Dr. John Almarode, a bestselling author, has worked with schools, classrooms, and teachers all over the world. He has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on the application of the science of learning to the classroom, school, and home environments. He has worked with hundreds of school districts and thousands of teachers in Australia, Canada, England, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Korea, and Thailand.
In addition to devoting his time to PreK – 12 schools and classrooms, he is an Associate Professor at James Madison University in the College of Education. In 2015, John was awarded the inaugural Sarah Miller Luck Endowed Professorship. He continues to work with pre‑service teachers and actively pursues his research interests including the science of learning, the design and measurement of classroom environments that promote student engagement and learning.
The work of John and his colleagues has been presented to the United States Congress, Virginia Senate, at the United States Department of Education as well as the Office of Science and Technology Policy at The White House.
John began his career in Augusta County, Virginia, teaching mathematics and science to a wide‑range of students. Since then, John has authored multiple articles, reports, book chapters, and eleven books including Captivate, Activate, and Invigorate the Student Brain in Science and Math, Grades 6 – 12 (Corwin Press, 2013), From Snorkelers to Scuba Divers (Corwin Press, 2018), both with Ann Miller, and Visible Learning for Science, with Doug Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie (Corwin Press, 2018). He recently finished a book focusing on clarity, Clarity for Learning, with Kara Vandas (Corwin Press, 2019), as well as Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 6 – 8, and Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 9 – 12 both with Doug Fisher, Joseph Assof, Sara Moore, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie (Corwin, 2019), all with Corwin Press. Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades K – 2 and Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 3 – 5 with the same author team plus Kateri Thunder hit the shelves in March of 2019. He is also the past co-editor of the Teacher Educator’s Journal.
Most recently, John and his colleagues have developed a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities: PLC+. Focusing on sustained change in teacher practice, the PLC+ framework builds capacity within teacher-led teams to maximize student learning. The books, PLC+ Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, The PLC+ Playbook, Grades K – 12, The PLC+ Activator’s Guide will support this work in schools and classrooms.
Up next, John and his colleagues are focusing on the process of implementation – taking evidence-based practices and moving them from intention to implementation, potential to impact through a series of on-your-feet-guides around PLCs, Visible Learning, and Visible Teaching. In the Fall of 2020, John and his colleagues will release a new book focused on successful implementation that maximizes learning outcomes.
However, what really sustains John, and his greatest accomplishment is his family. John lives in Waynesboro, Virginia with his wife Danielle, a fellow educator, their two children, Tessa and Jackson, and Labrador retrievers, Angel, Forest, and Bella.
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