I work with schools, systems, and partnership teams that are interested in deepening the quality of inclusion, belonging, and justice for all students. The broad category of school support, to me, is about dreaming together and finding ways to stay hopeful and keep moving.
Together, we can grow through leadership development and coaching, program design, and professional learning. Please remember that these strategies should be focused on inclusion, belonging, and justice for Black, Indigenous, and students of color; disabled students and students with disability labels; students who are in or live with members of the LGBTQIA+ community; undocumented students, emergent multilingual students, homeless or unhoused students, and students involved in juvenile justice and human services agencies.
If you would like to discuss working together, contact me.
My Approach
collaboration.
adaptivity.
responsibility.
real impact.
leadership as love.
Collaboration.
I have a Ph.D. and almost 20 years of professional experience and research. I know a lot. But I don’t know everything.
My approach to supporting schools and partnership teams is informed by this perception of myself: I know a lot in areas where you may not, but I don’t know everything. You know a lot, but you feel like you need help. We’ll be smarter and have more fun and emotional support if we work together.
Adaptivity.
I always start by gathering information. I can’t support anyone without a relationship and without knowing your story. I learn about you and your context in order to provide support that is worthwhile for both of us.
We design the work as we go and as things move.
Then we can: Adjust to what kinds of learners and cultures you have. Adapt to your style and needs (we discuss this at the beginning). Listen and facilitate group sessions. Connect you to really great people and resources. Ask good questions that will make us stop and think. Observe in classrooms and develop our observation and support skills. Prepare agendas for efficient and wow-worthy collaboration, practice giving feedback, examine your data. Build or revamp programs, procedures, and policies with your team. Lead you to research that helps you fine-tune or revise your programs.
Responsibility.
While I adjust, I will always push. I will stand by my values (see my about page) and hold you to our goals of equity and justice and belonging. I also am empathetic, not judgey, patient, and hopeful. I have high expectations, and I am fair.
I don’t expect people to do anything I wouldn’t do.
Real Impact
I mention gathering information above. This is not only at the beginning, but always. I talk to teachers, staff, students, and parents to get a sense of what they are experiencing. I observe team meetings, classroom instruction, hang out in the front office. This is important in combination with attendance, achievement, and disciplinary data.
Numbers are important, but you also need to know if something is working for the people it’s supposed to work for.
Are we getting the results we need? Who said those were the right results?
I try to practice leadership as love–to expect us all to work as if we are already living out our hopes for your school/students.
Prior Work
I have provided support to school leaders and district leaders for:
- special education inclusion
- trauma-informed cultures,
- schoolwide instructional improvement,
- equity audits and school “needs assessments,”
- teacher collaboration and learning, and
- new teacher support.
I have supported statewide and system-wide partnerships around:
- accountability-mandated school improvement/turnaround,
- new teacher induction systems,
- arts integration programs, and
- developing professional teaching standards.
I have conducted research on:
- the implementation of instructional coaching,
- the use of lesson study,
- professional development on cultural competence,
- teacher book studies,
- race and equity in teaching and teacher collaboration,
- leadership responses to racial conflict and racist incidents, and
- full inclusion for racially diverse students with emotional behavioral disability labels.
Let’s stay hopeful and keep moving.