Education Portfolio
Curriculum. Literacy. Indigenous Education. School Improvement. Data. Professional Learning.
From an idea to a complete learning experience.
Curriculum Development & Instructional Design
I develop customized educational materials that bring together standards, content, pedagogy, assessment, and meaningful learning experiences.
Featured here is the I Love Salmon and Lamprey K–5 Curriculum, developed in partnership with author Brook Thompson. A children's book became the foundation for a comprehensive K–5 curriculum integrating literacy, writing, science, social studies, Indigenous knowledge, environmental stewardship, and standards-aligned instruction.
Curriculum services can include:
- Complete curriculum and unit development
- Curriculum maps and scope and sequences
- Standards alignment
- Learning goals and success criteria
- Lesson and unit planning
- Teacher guides and instructional materials
- Student-facing resources
- Informational and literary text development
- Writing tasks and assessments
- Cross-curricular integration
- Curriculum developed around books, programs, or organizational initiatives
- Indigenous-centered and culturally sustaining curriculum
Have an idea, book, program, or body of knowledge you want transformed into curriculum?
Building stronger systems for teaching reading
Literacy & Reading Development
Literacy development is one of the central areas of my educational work. I help schools and educators understand how reading develops, identify where students need support, and build instructional systems that connect research with daily classroom practice.
The FIRE Literacy Initiative is my original framework for understanding reading development across four phases: Spark, Kindle, Flame, and Carry the Fire. The framework brings together word recognition, language comprehension, cultural meaning-making, assessment, intervention, and responsive instruction.
Literacy support can include:
- Foundational literacy systems
- Phonological and phonemic awareness
- Phonics and decoding
- Encoding and spelling
- Fluency
- Vocabulary and language comprehension
- Reading comprehension
- Literacy scope and sequences
- Structured literacy practices
- Literacy curriculum review and alignment
- Intervention planning
- Teacher professional development
- Classroom literacy systems
- Culturally responsive literacy instruction
- Literacy leadership and implementation support
Literacy Assessment Systems
Strong instruction begins with knowing what students know.
I develop practical literacy assessment systems that help teachers identify student strengths, locate skill gaps, monitor growth, and determine meaningful instructional next steps.
Assessment systems can include teacher administration tools, student-facing assessment materials, scoring records, progress monitoring, instructional recommendations, and schoolwide assessment calendars.
Indigenous knowledge belongs in education as living knowledge.
Indigenous Education
My Indigenous education work centers accurate representation, contemporary Native voices, Tribal sovereignty, cultural knowledge, local history, and educational experiences that move beyond stereotypes and historical narratives that treat Native peoples only as part of the past.
As an Indigenous educator and curriculum developer, I work with schools and organizations to create resources and systems that strengthen both Indigenous visibility and educational experiences for Native students.
Featured work includes Riverside County Indian Education for All, California's Seven Essential Understandings of Native American History and Culture, Indigenous curriculum development, and professional learning for educators.
Indigenous education services can include:
- Native American curriculum development
- Indian Education for All initiatives
- California Indian history and culture
- Seven Essential Understandings implementation
- Indigenous-centered instructional resources
- Native student educational support
- Indigenous visibility and representation reviews
- Curriculum audits
- Tribal sovereignty education
- Local Tribal history integration
- Professional development for educators
- Indigenous literature and primary-source integration
- Data-informed planning for Native student programs
- Community and Tribal engagement support
Turning plans into classroom practice.
Instructional Coaching & School Improvement
Educational improvement requires more than adopting a curriculum or identifying a problem. Schools need structures that help educators examine instruction, respond to evidence, collaborate, and continuously improve.
I work alongside teachers and educational leaders to build practical systems that connect curriculum, instruction, assessment, collaboration, and student learning.
School improvement support can include:
- Instructional coaching
- Classroom observations
- Teacher feedback and support
- Professional Learning Communities
- PLC structures and protocols
- PDSA cycles
- Curriculum implementation
- Instructional walkthroughs
- Collaborative planning
- Student learning targets
- Success criteria
- Intervention and enrichment planning
- Continuous improvement systems
- Leadership consultation
- School improvement planning
The goal is not another document sitting in a binder. The goal is creating systems educators can actually use.
Turning information into action.
Assessment, Data & Strategic Planning
Data should tell us something about students, instruction, systems, and the decisions we need to make next.
I help schools and organizations create assessment and data systems that move beyond simply collecting numbers. Together, we examine what the information tells us, identify patterns and needs, establish priorities, and connect findings directly to action.
Assessment and data services can include:
- Assessment system development
- Assessment alignment
- Literacy assessments
- Data trackers and dashboards
- Assessment calendars
- Student progress monitoring
- Data analysis
- Data visualization
- PDSA cycles
- Cycles of inquiry
- Student data folders
- Program evaluation
- Needs assessment
- Strategic planning
- School improvement planning
- Data-informed professional learning
I believe data is most powerful when we remember the people represented within it. Numbers can identify a need. Educators and communities determine what we do about it.
Professional learning should change what happens after the training ends.
Professional Development & Speaking
I design and facilitate professional learning experiences that connect research, story, reflection, practical tools, and meaningful application.
My speaking and professional development work has included conferences, schools, Tribal education programs, professional organizations, webinars, institutes, workshops, and community learning experiences.
Available formats include:
- Keynote presentations
- Conference sessions
- Professional development workshops
- Multi-day institutes
- Webinars
- Virtual professional learning
- School and district training
- Leadership development
- PLC facilitation
- Curriculum implementation training
- Customized organizational training
Speaking and training topics include:
- Literacy and reading development
- Science and research of reading
- Indigenous education
- Native American history and contemporary Native communities
- California Indian history and culture
- Curriculum and instructional design
- Assessment and data
- School improvement
- Culturally sustaining education
- Teacher development
- Student-centered educational systems
Every training can be customized around the needs, goals, and context of the organization.