Endorsements
Acclaimed for both his national and international education work, Dr. Spady has inspired his countless audiences and readers for many years to think and get beyond test scores and the factory model school to one based on learner empowerment. Not interested in “tweaking” the old school model, Dr. Spady provides refreshing and practical ideas about education based on community, democracy, engagement, life skills and the joy of teaching and learning.”
Behind the persona of the brilliant scholar, the education reformer, and the new educational systems builder, Bill Spady is a man with a beautiful heart and an awakened soul, that I’ve been privileged to know and work with. Few people seem to care as much about humanity’s growth and evolution as he does. Leadership development, he understands, is rooted in personal development. And personal development, he understands, is a process that invites transformation on all levels of one’s being. The wisdom he shares in his books has long been ahead of its time, and, yet, as the years pass (and humanity itself awakens), it is finding its way into the lives of people all around the world. How amazing!”
Bill is one of the great thinkers in education who has always been able to take his progressive, forward-thinking ideas into action both nationally and internationally. He and his life work have my deepest respect. It was my pleasure working with Bill to help shape his next educational venture with his equally passionate colleagues. I also very much enjoyed our lively conversations! I highly recommend Dr. Spady!”
I first met Bill Spady at an ASCD conference in Washington, DC in 1986. At that time I was an assistant superintendent of schools in a local Rhode Island district. I attended Bill’s workshop on Outcomes Based Education and was immediately hooked on Bill’s approach to OBE. After that first meeting with Bill I regularly communicated with him and continued to attend his workshops on OBE at various national conferences across the country. Early in 1990, I with Bill’s help, I along with colleagues organized a statewide conference on OBE in which Bill was the major presenter. Several hundred R.I. educators attended the conference and were enthralled with Bill’s mastery of OBE and his presentation skills.”
In 1993 I left my position of superintendent of schools and began working as an educational consultant and as a professor in a doctoral program in educational leadership. On several occasions I had the pleasure of working with Bill consulting in school districts and professional organizations in R.I. I found Bill to be an extremely knowledgeable person who gained much respect from his constituents because of his sincere and caring relationship with them. I also invited Bill to be a guest speaker in my doctoral class and at a professional development session for faculty at the university. Again Bill quickly gained the respect of my students and the faculty for his knowledge and his presentation skills.
In all the years that I have been associated with Bill, I can say that he is a consummate leader who has the ability to motivate and encourage others to be change leaders. He has had a tremendous impact on my thinking about and working on education change and leadership. His caring attitude for others sets him apart from other leaders. He has been an inspiration for me, and I admire his tenacity to continue the fight to lead change in education.”
Dr. Bill Spady has been the consummate educator for over 5 decades, producing multiple books, keynote presentations and workshops around the world and is the creator and contemporary refiner of Outcome Based Education (OBE). He is well known and respected for his ability to specifically address an educational system’s concerns and support the development of progressive outcomes, all of which are enlightened by his profound sense of humor!
Our current educational profession is inundated and controlled by outdated curricular mandated standards and confining assessments that do not unleash the potential and capabilities of learners. Dr. Spady has continuously addressed this issue with his passionate commitment to the successful educational future of all children, which is exemplified by his ongoing research into how humans learn and the increasingly profound reliance and importance of connecting school learning to their real world experiences and interactions. His latest book, Outcome-Based Education’s Empowering Essence, will captivate your innovative spirit and deepen your professional educational commitment to yourself, your educational team and your students!”
I met Bill Spady two decades ago when he was visiting Port Elizabeth, South Africa, helping the country’s Minister of Education. I was immediately impressed with him, his congeniality, the conversations we had, and the visionary educational ideas he shared with us. He later founded a Learning Community here in P.E. based on his work. It helps young adults with skills and employment opportunities and, thanks to his continued generosity, it is still operating.
By invitation, I was fortunate to be with Bill two or three times in the U.S. where he presented to hundreds of enthusiastic listeners. Whenever possible I spent time with Bill when he was here discussing his deeply significant work – much to my benefit. We have maintained our friendship and communications, and he continues to inspire me not only with his books and presence, but also with his wit and the way he shares his inspiring ideas. Knowing him well, and admiring the way he captures your attention and thinking, I am proud to be his colleague and friend.”
