Best-selling education author Mike Schmoker will give a lecture to area educators at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Friday, July 12. 

The event, titled “Teaching and Leading with Focus,” will be from 8-11 a.m. at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the UA Little Rock Fine Arts Building.

Schmoker’s talk is free to educators who register online. The event is sponsored by UA Little Rock, Little Rock School District, and the Arkansas Department of Education.

In this session, teachers and leaders will learn where schools should focus their limited time and resources to ensure that students are prepared for college, careers, and citizenship. The talk focuses on what Schomoker has identified as the three most essential elements of good schooling: coherent curriculum, authentic literacy, and soundly structured lessons.

Schmoker is a former school administrator, English teacher, and football coach, as well as a bestselling author for books on education. His most recent book is the expanded 2018 edition of “FOCUS: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning,” while his previous bestseller, “Results NOW,” was named a finalist for the book of the year by the Association of Education Publishers.

Schmoker is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. In a 2018 Education Week survey of national school leaders, he was ranked among the best sources of “practice advice, wisdom, and insight” on effective school improvement.