John Hattie received his PhD degree in statistics from at the University of Toronto in 1981 on detecting unidimensionality.[4] His research focuses on performance indicators and evaluation in education, as well as creativity measurement and models of teaching and learning. He is a proponent of evidence-based quantitative research methodologies on the influences on student achievement. He led the team that created the Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning research and development contract and which is currently deployed by the New Zealand Ministry of Education for use in schools.[5] Prior to his move to the University of Melbourne, Hattie was a member of the independent advisory group reporting to the New Zealand's Minister of Education on the national standards in reading, writing and maths for all primary school children in New Zealand.[citation needed]
Hattie undertook the largest ever synthesis of meta-analyses of quantitative measures of the effect of different factors on educational outcomes leading to his book Visible Learning.[6]
Visible Learning has come under criticism for mathematical flaws in the calculation of effect sizes and misleading presentation of meta-analyses in the book.[7]