For almost 30 years, Doug Mac Iver, Ph.D. has been studying how to change classrooms, schools, and districts; curriculum and instructional programs; professional development, and teacher and student support systems to make them more effective in promoting teacher and student learning, academic achievement, student engagement, and continuing motivation.  He is a developmental psychologist who directs a research and development team that helps middle schools in high poverty neighborhoods to engage students with rigorous curriculum and instruction, provide teachers with the support they need to develop deep content knowledge and effective instructional practices, and develop safe, nurturing and challenging learning environments.  The team is best known for creating the Talent Development Middle Grades (TDMG) Model — an extensively evaluated, whole-school reform model that has been successfully implemented in scores of middle schools nationally — and for publishing high-quality curriculum materials.

Mac Iver has published more than 40 research articles, chapters, books, and monographs on student disengagement, motivation, learning and achievement in early adolescence and on comprehensive and district-wide approaches to improving low-performing schools.  He has won awards for his applied research and development including a Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Community Service from Johns Hopkins University and a Human Development Research Award from the American Educational Research Association’s Division E.