Shirley Clarke is an Associate of the Institute of Education, University of London, and is much in demand as an education consultant, in the UK and internationally. An experienced primary teacher and advisory teacher, and a popular speaker, she runs numerous local and regional training courses on classroom assessment. Her courses and training days for teachers, and ongoing involvement in action research, give her a down-to-earth perspective on day-to-day classroom realities.

Shirley's latest book, Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom (2003), takes forward issues developed in her hugely popular Unlocking Formative Assessment (2001) and Targeting Assessment in the Primary Classroom (1998). She is also co-author (with Barry Silsby) of Key Words Spelling, and editor of Tracking Significant Achievement in the Early Years.