Robert J. Marzano is a Senior Scholar at Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning in Aurora, Colorado; an Associate Professor at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Vice President of Pathfinder Education, Inc.; and a private consultant operating out of Centennial, Colorado. He is responsible for translating research and theory into classroom practice. His most recent book, A Handbook for Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Norford, Paynter, Pickering, & Gaddy, 2001; ASCD), is a practical handbook for using the groundwork and theory found in Classroom Instruction That Works: Research Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001; ASCD). In addition, Marzano headed a team of authors who developed Dimensions of Learning (ASCD), and is the senior author of Tactics for Thinking (ASCD). Other notable publications address standards as described in the two books Essential Knowledge: The Debate Over What American Students Should Know (Marzano, Kendall, & Gaddy, 1999; ASCD/McREL) and A Comprehensive Guide to Designing Standards-Based Districts, Schools, and Classrooms (Marzano & Kendall, 1996; ASCD/McREL). Marzano has also recently completed books entitled Transforming Classroom Grading (2000, ASCD) and Designing a New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (2000, Corwin Press). He has developed programs and practices used in K-12 classrooms that translate current research and theory in cognition into instructional methods.

Marzano received his B.A. in English from Iona College in New York; an M.Ed. in Reading/Language Arts from Seattle University, Seattle, Washington; and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington, Seattle. Marzano was a Senior Fellow with McREL from 1981 until 2001; before that he was a tenured associate professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, and a high school English teacher and department chair.