James Stronge & Leslie Grant

Keynote Title: What Makes Great Teachers Great? What We Know about International School Teachers 

Biography:

James H. Stronge is a Heritage Professor of Education, a distinguished professorship, at William & Mary. He teaches doctoral courses within the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership Department, with a particular focus on teacher and leader effectiveness, human resource leadership, legal issues in education, and research design. Additionally, in conjunction with others, his work at William & Mary has led to externally-funded grants of contracts totaling more than $28,000,000 to date.

Dr. Stronge’s research interests include policy and practice related to teacher quality and effectiveness, teacher and administrator evaluation, and teacher selection. He has worked with numerous state departments of education, school districts, and national and international educational organizations to design and implement evaluation and hiring systems for teachers, administrators, and support personnel. Recently, he completed work on new teacher and principal evaluation systems for American international schools in conjunction with the Association of American Schools in South America and supported by the U.S. Department of State. Stronge has made more than 350 presentations at regional, national, and international conferences, and conducted workshops for educational organizations extensively throughout the U.S. and internationally. Among his current research projects are: 1) international comparative studies of national award-winning teachers in the United States and China, and 2) influences of economic and societal trends on student academic performance in countries globally. His most recent books include What Makes a World-Class School and How We Can Get There (2017, ASCD), Qualities of Effective Teachers, 3rd Ed. (2018, ASCD), Qualities of Effective Principals, 2nd Ed. (2021, ASCD), and International Beliefs and Practices that Characterize Teacher Effectiveness (co-editor) (2021, IGI Global).

Stronge has authored, co-authored, or edited 34 books and more than 200 articles, chapters, and technical reports. He was a founding member of the board of directors for the Consortium for Research on Educational Assessment and Teacher Effectiveness, and was selected as the 2012 national recipient of the Millman Award from CREATE in recognition of his work in the field of teacher and administrator evaluation.

Leslie W. Grant is the Dorman Family Term Distinguished Associate Professor of Education in the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership Department. Her research interests focus on classroom-based assessments and international comparisons of teaching and learning. She is involved in several research projects, including international comparative case studies of award-winning teachers in the United States and China and the efficacy of development assessment literacy in pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and educational leaders. Dr. Grant began her career in education as a middle school teacher and later served as a test developer, content editor and item writer for the California Testing Bureau (CTB/McGraw-Hill).

Dr. Grant is the co-author of several books and articles, including West Meets East: Best Practices from Expert Teachers in the United States and China (ASCD, 2014), Teacher-Made Assessments: How to Connect Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Learning (Routledge, 2015), and Student Achievement Goal Setting: Using Data to Improve Teaching and Learning (Routledge, 2009). She is a past president of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and of the Consortium for Research on Educational Assessment and Teaching Effectiveness (CREATE), serving on the board of directors for both organizations. Dr. Grant frequently works with schools and school districts, both within the United States and internationally, and presents at international, national, and state level conferences in the areas of classroom-based assessments, the use of data to improve student learning, and cross-cultural comparisons of effective teaching practices. In addition, she consults with state education agencies and international schools on the development of assessment systems.