David Livingston is an associate with Marzano Research Laboratory in Englewood, Colorado, specializing in school- and district-level leadership and school improvement. He began his career in education in 1968 with the Chicago Teacher Corps. After a decade of teaching, he served for 20 years as principal of four elementary schools in Oregon and Colorado. From 1998 to 2005, he was executive director of elementary education for the Cherry Creek Schools in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Prior to joining Marzano Research Laboratory, he was principal consultant with Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in Denver, Colorado. He also serves as facilitator for the Western States Benchmarking Consortium, a network of seven high-performing districts west of the Mississippi River. He received a bachelor's degree in literature from Wheaton College in Illinois, a master's degree in urban education from Roosevelt University in Illinois, and a doctorate in foundations of education from the University of Colorado at Boulder.