recognized leader in the field of public education. Hierck earned a master’s degree at Gonzaga University and a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification at the University of British Columbia.
This is the eighth Solution Tree title bearing Hierck’s name, with number nine in the production phase. He contributed to The Teacher as Assessment Leader and The Principal as Assessment Leader, coauthored the best-selling books Pyramid of Behavior Interventions: Seven Keys to a Positive Learning Environment and Starting a Movement: Building Culture From the Inside Out in Professional Learning Communities, and coauthored Uniting Academic and Behavior Interventions: Solving the Skill or Will Dilemma and Strategies for Mathematics Instruction and Intervention, 6–8. His first solo effort, Seven Keys to a Positive Learning Environment in Your Classroom was published in 2017.
To learn more about Tom Hierck’s work, visit www.tomhierck.com or follow @thierck on Twitter.
Angela Freese is the director of research, assessment, and accountability for Osseo Area Public Schools in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Her work enables her to promote systems thinking via collaborative structures that highlight the marriage of curriculum, assessment, and instruction within a learning organization. She has also facilitated work with instructional coaches and curriculum-support teachers to bring the what and the how of learning together for teachers and administrators. She was previously a middle school assistant principal in the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District in Minnesota and an elementary school assistant principal for Rochester Public Schools in Rochester, Minnesota. Her administrative experiences have taken place in schools with highly diverse student populations. Freese has developed high-impact collaborative teams focused on high levels of learning for both staff and students, positive cultures, and curriculum-instruction-assessment models that focus on engaging students as partners in the learning process.
Freese was an implementation associate at the Office of Curriculum and Instruction for Rochester Public Schools. Her focus was on developing and revising coherent district curriculum and instructional strategies aligned with district, state, and national standards. She supported teachers and administrators in curriculum mapping, pacing, and instructional alignment and promoted the use of consistent instructional frameworks and research-based strategies. She analyzed district and site data to improve curriculum and instruction, developed and implemented curricular and instructional processes, and provided coaching and staff development to classroom teachers and district instructional staff.
She has extensive experience in staff development design and implementation. As a key player in instructional alignment projects, Freese collaboratively designed and implemented ongoing, job-embedded staff development opportunities for hundreds of administrators and teachers across various schools and districts. Freese also designed and implemented a plan that enabled building administrators to further their capacity as assessment leaders.
Freese earned a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education at Luther College and a master of arts degree in elementary education at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She became a licensed principal and was also certified in professional development at the University of Minnesota.
To book Tom Hierck or Angela Freese for professional development, contact [email protected].
Foreword
By Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey
We have spent the past several decades trying to figure out ways to help teachers decide what to teach and how to teach it. In other words, we are in search of the links between curriculum (what to