I have had the privilege, both as a Special Needs teacher and trainer, of being taught by Special Needs children since my career began 40 years ago. And I tried as best I could to work within the demands of the standardized Curriculum, which seriously discounts those children. Although I knew what I was doing was successful, I had neither the validation nor peace of mind about my work until I heard Dr. Spady speak and then read his books.
When I heard Bill Spady champion the right of children to learn and progress at their own pace and within their own unique way, it wasn’t just the usual “the child comes first” rhetoric. He actually did put the child back into the center of the learning environment and the learner back into the child, with real motivation and relevance for the real world. His authenticity and his passion for how we engage our children to love life – both through their learning experiences at school and being a significant part of the community – is nothing less than ‘inspired’.”
For decades in educational circles worldwide Bill Spady is well-known as a catalyst for transformational education practices and as a systems builder of empowering, human-centered learning environments.
Throughout my 50+ years in K-12 and higher education, I have experienced his impact as a colleague, co-creator, mentor, and friend. His influence and insights have not only broadened the scope of my work, but more importantly, have helped me frame and find everyday ways to connect my learning and self-growth to go beyond the engrained confines of traditional educational leadership practices. His passion and unique ability to lift up humanity itself by challenging limiting core beliefs of schooling have greatly impacted me. His persistence, tenacity, and courage to grapple with the constraints of traditional educational paradigms consistently evoke, provoke, and uncover needed breakthrough approaches relevant in today’s lifelong learning landscape.
Bill intentionally lives at the edge of education’s toughest questions. He digs into these spaces of inquiry and unbounded exploration where the traditional whys and hows collide. He opens abundant possibilities and strategies that rarely, if ever, are considered by others in the mainstream of deep school change.
His inquisitive mind, energetic spirit, and extraordinary abilities place him at the edge where movements originate, worthy awakenings emerge, bold insights challenge fundamental assumptions, and where unique perspectives shine light upon the invisible elements of our schools, especially as they relate to current complex and volatile world. His ideas refresh, rejuvenate, and result in high impact initiatives where amazing results sow confidence and breathe life into one’s actions to turn their potential into positive power to help others thrive.
Bill illuminates an invitational path for anyone seeking to elevate their positive performance. I am grateful for his support as his insights and friendship reside deeply in my life, especially as a school administrator and life coach. His playful, wholehearted engagement with others, the ever present depth of his musical expertise, metaphoric agility (oh yes . . . his poetic penchant for alliteration), and kind intention breathe life into any and all efforts that center upon turning one’s potential into positive power.
The world of human potential development and schooling needs the light that comes through Bill who live in the presence of everyday enlightenment, energizing heart-felt wholeness, and emergent understanding from neuroscience related to human learning.”
Bill Spady’s thinking and friendship have significantly impacted my professional life, as he will yours. I’ll attest to that by boasting about myself and my career. I have been very successful as a pioneering leader, as a district superintendent, as a consultant, and as an author – thanks in no small measure to my decades-long collaboration with Bill. I give credit to Bill for his deep influence on my thinking, my passion for education, and my career. More than that, Bill’s impact extends far beyond me, to nearly everyone he has met and to those countless others who have listened to him and/or read his books and articles.
Meeting and hearing Bill changed my life as a young educational leader. What a blessing! That blessing has continued through books that we have written together, presentations that we have made at national conferences, discussions and dreaming about what education can be and will inevitably become.
Bill, too, is a lifelong learner. He is deep in theory and research . . . and is very able to apply that wisdom through his vision of Outcome Based Education and personal empowerment. He knows about learning, about how learners learn, and about what school systems need to do to better meet learner needs. Bill is bright, passionate, creative, clever, and fun . . . he believes in education and what it could/should be . . . and he will never give up or give in!!! Hence, this website.
If you want to make your career meaningful and exciting, get to know Dr. William Spady on this website and personally. You will meet a man who is brilliant, passionate, energetic, and highly successful in nearly everything he believes in and encounters. Hang on, he will take you to places you have not dreamed of! He certainly did for me.”
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21775 S Yeoman Rd., Beavercreek OR 97004-9676