Schmidt, Ria a.: - Ria Schmidt, PhD, brings more than 15 years of expertise as a teacher, principal, and central office administrator to everything she does. Her experience has ranged from Pre-K through post-secondary education. Dr. Schmidt's passion for building capacity, professional development, standards-based education, assessment, differentiation, and working with teachers and administrators inspires everything she does. She has worked extensively in parochial and private schools. She earned her doctorate in Educational Administration from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is a nationally recognized education researcher, speaker, trainer, and author of more than 30 books and 150 articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership, and school intervention. His practical translations of the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are widely practiced internationally by both teachers and administrators.