UMN Center for Applied Research & Educational Improvement - CAREI

Real progress takes evidence, practical strategy, and a strong team. CAREI’s District Assembly: A National Leadership and Systems Improvement Network connects education leaders to strengthen educational systems from the ground up. 🤝

Why join this year? One membership covers your whole team and grants access to:
🗣️ Quarterly learning sessions: Kick off our first session on November 5 as keynote speakers Linda Diamond, Paige Pullen, Ben Solomon, and Nicole McKevett present The Canons of Literacy & Math, giving you practical tools to align curriculum, assessment, and intervention.
💡 Monthly Research Watch: Receive concise summaries translating emerging evidence into practice.
⚒️ Updated District Assembly Member Portal: Access practical tools, protocols, and resources.
🎯 Timely topics: Tackle key challenges including AI in education, school mental health, evidenced-based literacy and math, and early childhood MTSS.

Plus, membership is priced by organization size, making it affordable whether you’re leading a single school or a district of 20,000+ students.

👉 Register your team today: z.umn.edu/district-assembly-membership

We’re at Day 2 of College of Education and Human Development UMN's LEAD Conference! 🌟 Stop by the CAREI booth to connect with Holly Pfeiffer (Literacy Specialist) and Alyssa Parr (Research Associate). We’d love to chat about research, practice, and creating equitable education systems. Come say hi! 👋

Big congratulations are in order! 🎉 We are incredibly proud to announce that CAREI Director, Kim Gibbons, PhD, is receiving a notable leadership award at the upcoming International MTSS Association -IMA Global Summit! 🏆

This award honors Kim’s 20+ years of work advancing evidence-based frameworks nationwide. We can't wait to celebrate her distinguished career at the official Awards Gala on Friday, July 31! 👏

Kim will also be facilitating several sessions at the summit covering systemic leadership, literacy, and scaling MTSS. Whether you are joining in person or streaming virtually, it's an incredible opportunity to learn from her and the rest of the CAREI team.

➡️ View the full conference schedule and register today: mtssassociation.org/ima-global-summit

Ready to turn high-level math frameworks into sustainable, everyday success for your schools? 📊✨

On Saturday, August 1, the CAREI team is hosting an interactive, live workshop at the International MTSS Association (IMA) Global Summit in San Francisco–The Building Blocks of MTSS in Mathematics: How to Create a Coherent, Evidence-Based System.

This hands-on session offers an exclusive first look at Module 1 of CAREIMath. District and school leadership teams will collaborate to:
⚒️ Build a concrete math implementation plan using the Three Sciences Framework.
🏛️ Strengthen Tier 1 foundations so MTSS anchors all additional supports.
🧠 Analyze how mindsets and system structures impact student success.

Think of this workshop as a great launching point to kickstart your goals before transitioning into our comprehensive CAREIMath: Fundamentals Training this school year! 🚀

Space is limited. Register today! 👇 zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/mtss-how-to-implementation-workshops

Want to improve math outcomes this upcoming school year? 📈 Instead of focusing on isolated fixes like a new textbook, learn how to build a unified, sustainable system that works for every student.

Join CAREI on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the International MTSS Association -IMA Global Summit for a hands-on workshop designed for school and district implementation teams.

What you’ll take away:
🔎 Connect student learning and teaching using the Three Sciences Framework.
🏛️ Strengthen Tier 1 foundations so MTSS anchors all additional supports.
🧠 Address math anxiety by analyzing how adult mindsets and system structures impact success.
📝 Build an actionable plan through guided, collaborative team reflections.

Join us live in San Francisco! Space is limited, register now: zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/mtss-how-to-implementation-workshops

What an incredible gathering at the COMPASS Summer Institute last week! 🍎✨ Over 1,500 Minnesota educators came together at the St. Paul River Centre to collaborate on strengthening student outcomes.

Through CAREI’s strategic partnership with COMPASS (Minnesota Department of Education) for MnMTSS, our team was invited to present on critical practices for student success. We really enjoyed connecting with the district leaders, coaches, and K-12 educators who joined our sessions!

A huge shout out to our CAREI experts who led these sessions:
➡️ Tier 2 and Tier 3 Intervention Plans & Fidelity of Implementation - Courtney Wheeler (Associate Director of MTSS) and Rachel Roesslein (MTSS Specialist)
➡️ Tier 2 and Tier 3 Interventions: Evidence, Mapping, and Professional Learning: Rachel Roesslein, Courtney Wheeler, and Chad Schmidt (MTSS Specialist)

Thank you to everyone who came out to collaborate with us and support Minnesota students!

We had a fantastic time at the Minnesota Charter School Leadership Conference! 🏫✨

CAREI’s Sara Kemper and Kim Gulbrandson partnered with Henry Schantzen from Bluffview Montessori School to present key insights from our ongoing Minnesota Department of Education-funded study on charter school board governance.

Thank you to everyone who came out to support the sessions and connect with the team!

The International MTSS Association -IMA Global Summit is almost here, and the CAREI team is heading to San Francisco to lead this summer’s most practical, data-informed discussions on MTSS! ✈️ 📊

Whether you are joining in person or streaming virtually with your district team, it’s not too late to get your pass and learn directly from our featured speakers:
🌟 Kim Gibbons, PhD (Director of CAREI) on scaling MTSS frameworks, the science of reading, and proven instructional practices.
🌟 Nicole McKevett, PhD, NCSP (MTSS Support Specialist) on systematic math frameworks and building institutional change that lasts.
🌟 Courtney Wheeler, PhD (Associate Director of MTSS) on data-based decision making to improve equitable student outcomes.

➡️ View the full conference schedule and register today: mtssassociation.org/ima-global-summit

CAREI is excited to be presenting at this year’s Minnesota Charter School Leadership Conference on June 8-10! 🏫 ✨

If you’re attending, we hope you’ll join us for our two sessions as we share insights and practical strategies from our Minnesota Department of Education-funded work on charter school board governance.
➡️ Improving Charter School Board Effectiveness: Insights and Strategies
➡️ Strengthening Charter School Board Governance in MN: Midpoint Insights from a 3-Year Study

We’ll be discussing real-world challenges charter school boards face and sharing actionable tools to help them thrive. We hope to connect with fellow education leaders there!

Don’t miss your chance for 20% off! ⏳ Our exclusive partner code for this year’s International MTSS Association -IMA Global Summit ends this Sunday, May 31.

Join CAREI team members Kim Gibbons, Nicole McKevett, and Courtney Wheeler for research-based sessions on math, literacy, systematic change and more.

🎟️ Use code at checkout: CAREI-IMA-20%
👉 Register now: mtssassociation.org/ima-global-summit