Bonnie Dana was named, "Ogichi Daa Kue," (Warrior Woman) by a cultural leader of the Ojibway Tribal Nation for her relentless efforts over four decades to implement positive change in education focused heavily on OBE. These efforts began with Individually Guided Education while Associate Director of the Wisconsin Indian Teacher Corps, evolved to Competency-Based Education as the Director of the Lakeland Curriculum Consortium, and culminated with OBE as Assistant Superintendent in the DeForest Public Schools. As a tireless instructor, Bonnie ‘walked the talk’ at the high school and college levels using OBE modules, varied learning style strategies and performance assessments, which resulted in phenomenal gains in student achievement and motivation, notably recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

From these successes Bonnie founded two OBE charter schools that became national models. One received the national Toshiba award in elementary school science; the other an employment-focused, individualized, performance-based secondary school that partnered with business, a Technical College and local school district. She co-authored a national publication, wrote numerous articles and handbooks, and presented nationally on leadership, all on OBE. Most significantly, she survived many serious attacks on herself and OBE by those resisting change in education. She retired to the lake country of Northern Wisconsin in 2001 to fight battles with Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis and continue her writing.

These quotes capture the essence of her formidable career: "Students do not fail; teachers do." "Anyone can teach, but it takes a special person to diagnose how students learn." "Until the day I die, I will be committed to OBE because I know it works."

Charles (Chuck) Schwahn rode the crest of OBE’s future-focused Transformational wave for 25 years. When that wave broke, he created a next one to ride, and yet a next one, simply because vision, leadership, innovation, integrity and collaboration were the authentic essence of who he was and the indelible mark he made. From classroom teacher, to state champion basketball coach, to curriculum director in South Dakota, to district superintendent, and full-time consultant in Colorado, Chuck was a non-stop learner and role model for others. As Superintendent of the Eagle County Schools, he not only became a leading advocate for OBE in Colorado and nationally, he established a graduate degree-granting professional development program for staff within the district, enabling many to earn credits and advanced degrees while still employed.

Dr. Schwahn’s collaboration with Dr. William Spady on a future-focused approach to developing ‘Exit Outcomes’ for high school graduates began in 1987, and their model, Strategic Design, permanently transformed the OBE movement’s focus and mission. SD was unique and ground-breaking in modern education and gained enormous interest throughout the US and Canada, giving communities a picture of what students would be facing in the future, and educators a template for preparing them for those challenges. Inspired by Dr. Schwahn’s deep interest in leadership and change, they wrote a highly praised book for the American Association of School Administrators in 1998 called Total Leaders, followed in 2010 by its sequel, Total Leaders 2.0. Chuck culminated his distinguished career in 2014 with yet another highly praised future-focused book, Inevitable.

It is extremely unlikely that the OBE movement will ever be graced again with contributions as deep, versatile, and significant as those of Dr. John Burl Artis. Name an area of interest, and he mastered it. Name a position, and he filled it. Name a challenge, and he accepted it. Name an education-related topic, and he wrote and lectured about it – for five decades – with unmatched dedication, ability, vision, authenticity, impact, and grace. Thoughtful and thorough beyond measure, John exemplified what learning, leading, writing, scholarship, mentoring, and friendship truly meant. Working with him was a blessing.

John’s career began in 1968 as a high school social studies teacher, followed by two high school Principalships in the decade before becoming Principal of Grosse Pointe (Michigan) High School in 1989. There he accomplished what many OBE colleagues regarded as ‘Mission Impossible’: Transforming the instruction system and culture of this already elite, ultra-high-achieving school and raising its long-established reputation of excellence even more. He brought this about without fanfare through his exceptional professionalism, openness, patience and insight, setting a new standard for OBE implementation.

From there John became a Consultant for the High Success Network; a Director of Curriculum in Illinois; a district administrator in Ohio; District Superintendent in Dearborn, Michigan; culminating with 15 years as Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus, where he supervised doctoral students in a range of leadership and human development areas. Covid suddenly took him from us at the height of the 2021 epidemic. The outpouring of tributes to his character and contributions was deservedly vast and profound.

Throughout his career as a secondary school teacher, principal, curriculum director, assistant superintendent, and community college Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Alan Rowe advocated, exemplified, and implemented the spiritual essence of OBE: Fostering a culture of contribution that consciously evoked the authentic altruism, true inner being, empowering qualities, and performance abilities of every child and adult with a role and interest in education. As volunteer director of the Iowa OBE Success Network, Al brought remarkable authenticity, presence, vision and enthusiasm to Iowa school districts and national audiences modeling Transformational OBE’s full meaning, implications and impact. His priorities: Helping people of all ages discover and unleash capacities for growth and contribution; and mobilizing entire communities to evolve and view their lifelong role as Outcome-Based pioneers.

