Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit and an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE. He has published numerous articles on teaching and learning as well as books such as The Teacher Clarity Playbook, PLC+, Visible Learning for Literacy, Comprehension: The Skill, Will, and Thrill of Reading, How Tutoring Works, and How Learning Works. Doug loves being an educator and hopes to share that passion with others.

Karen Flories is currently a full-time professional learning consultant for Corwin. In her role, she works with teachers and leaders across the nation to understand the Visible Learning research and use it as a guide to inform decisions about what best impacts student learning. Karen also facilitates professional learning centered on teacher clarity, formative assessment, feedback and works hands on with teachers and leaders to drive learning at surface, deep and transfer levels. Most recently, Karen and her colleagues have developed a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities: PLC+.

Focusing on sustained change in teacher practice, the PLC+ framework builds capacity within teacher-led teams to maximize student learning. The books, PLC+ Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, The PLC+ Playbook, Grades K - 12, The PLC+ Activator’s Guide will support this work in schools and classrooms. Other publications include, Becoming an Assessment Visible Learner Teacher’s Guide 6-12, Becoming an Assessment Visible Learner Learner’s Notebook 6-12, Becoming an Assessment Visible Learner Teacher’s Guide 3-5, Becoming an Assessment Visible Learner Learner’s Notebook 3-5.

Prior to her role with Corwin, Karen was the Executive Director of Educational Services for 5 years and Director of Literacy and Social Studies in VVSD for 2 years, after serving as the English Department Chair for Romeoville high school. Karen’s classroom experience includes high school English, special education, and alternative education. During her time at the district level, Karen led the implementation of Visible Learning specifically focusing on teacher clarity, classroom assessment and feedback. Karen’s presentation style is highly engaging and focuses on participants being able to understand and apply specific practices in their school or classroom based on solid evidence, instruction for secondary students, PLC facilitation, close reading, and text-dependent questions. She is a National Board-Certified Teacher and currently teaches 11th and 12th grade English at Health Sciences High and Middle College, an urban high school in San Diego, California.