Arthur L. Costa is emeritus professor of education at California State University, Sacramento. He is cofounder of the Institute for Habits of Mind and of the Center for Cognitive Coaching. He has served as a classroom teacher, a curriculum consultant, an assistant superintendent for instruction in the Office of the Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools, and the director of educational programs for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Costa has made presentations and conducted workshops in all 50 states as well as Mexico, Central and South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the islands of the South Pacific. Bena Kallick is a private consultant providing services to school districts, state departments of education, professional organizations, and public agencies throughout the United States and around the world. She received a doctorate in educational evaluation at Union Graduate School. Kallick's areas of focus include group dynamics, creative and critical thinking, and alternative assessment strategies for the classroom.

She is the coauthor of Using Curriculum Mapping and Assessment Data to Improve Student Learning (with Jeff Colosimo), Assessment Strategies for Self-Directed Learning (with Art Costa), and Students at the Center (with Allison Zmuda); and coeditor with Art Costa of Assessment in the Learning Organization, the Habits of Mind series, Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind, and Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum.