Consulting Services  

The International Center ’s Education Consulting Group is a team of the nation’s top educators and administrators who are available to provide consulting services and professional development on a wide range of topics, including:  

• strategic planning
• needs assessment
• leadership training
• keynote presentations
• train-the-trainer programs
• staff development

 Many schools and districts partner with the Education Consulting Group for a sustained program of work. Our goal is to customize solutions to the client’s needs based on best practices.  

Our Senior Consultants are dynamic speakers who are experienced in addressing all audiences, including educators, students, parents, business leaders and the community at large. The following is a partial listing of Senior Consultants. For additional information, please contact the International Center directly.  Todd Daggett:  todd@daggett.com  

Helen Branigan has facilitated professional development initiatives in dozens of school communities. Formerly with the New York State Education Department, she has done extensive work in the areas of school innovation, reform and improvement. Ms. Branigan has shared her expertise in curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development and best practices with schools and audiences around the world.  

Dr. Jim Causby is Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of School Administrators, following a career in which he was regarded as one of America’ most successful school superintendents. Dr. Causby has spent his career focused on the needs of all students and is a nationally recognized leader in education reform. He has addressed audiences around the world on topics related to school improvement, student accountability and raising student achievement.  

Dr. Gary Fields works with schools that are making significant progress in closing the achievement gap and making adequate yearly progress. Dr. Fields served for 33 years as a superintendent, principal or director of special education and is widely recognized for his expertise in creating civility in schools and in establishing authentic partnerships with parents and the community.   

Dr. Thomas P. Fitzgerald was formerly Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services, Albany Diocesan Catholic schools. Prior to that he worked for the New York State Education Department, where he was the Director of the School Quality Review Program, Bureau Chief for Migrant Education and Services for Low Performing Schools and Coordinator for Basic Skills and Reading Education. He has taught at the elementary, secondary and college levels and held a variety of administrative and curriculum positions.  

Dr. John Foster recently retired as State Director of Career and Technical Education in Pennsylvania . Dr. Foster is an accomplished presenter and national leader in the area of career and technical education. His career has included classroom teacher, university educator and district-level administrator. He has published widely.  

Dr. Ada Grabowski is Superintendent of the Albion School District in New York . She has experience at all levels of public school administration and is well known for developing programs that link students’ education to experience they will encounter in the real world. Dr. Grabowski is a national leader in character education, alternative education, technology infusion, curriculum development, principal training and the management of change.  

Dr. Thomas Houlihan, Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, was formerly President and CEO of the North Carolina Partnership for Excellence. Prior to that, he served as Senior Education Advisor to former North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt. A nationally recognized expert on Total Quality Management, he was North Carolina Superintendent of the Year in 1990 and one of four finalists for National Superintendent of the Year.  

Dr. Sam Houston, Jr. is President and Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center . Dr. Houston has written and lectured widely on such topics as strategic planning, student performance and accountability, meeting workplace needs, social promotion and building partnerships. He has been a teacher, building level administrator, assistant superintendent, superintendent and executive director of both the North Carolina Education Standards and Accountability Commission and the North Carolina Center for School Leadership Development.  

Dr. Richard Jones has helped educators in more than 45 states develop the commitment to school change and the skills necessary to better prepare students for the future. Dr. Jones is an accomplished presenter and has demonstrated his leadership by creating many new education programs. He has written eight books and developed computer software applications. In his 30 years as an educator, Dick has shared with hundreds of audiences his passion for learning and his vision of the possibilities in schools.  

Dr. H. Benjamin Marlin recently retired as a school superintendent in Florida . He has more than 37 years of education experience, including elementary classroom teacher and school-based administrator. Dr. Marlin is well regarded an administrative trainer/coach and has provided school improvement support to a variety of schools and districts.  

Louis Martinez is a highly respected national speaker on character development, closing the achievement gap, and issues of accountability in communities and schools. Mr. Martinez recently completed his tenure as superintendent for Las Cruces, NM Public Schools. He has collaborated on community development programs with numerous state and local officials, civic leaders and police command officers, as well as with educators and youth organizations. His work in schools and communities focuses on the responsibility of schools to provide rigorous, relevant instruction in an environment of positive relationships and implementation of best practices in school reform. He has designed comprehensive administrative and leadership development training programs and serves as a facilitator for conflict mediation training.  

Raymond J. McNulty most recently served as Senior Fellow/Program Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition to being an International Center Senior Consultant, he is Executive Director of our Successful Practices Network. Ray has been a teacher, vice principal, principal, superintendent and Education Commissioner of Vermont . He is the Immediate Past President of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). Ray has presented on the state, national and international levels concerning the need for school systems to accept the challenges that lie ahead. He has also been widely recognized for his work on behalf of early childhood education.  

