Douglas Finn III

Douglas Finn III

Douglas Finn III has been an active participant in the personalized competency-based education (PCBE) community since he first started teaching in Alaska in 2004. Through his years of teaching in Alaska and Maine, Doug has taught all grade levels, from kindergarten through graduation. From that hands-on work within PCBE, he transitioned to supporting students, teachers, and administrators as a mentor, instructional and administrative coach, and associate who has presented all over the country and the world.

Doug has been supporting schools, districts, states, and international systems transitioning to PCBE as a professional development associate since 2008. He started working for the nonprofit Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC) and then transitioned to Marzano Resources to become an associate and author. He is a coauthor of A Handbook for Personalized Competency-Based Education with Robert Marzano, Jennifer Norford, and Michelle Finn. Within the field of competency-based education, A Handbook for Personalized Competency-Based Education is considered to be one of the top three resources available for anyone interested in learning about and implementing PCBE. Doug has also coauthored a book with his wife, Michelle Finn, called Scheduling for Personalized Competency-Based Education, which focuses on the component of scheduling within PCBE.

Doug received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana and teaching degrees in biology and earth science from Northern Michigan University. When it comes to discussing, advancing, and implementing personalized competency-based education, Doug has nearly two decades of actual hands-on experience. As he likes to say, he has attended the school of practical application for PCBE, and his learning never stops.