At the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change, we are delighted Dr Glaze has accepted our invitation to join us as an International Associate. Dr Glaze is one of Canada’s outstanding educators and a recognized international leader in education. Roderick Benns’ new publication ‘The Children Cannot Wait – A biography of Avis Glaze’ provides a guide to promoting action in improving educational outcomes in your classroom, school, district or department of education while following the career of Avis Glaze. From classroom teacher to Superintendent of Schools and Director of Education, this award-winning educator has experience at all levels of the school system. She was one of five Commissioners on Ontario’s Royal Commission on Learning. As Ontario’s first Chief Student Achievement Officer and Founding CEO of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, she played a pivotal role in improving student achievement in Ontario. Dr. Glaze served as Ontario’s Education Commissioner and Senior Adviser to the Minister of Education. She was Professor in Residence in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Currently, she is President of Edu-quest International Inc. offering a wide range of educational services and speaking engagements across the globe. She was appointed as Adviser to the Minister of Education in New Zealand on national standards.
She was chosen by the Canadian government to assist with education reform in South Africa and represented Canada at the UNESCO conference on Inclusive Education in Riga, Latvia. As well, she knows schools across the globe firsthand, having worked with educators in Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, The Cayman Islands, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, The United States of America and Wales.
Avis continues to be the inveterate learner that she is, taking courses at every possible opportunity. She received designation as a Visible Learning Certified Trainer, in John Hattie’s work, offered through Corwin Press in Thousand Oaks, California.
Dr. Glaze is a consummate capacity builder in teaching, improving student achievement, leadership development and school system improvement. She is skilled at motivating and inspiring teachers, principals, system leaders, policy makers, politicians, parents and business leaders to realize their potential in improving their schools. She co-authored Breaking Barriers: Excellence and Equity for All (Glaze, Mattingley and Levin) on the high impact strategies to improve education systems in general, and schools in particular. Her most recent book, “High School Graduation: K-12 Strategies that Work,” (Glaze, Mattingley and Andrews), identifies the research-informed strategies to improve graduation rates for all students regardless of socio-economic or other social or demographic factors.
Avis’ international contributions were, once again, recognized when she received the Robert Owen Award, the first of its kind offered in Scotland. She was also invited to Norway by Queen Sonya to address the issue of how schools can build better societies. Most recently, she was appointed as one of the International Education Advisers to help overhaul the Scottish education system, focussing on the government priorities of closing the attainment gap, achieving equity and system reform.
© Glaze, 2016 Website: www.avisglaze.ca