I have created and managed hundreds of communications, curricular, and research initiatives on a large and small scale. As an educator, author, and evaluator, I have produced a diverse array of content: from instructional programs and assessments used in K-12 classrooms nationwide to web content and blog posts for clients both current and prospective to technical and summative reports and position papers to informational guides for college students, teachers, administrators, parents, and other stakeholders. I have overseen the production and implementation of print materials, programs, and assessments at the state and national levels entailing multiple teams and $1 million+ budgets.
I am proud to have served as driver and doer within broad collective efforts that have generated effective content and yielded targeted outcomes. My many clients over the years have included Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and its subsidiaries, GlobalNOC, I-Light, JFINTV, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, Chicago Public Schools, Curriculum Associates, Renaissance Learning, and Britannica Education. I am the co-author of multiple instructional and assessment programs in the area of reading and English language arts. These include Successful Reader (Renaissance Learning, 2009), Think Reading (Rally! Education, 2008), SSSMART Content Area Reading Assessment (Questar, 2007), Think Along to Better Test Performance (Steck-Vaughn, 2003), and Power Up!: Building Reading Strength (Harcourt Supplemental, 2002).
Writing and research have always been the primary focus of my work. As a professional development leader and as a secondary-level teacher, I have also trained others in how to communicate effectively. Indeed, among all my on-the-job experiences, think I learned the most about writing through teaching seventh-graders how to construct solid five-paragraph essays and poems that make their hearts sing.
My clients appreciate my customized approach to everything I do. This approach includes a capacity for making complex concepts clear for their specific audiences as well as for understanding the context—the climate, the market, the issues—in which their work and their message must resonate. My success in doing this stems partly from my early training as a journalist. I am deeply committed to researching and understanding well enough myself what I can then in turn make accessible to others. I care about the people I work with and the projects that matter to them.
I hold a B.S. in Journalism and a B.A. in English from Boston University and an M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. I won a writing contest in fourth grade, which is probably how the longer story began.
