Educator, Innovator, Transformational Leader & Change Agent
Dr. J. Jay Marino is an educational practitioner and serves in a K-12 Public School District as an Assistant Superintendent of Schools. View recent presentations Dr. Marino was featured in including: (2024) webinar titled "Implementing Data Warehouse: Work Smarter Not Harder"; (2024) webinar for a Baldrige Based School System in Illinois titled "SMART Systems Alignment"; (2023) National webinar Jay presented partnering with District Administration group titled "Aligning District Goals to Drive Continuous Improvement" and listen to a recent radio interview (2022) welcoming Jay to his new position.
When time allows, Jay contributes as an author, researcher and International Educational Continuous Improvement Consultant assisting American and European school organizations in their continuous improvement efforts. This site is not affiliated with any organization or school system.
For the past 32 years, Jay has worked with teachers, administrators and school board members and government officials throughout the United States and Europe facilitating systemic, transformational organizational change. Dr. Marino has done extensive research on the topic of systemic continuous improvement and conducted his doctoral dissertation on the topic titled "School Board Accountability: The Role of Continuous Improvement" published in 2008.
Jay has served as an International Senior Consultant in The Netherlands (and recently Lithuania) over 22 tours since 2009, focusing on systemic transformational change through a continuous improvement approach of 21st-century learning and leadership.
So what is Dr. Marino's systemic model of continuous improvement? View a one-page overview of Jay's continuous improvement alignment model (English | Dutch); download the e-book titled "Leading Continuous Improvement: Inspiring Quality Education Worldwide"; view a variety comprehensive media (books, articles, video and publications); review the documentation that demonstrates how the model is based on educational best practices and research.
Looking for more information? View samples from participants via Jay's Twitter feed; Review videos from Dr. Marino's Youtube channel; interact with an Impact Map of the locations where Dr. Marino has presented his Systemic Model of Continuous Improvement.
Dr. Marino’s European Impact
Since 2009 and over 22 separate tours, Dr. Marino has worked across all parts of the country of the Netherlands and most recently Lithuania (view interactive impact map), working with educators and government officials to transform 21st century learning in their schools and organizations.
View Jay's model in action (in Dutch) to see how students are involved in continuous improvement in Holland and take a tour with Jay through some Dutch Schools implementing continuous improvement!
What impact is Dr. Marino's continuous improvement model having on Europe? Jay partners with Klasse.pro who arranges his visits and provides direct support to schools implementing his model. View reflections from international visitors who spent a week in Jay's schools and listen to Dutch Administrators speak (English) about their experiences and the impact it is having on their schools.
What do Dutch participants say about Dr. Marino's transformational change experience? Watch a video clip from participants (in Dutch); Read an excerpt from a Dutch blog (below). Can't read Dutch? View the excerpt in English.
"Mooi, inspirerend en overtuigend
De deelnemers zijn enthousiast. ‘Mooi’, ‘inspirerend’ en ‘overtuigend’ vinden ze Marino’s presentatie. Van die waardering kan Marino zelf ook genieten. “Ik heb een geweldige dag”, zegt hij lachend. “Ik geniet van het enthousiasme van de deelnemers. Ik voel ook dat ik verschil maak.” Is dat waarom hij telkens terugkomt? Maar Jay Marino heeft een ‘hoger doel’. “Ik wil een grotere impact op kinderen hebben; een impact die mijn eigen schooldistrict overstijgt. Ik wil van betekenis zijn voor heel Nederland door scholen te helpen hun potentieel te benutten. Dat is weer van invloed op de kinderen en daar gaat het om voor mij.”
Do you know the way to Dr. Jay? Listen to a song (below) performed by participants after attending Jay's masterclass in the Netherlands!
Dr. Marino’s Impact in America
Dr. Marino has led continuous improvement initiatives as a 31 year educator, having served in a variety of positions from elementary and middle school teacher, elementary school administrator, Special Education Coordinator, Director of Technology, Director of Instruction, Director of Research, Data and Accountability, Assistant Superintendent, and Superintendent of Schools.
Jay's Systemic Continuous Improvement Model is a result of research-based, best practices and experiences through practical implementation through all levels of educational system; from the classroom, to the school level, to the district level to the superintendent level and to the board level.
Jay has worked all across the United States with school districts to help lead their systemic continuous improvement efforts. Watch a video to learn what American teachers and administrators say about continuous improvement in their schools.
Learn how students are involved in a Classroom Learning Community (CLC) model as written by teachers who've implemented the model in their classrooms and published in a school magazine.
"Williams Bay School District started our journey of Continuous Improvement with presentations and training for the Board of Education from Dr. Jay Marino. Shortly after, the Board of Education embraced his model and Dr. Marino provided the first teacher training in the Classroom Learning Community (CLC) model. This approach to learning has empowered the teachers to empower their students to take responsibility and ownership of their own learning. As I walk through classrooms, students are excited to show me their graphs in their data folders and tell me about their progress toward reaching their goals." -Principal (Wisconsin, USA)
"I would recommend this seminar for all teachers in the district because it can be applied in many ways to create a safe, well structured learning environment. Attending this seminar was very inspiring and brought a refreshed excitement as I thought of many new ideas that I can implement in my classroom right away. Working in a team is productive. Ideas are shared and can be processed and made useful.This workshop provides a framework for establishing a Classroom Learning Community by introducing the 8 different elements to implement with students. The facilitators express that flexibility and adapting these elements to the teacher or the individual needs of the class is key to success." -Teacher (Illinios, USA)
What Do Participants Say About the Systemic Continuous Improvement Model and the Workshop Experience?
-"Very informative and can’t wait to implement the Classroom Learning Community (CLC) model in my classroom."
-"Excellent workshop! Presented in a detailed way, one in which the teacher was actually given the methods and resources necessary to bring this into the classroom."
-"Looking for an amazing professional development opportunity… this is it! Great way to learn how to get students engaged in their learning and taking ownership of their learning goals and the progress towards goals!"
-"This PD was so eye opening and has my brain going. As a department we are excited and eager to start working towards a CLC model in our classrooms. I highly recommend this training! Dr. Marino is wonderful, down to earth and understands what is practical for the classroom."
-"This was finally a workshop that showed you the steps to get to a final product. Everything he showed us was stuff we already do, he just gave us structure to put it all together. I'm excited to give it a go!"
-"It has been a long time since I have walked away from a workshop truly excited about implementing a new structure to my classroom! I am looking forward to see what happens with my classroom environment and student agency in the coming year!"
-"Jay was a great presenter and really helped us understand and think about how we can begin to apply the 8 components of the CLC model. He helped us see the importance of implementing this model, but also stressed that we should "do what we can". I feel confident with at least trying this is my classroom and if it needs some tweaking, I'm ok with making changes as I go. Thanks for helping me see that by doing this, I can help my students continue to succeed."
-"The workshop was a great experience. I am looking forward to implementing some of the systems and tools in the coming school year, and I am confident they will increase student engagement, agency, and ownership of their own learning."
-"Really great and recommendable workshop to every teacher! I would give the workshop a 5 star rating. It was engaging, we got to work with the material and I was able see applicability to my classroom!"
-"Dr. Marino and his team did an amazing job setting up a workshop that had value to what is relevant in the classrooms now. It was focused and allowed engagement from the participates. I loved that we got the chance to think about and create a "Data Center" using the information that we were provided in order to see how it could be implemented in the classroom. I would highly recommend this workshop to all teachers no matter the grade level or content area."
-Having experienced many "how to" workshops, CLC seems to project vision at the same time as integrating practical methodology. Theme is tied to story elements along the way for illustrating a point. I wish I had known about this 10 years ago!
