Cassandra Erkens

Cassandra Erkens is an educator, author, and professional learning consultant specializing in assessment, instruction, school improvement, and professional learning communities. She has served as a senior high school English teacher, district-level director of staff development, state-level school improvement facilitator, and director of staff and organization development in the private sector, and has taught graduate education courses as an adjunct faculty member at Hamline University and Cardinal Stritch University. She is president of Anam Cara Consulting, an internationally active presenter and trainer, and a founding/lead member of the Solution Tree Assessment Center, where she designs and delivers professional development for educators.

Erkens is the author or coauthor of more than half a dozen books on assessment and leadership, including Collaborative Common Assessments: Teamwork. Instruction. Results., Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Assessment and Grading, and The Teacher as Assessment Leader, as well as Essential Assessment (with Tom Schimmer and Nicole Dimich Vagle). She works nationally and internationally as a keynote speaker, facilitator, and trainer of trainers, helping schools and professional learning communities develop assessment systems that build hope, efficacy, and achievement for all learners.