Alan’s heartfelt paradigm-shifting innovations were legion and set a standard for future generations to emulate. They included: Engaging students, faculty, and staff modeling all frame their daily life-roles around OBE principles; Aligning school employee competencies with Portraits of a Graduate (student Exit Outcomes); Generating strong community involvement and synergy for implementing an Outcome-focused performance-based diploma that incorporated: Basic Academic Skill Certificates; Learner growth portfolios; Graduate presentations; Standards-based grading data; Dual-credit transcripts; Systems thinking/Total Quality learning project evidence; K-12 student-led parent conferences; Impactful community service projects; and Success in co-curricular clubs and competitions. These inspiring departures from conventional practice emanated from Alan’s heart-based beliefs in the empowering essence of OBE, the “Oneness” of humanity, and every person’s vast potential for growth. Happily, for countless thousands, Alan Rowe came along to honor and validate them.

No one contributed more to the Transformational phase of OBE’s development and the crafting of breakthrough instructional and assessment techniques than Spence Rogers. Beginning in the late 1980s, in both his understated manner and with less on-stage recognition than OBE’s other early champions, Spence took the wisdom gained by transforming his own practice as a high school mathematics teacher in Glendale, Arizona to countless thousands of teachers across North America. His focus: How instructional practices could be revised dramatically to elevate the aspirations, self-concepts, and learning success of ALL K-12 students. His insights into the techniques and processes that fully engage learners and make deep learning happen were unparalleled in the OBE movement, and his uniquely impactful instructional guidelines and handbooks were reprinted again and again.

More than anything, Spence changed the face and relevance of OBE itself with multiple significant contributions. He was the catalyst in a small team that, in 1986, definitively established the meaning of “Outcomes.” That definition and its key implications, which Spence was also the first person to articulate, put OBE on a revolutionary pathway that transcended deeply entrenched teaching and grading conventions. He then used those implications to help form the now-famous “Demonstration Mountain,” which included Life-Performance Roles at its peak. That construct, in turn, added further credibility and potency to OBE’s future-focused Transformational work throughout the world, and it gave compelling meaning to the term “Exit Outcomes.” Clearly, many millions of students across the world have benefitted from Spence’s work without ever meeting this humble hero in person.

Helen Burz stepped into the OBE movement in the late 1980s, serving as a lead teacher trainer, curriculum developer, and instructional system designer for the High Success Network. Her earlier work as Principal of a K-5 elementary school in Birmingham, Michigan gained national attention as an authentic life-performance learning community, where students developed both academic and life skills through both the simulation and tangible application of a range of adult roles and responsibilities. With input from experts in the community, students took responsibility for designing and operating a fully functioning in-house banking system (transacting real money), a school-wide student-to-student postal system, and a limited-item bakery.

Thanks to her warm and inviting personality and her keen ability to translate concepts and models into easy to understand, highly effective practices, legions of classroom teachers and curriculum leaders in a wide range of communities found Helen to be a delight to work with. These special gifts magnified her impact as an insightful pioneer in OBE’s Transformational approach to Self-Directed Learning and Learner Empowerment, in which students developed and refined their self-assessment skills at every stage of investigating, formulating, designing, implementing, demonstrating, and evaluating both individual and team projects. Thanks to Helen’s innovative, impactful leadership, this impressive model was embraced by teachers at all grade levels across North America, and helped genuine Learner Empowerment become a reality for countless students.

It is extremely unlikely that the OBE movement will ever be graced again with contributions as deep, versatile, and significant as those of Dr. John Burl Artis. Name an area of interest, and he mastered it. Name a position, and he filled it. Name a challenge, and he accepted it. Name an education-related topic, and he wrote and lectured about it – for five decades – with unmatched dedication, ability, vision, authenticity, impact, and grace. Thoughtful and thorough beyond measure, John exemplified what learning, leading, writing, scholarship, mentoring, and friendship truly meant. Working with him was a blessing.

John’s career began in 1968 as a high school social studies teacher, followed by two high school Principalships in the decade before becoming Principal of Grosse Pointe (Michigan) High School in 1989. There he accomplished what many OBE colleagues regarded as ‘Mission Impossible’: Transforming the instruction system and culture of this already elite, ultra-high-achieving school and raising its long-established reputation of excellence even more. He brought this about without fanfare through his exceptional professionalism, openness, patience and insight, setting a new standard for OBE implementation.

From there John became a Consultant for the High Success Network; a Director of Curriculum in Illinois; a district administrator in Ohio; District Superintendent in Dearborn, Michigan; culminating with 15 years as Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus, where he supervised doctoral students in a range of leadership and human development areas. Covid suddenly took him from us at the height of the 2021 epidemic. The outpouring of tributes to his character and contributions was deservedly vast and profound.