Erik M. Francis

Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is an international author, educator, presenter, and professional learning specialist with over 25–30 years of experience in education. He is the owner of Maverik Education, through which he provides professional development, coaching, and consulting to K–12 schools, colleges, and universities on designing academically rigorous, student-responsive, inquiry-based learning environments. Francis has worked in roles including classroom teacher, site administrator, education program specialist at a state education agency, and professional development trainer. He serves as a board member for the Arizona chapter of ASCD and has presented at numerous national and regional conferences hosted by organizations such as ASCD, Learning Forward, NAESP/NASSP, AMLE, the Southern Regional Education Board, the College Board, and the National Association for Gifted Children.

Francis is the author of Inquiring Minds Want to Learn: Posing Good Questions to Promote Student Inquiry (Solution Tree, 2024), which offers frameworks and strategies for using intentional questioning to spark curiosity and sustain student inquiry. He also wrote Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge: A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning (Solution Tree, 2021) and Now That’s a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning (ASCD, 2016), all focused on