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, McTighe was involved with school improvement projects at the Maryland State Department of Education. He is 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. McTighe also directed the development of the Instructional Framework, a multimedia database on teaching. In addition to his work at the state level, McTighe has experience at the district level in Prince George's County, Md., 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.

McTighe has published articles in leading journals and books, including Educational Leadership (ASCD), Developing Minds (ASCD), Thinking Skills: Concepts and Techniques (National Education Association), and The Developer (National Staff Development Council). He coauthored 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 coauthor, with Grant Wiggins, of two recent, best-selling publications, Understanding by Design and The Understanding by Design Handbook (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, D.C. He served as a member of the National Assessment Forum, a coalition of education and civil rights organizations advocating reforms in nationa, state and local assessment policies and practices. McTighe also completed a three-year term on the ASCD Publications Committee, serving as committee chair during 1994–95. He can be reached at 6581 River Run, Columbia, MD 21044-6066, USA. Phone: 410-531-1610. E-mail: jmctigh@aol.com.

Grant Wiggins is president of Grant Wiggins & Associates in Monmouth Junction, N.J. He consults with schools, districts, and state education departments on a variety of reform matters; organizes conferences and workshops; and develops print materials and Web resources on curricular change, based on Understanding by Design. Wiggins's work has been supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Education Commission of the States, among other organizations.

Over the past fifteen years, Wiggins has worked on some of the most influential reform initiatives in the country, including Vermont's portfolio system and the Coalition of Essential Schools. He has established a statewide Consortium devoted to assessment reform, and designed a performance-based and teacher-run portfolio assessment prototype for the states of North Carolina and New Jersey.

Wiggins is the author of Educative Assessment and Assessing Student Performance. His many articles have appeared in such journals as Educational Leadership and Phi Delta Kappan.

His work is grounded in 14 years of secondary school teaching and coaching. Wiggins earned an Ed.D. from Harvard University and a B.A. from St. John's College in Annapolis. Wiggins taught English and electives in philosophy, coached varsity soccer, cross country, junior varsity baseball, and track and field. Recently he has coached his two sons in soccer and baseball. In 2002, Wiggins was a Scholar in Residence at the College of New Jersey. He also plays guitar and sings in the Hazbins, a rock band. He can be reached at Grant Wiggins & Associates, 4095 Route 1, Box 104, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852, USA. Phone 732-329-0641. E-mail: grant@grantwiggins.org.