I am a K-12 professional developer and education grant developer based in California's Central Valley. Much of my focus centers on boosting student proficiency in STEM education and helping local education agencies develop projects related to rigor-driven instruction. In 2007, I formed The Standards Company LLC to perform large-scale education research. Today, our work remains the only significant independent study of classroom-level rigor ever performed in this country. Currently, my company focuses on helping LEAs align their instruction/curriculum to state content standards through professional development and coaching/feedback. I have helped secure grant funding for educational agencies and manage their projects. My success extends past K-12 education to include youth development programs, public parks, and anti-gang initiatives. Examples of my success include a multi-million dollar School Improvement Grant, multiple California GearUP grants, multiple CalGRIP anti-gang grants, and a Specialized Secondary Programs grant. I also served on the State Center Consortium's grant writing team to prepare its $15 million California Career Pathways grant. Besides my work as a grant writer, I still devote much of my energy toward education theory, especially in the development of Cognitive Rigor, which I co-developed with Karin Hess, Ben Jones, and Dennis Carlock. (See my blog "Cognitive Rigor to the Core!" for many of my views on this subject.) I continue to develop my expertise in this area, focusing on curriculum analysis such as Common Core alignment and Cognitive Rigor studies for public schools, school districts, and state agencies.
