Developing Expert Learners

“Teaching for transfer” - imparting knowledge and skill in a way that makes them really useful, and not just fodder for exams and tests - is the Holy Grail of education. This book is a wonderfully practical guide to how to do it in any classroom. – Guy Claxton, Author of The Learning Power Approach: Teaching Learners to Teach ThemselvesAs educators, we are challenged in preparing our students for college and career readiness as they go into the real world. Developing Student Expertise addresses the intentional moves of the teacher to prepare students for challenging work at their level of learning, resulting in students reaching their fullest potential as expertise in their own learning. – Elizabeth Alvarez, Chief of Schools, Chicago Public SchoolsThis book is the roadmap to take students from being developing experts to the experts they all have the potential to be. Providing high expectations and valuing all students as learners requires educators to plan instruction that takes students—all students—from their current level, to that place just beyond that level. McDowell suggests that in order for students to become experts, “the control over learning must be mutually shared between teachers and students.” Teaching students how to build their efficacy in learning, the ability to navigate and lead their own learning, is the optimal approach for every faculty to engage in. McDowell identifies The 5Cs (Clarify, Challenge, Check, Communicate, and Cross contexts) that are requisite for this shared partnership to flourish, and gives reflection questions and activities that allow every educator to plan their steps toward this desirable result. – Tom HierckAs he did in Rigorous PBL by Design, Michael McDowell has once again produced an invaluable resource for educators who are striving to empower students to fully develop their own expertise and self-efficacy. Developing Expert Learners provides the practical means—through planning tools, research-based strategies, teaching practices, and special features—to enable teachers to maximize student learning at the surface, deep, and transfer levels of complexity. By integrating “The 5Cs (Clarify, Challenge, Check, Communicate, and Cross Contexts) as guiding actions for developing student expertise” into all unit and lesson planning, McDowell shows how these strategies can dramatically impact student learning. Classroom educators will find Chapter 3, “Planning for Impact,” and Chapter 4, “Teaching for Impact” particularly useful for creating and implementing their own roadmap to greater student self-efficacy. Chapter 5, “Collective Efficacy,” presents a powerful framework that teacher teams can utilize to create their own beliefs and action steps to greater student learning. – Larry AinsworthI appreciate and am enthusiastic about the layout of this book. For a coach, team leader, or school administrator, the book lends itself to being a manual for school improvement. It provides excellent questions to reflect on and activities after each chapter for school leaders to collaborate with and work alongside teacher teams in developing efficacy and expertise at their schools—which in the end will impact the achievement of all our learners. Our district will benefit from the content of this book and its resources, activities, and reflection questions to increase student learning at the surface, deep, and transfer levels through the work of teams. – LeeAnn LawlorThis urgently needed book has the potential to transform schools and experiences for learners and teachers everywhere. Once again, Michael McDowell has written a compelling, practical guide for educators who seek to give their students the skills they need to be successful in our ever-changing world. This book is a must-read for new and veteran educators alike! – Cindy JohansonOf course, Michael McDowell has once again provided a purposeful and practical guide for teachers and leaders. Teachers, administrators, and even student leaders recognize the importance of focusing on learning through clear learning intentions, success criteria, and now—with this new book—tools and strategies to measure student progress. We have made a fundamental shift in how we address instructional practice, review student work, and more important, build our own efficacy and expertise at all levels of our organization. – Maren Rocca HuntIn Developing Expert Learners, McDowell harnesses the research on building student self-efficacy, peer-to-peer feedback structures, and student ownership of learning through a handful of focus areas, aligned and actionable learning practices, and tools that have been road-tested. If you wish to build stronger, more invested, and more equipped learners, this book is a must-read. – Kara VandasAs a follow up to Rigorous PBL by Design, McDowell continues to write about practical strategies to help teachers build students’ expertise. The book is filled with strategies, tools, and very useful references based on the exciting research of John Hattie and Visible Learning. McDowell shapes this book around 5Cs—promoting clarity, leveraging challenge, consistent checking, cultivating conversation, and tackling contextually rich problems. Michael’s command of lesson design and instruction make this a natural follow up to his very successful Rigorous PBL by Design. It will clearly help teachers have impact on student learning. – Ainsley B. RoseAs we move away from the age of pouring knowledge into the brains of learners and, instead, begin handing them the steering wheel of their own learning to develop efficacy and expertise, McDowell′s tool kit of sound simplicity, sparked by wisdom and courage, offers clear and do-able courses of action that all educators can put into motion to change the learning lives of their students. – Melissa SchaubDeveloping Expert Learners is a practitioner guide for the research-based classroom teacher. McDowell does an exemplary job of providing powerful strategies that can transform any classroom into a learning laboratory.The book is filled with these strategies, relevant school-based examples, and educator testimonials that inspire. McDowell focuses on the importance of both the learner and the teacher in helping to co-construct a learning community that empowers learners to attain high levels of expertise and efficacy. The book is a wonderful balance between theory and practice and a must have for any educator trying to move their students from surface to deep understanding. McDowell brings action to research. – Sascha HeckmannMichael McDowell provides practical examples in designing learning for students. Developing Expert Learners is a must-read for educators to build student expertise in a meaningful way, with many wonderful thoughts and ideas to support teachers in developing clarity for their students. – Sophie Murphy

Michael McDowell, EdD was a public school educator for eighteen years serving in the roles of classroom teacher, academic and athletic coach, school principal, assistant superintendent of personnel and instruction, and superintendent. During his tenure as a superintendent, his school district received state and national accolades including the National Blue Ribbon Award which recognized their work for student performance and mental health and well-being in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic by the U.S. Department of Education.Dr. McDowell serves on numerous boards, served as a college professor, and worked for non-profit organizations to enhance student learning around the world. Over the course of his career, Dr. McDowell has authored bestselling books, created professional learning programs and workbooks, provided keynotes and workshops, and provided practical tools and resources for thousands of teachers and leaders on almost every continent around the world. A prolific author and consultant, Dr. McDowell is recognized as one of the leading authorities on integrating innovative and impactful practices into schools. Offering keynotes and executive coaching to heads of school around the world, he partners with educational leaders to implement high leverage strategies that will enhance teaching and learning in classrooms, schools, and systems through his work with Hinge Education.