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, Jay was involved with school improvement projects at the Maryland State Department of Education where he helped lead Maryland’s standards-based reforms, including the development of performance-based statewide assessments. He also directed the development of the Instructional Framework, a multimedia database on teaching. Well known for his work with thinking skills, Jay has coordinated statewide efforts to develop instructional strategies, curriculum models, and assessment procedures for improving the quality of student thinking. In addition to his work at the state level, Jay has experience at the district level in Prince George’s County, Maryland, as a classroom teacher, resource specialist, and program coordinator. He also directed a state residential enrichment program for gifted and talented students.
An accomplished author, Jay has co-authored 11 books, including the best-selling Understanding by Design series with Grant Wiggins. He has written more than 30 articles and book chapters, and has published in leading journals, including Educational Leadership (ASCD) and The Developer (National Staff Development Council).
With an extensive background in professional development, Jay is a regular speaker at national, state, and district conferences and workshops. He has made presentations in 47 states within the United States, in 7 Canadian provinces, and internationally in 19 countries on six continents.
Jay received his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary, earned a Master’s degree from the University of Maryland, and completed post-graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University. He was selected to participate in the Educational Policy Fellowship Program through the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C., and served as a member of the National Assessment Forum, a coalition of education and civil rights organizations advocating reforms in national, state, and local assessment policies and practices.
Since education is a “learning” profession, Jay set a learning goal when he was 57 years of age to be surfing by 60. He did it!
