Words are how I earn trust, spark action, and tell stories worth reading. Below is a selection of work across marketing, education, and personal narrative — each piece written to move the right reader at the right moment.
Does Using Goalbook Toolkit Impact Student Achievement?
Discover How Goalbook Toolkit Unlocks Growth Potential for Every Student
Although you may have heard of Goalbook Toolkit, you probably haven't seen the latest study on its impact on student outcomes. A recent Empirical Education Edtech Outcomes Report explores how Goalbook Toolkit positively impacted middle school special education students' reading achievement at Prince George's County Public Schools.
Results of this research present strong evidence of promise that using Goalbook Toolkit can improve special education student outcomes across student groups.
- Differences in outcomes can be attributed to differences in usage
- Weekly usage is the usage level that makes the difference
- The effect of one active day's usage is equivalent to a 9-percentile gain for an average student in the sample
Using Stretch Growth® to Accelerate Learning
Wondering how to ensure all your students are growing? Begin with precise data and specific goals. i-Ready provides individualized student growth targets: Typical Growth — the annual growth for an average student — and Stretch Growth® — how much growth a student needs to achieve grade-level proficiency.
- More students who placed two or more years below grade level reached grade level if they met Stretch Growth targets versus Typical Growth
- Even meeting Stretch Growth in one year accelerated more students to grade level than two consecutive years of Typical Growth
Have Questions About Implementing Evidence-Based Educational Practices?
Dr. John Hattie — author of Visible Learning — found that the highest-impact strategies on student learning include:
- Implementing a prerequisite strategy (.93)
- Using educational materials that include scaffolding (.82)
- Engaging students in classroom discussions (.82)
These are some of the strategies that Riesel ISD implemented to skyrocket their TEA rating from an F to an A in recent years.
Creating Momentum for Academic Success
Need a better way to create momentum and promote academic success in the upcoming school year? i-Ready accelerates growth for every student and includes new updates that are extensively researched, classroom tested, and built to address your needs.
How United ISD Used i-Ready to Help Fulfill Its Commitment to Students
United ISD's efforts to ensure all students receive high-quality, rigorous instruction have been rewarded with every campus receiving an A or B rating from the state accountability system.
Improving Data-Driven Instruction
While evaluating programs for the 2021–2022 school year, Associate Superintendent Emma Leza and her team realized they needed to strengthen the connection between assessment and instruction.
"We love being able to make good decisions based on good data from i-Ready." — Emma Leza, Associate Superintendent
Prerequisite Skills Instruction
"As a border city, we have a lot of recent arrivals, and it's important to teach them based on their unique needs. The toolbox allows our teachers to focus on prerequisite skills," Gonzalez explained.
How Anna Strong Learning Academy is Rejuvenating Literacy Instruction
Anna Strong Learning Academy is a small but mighty K–6 elementary school in Lee County, Arkansas. Its mission — to authentically EMPOWER students, teachers, and families in creating paths that honor each student's aspirations.
80 Percent Growth in Literacy
The academy has been using i-Ready with fidelity (45 minutes per week per subject) since 2020 and experienced 80 percent growth in literacy over the past year.
"Having i-Ready is like having that extra set of hands in the classroom that teachers have needed for years." — Felita Reed, Academic Coach
Paying It Forward: Three Tips for Empowering New Teachers
Tip #1: Be the Leader in Your Classroom
Leadership starts in the classroom. Remind your students why they're there — to learn, to improve their lives, and to support their future endeavors.
Tip #2: Maximize Student Engagement — Be Prepared
It's better to be overprepared and have too much for your students to do than to have them finish early and become idle.
Tip #3: Build Your Self-Confidence
Keep a positive, optimistic mindset. Take your time finding your teaching style. Ask for help when you need it.
United ISD is Making Good Decisions Based on Good Data
The sky's the limit when districts make instructional decisions based on accurate, actionable assessment data. United ISD experienced the impact of using i-Ready data when they began using it in the 2022–23 school year.
"We love being able to make good decisions based on good data from i-Ready." — Emma Leza, Associate Superintendent, United ISD
Know the Best First Step
The key to accelerating learning for every student is knowing exactly what to do first. i-Ready's Prerequisite Strategy empowers Texas educators with actionable data that:
- Identifies students' prerequisite learning needs
- Automatically groups students with similar needs together
- Links to recommended TEKS-based resources for instruction
Get Texas-size student growth with i-Ready — satisfaction guaranteed.
Put Every NYC Student on a Path to Grade-Level Reading
All students deserve explicit, intentional, and targeted reading instruction. Magnetic Reading checks every box — combining engaging texts and a systematic instructional approach backed by science with the power of i-Ready data.
This seamless connection between i-Ready data and Magnetic Reading provides students with precise reading instruction, enhances classroom productivity, and saves teachers' time.
Does Using Goalbook Toolkit Positively Impact Student Achievement?
- Students whose teachers used Goalbook Toolkit experienced greater outcomes
- One active day's usage equals a 9-percentile gain for an average student
- Weekly usage is the usage level that makes the difference
- Strong evidence of promise across all student groups and middle school grade levels
LinkedIn Post
Instructional leaders in more than 1,000 districts across 46 states use Goalbook Toolkit — with impressive results.
Maryland District Sees Improved Student Outcomes After Using Goalbook Toolkit
Goalbook Toolkit guides educators working with specialized student populations with flexible resources that help them vary the levels of instructional support. Instructional leaders in more than 1,000 districts across 46 states use Goalbook Toolkit — with impressive results.
A recent Empirical Education Edtech Outcomes Report highlights the usage and effectiveness of Goalbook Toolkit in Prince George's County Public Schools. The results yielded evidence that usage, as measured by active days, is positively associated with student outcomes across all student groups.
Excerpt from a Ghostwritten Memoir
I hated compliments, especially from my dad. My worst beatings always began with them, the same all-too-familiar pattern that started softly and ended in bruises. His visits had two purposes: to see his kids and to twist the knife in his ex-wife's back.
It started the same way. It ended the same way. Cruel, calculated mental abuse wrapped in backhanded compliments. Precision-crafted to hurt where it counts. He knew where Mom's scabs were. And he was a professional scab-picker.
Look at Camille. (pick) She's so pretty… just beautiful. (pick) You used to look like that.
The look on Mom's face told him he'd made it down to the raw, oozing flesh — time for the salt. Look at you now… old, thick, and all by yourself!
She flinched as she took the sting of his venomous strike without a word. She answered later. In the contortions of his "precious baby girl." Bending my back to shield my legs and throwing up my hands and arms to guard my face. Learning, blow by blow, where to take the damage.
Mom's answer continued — in the swish and crack of the electrical cord on tender skin. In the beads of blood tracing every welp. She kept going until she couldn't anymore. Out of breath, she sank onto the couch, turned up the TV, and reached for a cookie from the open pack of Chips Ahoy.
One last side-eyed glance at the crumpled heap struggling to rise. Ain't so beautiful now, is she?
