A proven track record of accelerated impact.

Pilot Partnerships

During my time at Nashville Classical, I led our piloting partnerships with a number of organizations and turned our network of schools into an innovation hub that mutually benefited both parties.

We partnered with 4QM to pilot curriculum at the elementary level — the beginning of a longterm project to improve social studies and history instruction in elementary schools. Read more here and see our feature in the Tennessee Charter School Center’s 2022 Impact Report here.

We partnered with Litlab.ai to pilot their AI-powered decodables to our youngest learners, providing invaluable product and beta-testing feedback to their team on an ongoing basis while supporting our students as they learned to read. Read more here.

We were one of the earliest adopters of Reading Reconsidered, a literacy curriculum developed by the Teach Like a Champion team. Our multiyear partnership has been a mutually beneficial experience, providing early stage feedback, footage of teachers in action, and resources to support implementation. Watch one of our teachers in action here.

Projects for Academic Improvement

Implementing the Science of Reading in K-2 and 3-4

  • The pandemic shone a light on the number of students that struggled with foundational literacy, and as we expanded our schools, it became increasingly clear that some students did not have the necessary reading skills to grapple with complex texts.

  • We decided to reground our academic programming in the science of reading, including curriculum, instruction, and assessments. We re-envisioned our curricular implementation, removed guided reading and leveled assessments, and emphasized teacher and leader training.

  • In K-2 and in 3-4, we saw strong improvements in the percent of students reading on or above grade level, with performance increasing for our students in this research-backed program the longest.

sample BOY kindergarten writing

sample EOY 8th grade writing

High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) for K-8 Writing

  • NCCS was adopting HQIM in core subjects like reading and math, but performance in writing had stagnated or even declined due to inconsistent and low-caliber curriculum produced in-house.

  • Over the course of two years, I led the design, execution, and evaluation of a K-8 writing curriculum using the Hochmann Method.

  • Writing proficiency skyrocketed, and by 8th grade, 79% of students were scoring proficient on state exams, the highest data point in any grade or subject.

    In every grade in 3rd to 8th grade, NCCS outperformed the district and the state on both written expression and conventions.

TCAP Proficiency Rates

Spring 2022 - All grades (reading and math)

Addressing Pandemic-Borne Gaps in 3-8 Reading and Math

  • NCCS was not immune to the drop in academic achievement that plagued schools around the country. Students came back from virtual and remote learning far behind.

  • I led our data-driven Test Prep tactics that leveraged practice test data, response-to-data protocols, high-quality Test Prep materials, and an emphasis on test-taking techniques to ensure students were showing off their brilliance on state exams.

  • Performance in reading and math returned almost to pre-pandemic levels across all grades. Our proficiency rates grew 23 points in one year, tripling the rate of the state and district.

    We earned TN Reward School status for our impressive growth.