Marcia L. Tate is the former executive director of professional development for the DeKalb County School System, Decatur, Georgia. During her 30-year career with the district, she has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, language arts coordinator, and staff development executive director. She received the Distinguished Staff Development Award for the State of Georgia, and her department was chosen to receive the Exemplary Program Award for the state.
Tate is currently an educational consultant and has taught more than 300,000 administrators, teachers, parents, and business and community leaders throughout the world, including Australia, Egypt, Hungary, Singapore, and New Zealand. She is the author of the following five bestsellers: Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies that Engage the Brain; “Sit & Get” Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain; Reading and Language Arts Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Literacy Strategies that Engage the Brain; Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Techniques for Managing a Brain-compatible Classroom; and Mathematics Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Numeracy Strategiesthat Engage the Brain. Participants in her workshops refer to them as “some of the best ones they have ever experienced” since Tate uses the 20 strategies outlined in her books to actively engage her audiences.
Tate received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and elementary education from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her master’s degree in remedial reading from the University of Michigan, her specialist degree in educational leadership from Georgia State University, and her doctorate in educational leadership from Clark Atlanta University. Spelman College awarded her the Apple Award for excellence in the field of education.