Dr. Mark A. Mitrovich, President of EdGate, was formerly Superintendent of the Peninsula School District in Washington , which is noted for its innovations in technology, curriculum, parent involvement and alternative scheduling. Dr. Mitrovich originated, with Microsoft, the Anywhere, Anytime Learning Program and, later, the Copernicus Education Gateway presented through EdGate. He was the 1990 Principal of the Year and 1998 Superintendent of the Year for Washington and is internationally known in technology integration, student achievement, and systemic school change.  

Peter Pappas is Assistant Superintendent for Instruction at East Irondequoit Central Schools, in suburban Rochester , New York . He has more than 30 years experience in K-12 supervision, curriculum leadership and teaching in the social sciences at the high school, college and adult levels. He has served as a consultant to school districts, universities, publishers and the New York State Education Department. Peter has published professional and popular articles as well as contributed to texts, teacher resources and test banks.   

Judy Phillips, President of the Andrews Group, is responsible for coaching and facilitating education systems working to improve performance. Ms. Phillips has served as a teacher, principal and central office administrator as well as Executive Director of the North Carolina Science and Mathematics Alliance and Vice President of the North Carolina Partnership for Excellence. She is a nationally known expert in leadership, management skills, curriculum and the principals of high performance.  

Dr. Custer Quick is a consultant to school districts on the process of creating positive educational change. He is also Senior Reviewer with the School Quality Review Initiative in New York . He retired from the position of District Superintendent of the Albany-Schoharie-Schenectady Board of Cooperative Educational Services in New York .  

Julie Smith has been a public school teacher and administrator for 19 years. She has planned, organized and opened two year-round K-6 elementary schools in Douglas County, Colorado. She has demonstrated leadership skills, as evidenced by her ability to invest all stakeholders in a quality decision-making process in order to promote schoolwide programs that are aligned with a strong vision, district targets and standards and that result in a high level of student achievement.  

The Education Consulting Group also includes Master Teachers. For descriptions of sample workshops, visit Master Teachers .  

Presentation topics include the following:

Aligning Standards, Tests and Essential Skills to Improve Instruction: Using the Curriculum Matrix to Improve Student Achievement
Reaching your desired student achievement goals requires more than working harder; it requires working smarter. An important first step is to understand the destination. What are the standards? What is on the test? Which standards are most essential? How do my lessons match to those standards? Focus your curriculum planning and professional development on using data researched by the International Center analyzing state tests and essential skills. Discover the processes and data available to improve teaching and learning so that you attain your goals.

Planning Rigorous and Relevant Instruction
Research supports the importance of moving to application-based instruction as a means of raising student achievement. By carefully planning learning experiences for students, high levels of cognition and application can be achieved. The Rigor/Relevance Framework is an excellent tool for planning instruction and assessment. This session will describe the Framework and a step-by-step process for planning instruction and assessment that will prepare today's students for tomorrow's workplace and for advanced education and training beyond high school. The workshop is based on the International Center's resource kit, Planning Rigorous and Relevant Instruction.

Tools for Facilitating Change
The barrier to change is people: people who defend the status quo, people who are reluctant to take risks, or people who give priority to their personal needs. Change is inevitable, but pain and resistance are optional. Change in organizations is about working with people effectively. This session will share tips and techniques that have proved successful in working with groups and individuals involved in organizational change. The strategies are organized around the needs of the schools as organizations, particularly when leaders are seeking to help overcome low morale, stagnation, confusion, cynicism or insecurity.

Effective Education Planning
This session explores several techniques for improving organizational and education planning. It emphasizes the use of student data and working intensely with facilitated planning groups to identify root causes of problems and needs in school systems clearly. Models are presented for creating plans that align policies, use of resources, professional development and staff evaluation.

Block Schedule - Getting to the Next Level
This presentation is designed for schools that are using any form of block schedule. The session will include a discussion aimed at answering questions posed by the audience concerning schedule models and curricular, instructional and assessment strategies. The remainder of the session will feature mini-breakout groups dealing with the use of the block schedule model with specific curricular areas. This portion will foster the sharing of ideas and networking among the participants.

Six Steps to a Character-Centered Teaching Initiative
With increasing concerns about student violence and school safety, many schools are looking to character education to help students learn positive interpersonal skills and guiding principles that are consistent with good character. This session will present six steps to help educators initiate a comprehensive character education program based on 12 universally accepted guiding principles. The presentation will demonstrate how to integrate guiding principles into classroom lessons by using the Character-Centered Teaching approach.

Character Development
As a significant part of a total reform effort, character development has been shown to have a positive impact on student learning. This presentation will outline a strategic planning and implementation process to address disparities in student achievement among majority and minority students. The session will explain the process of integrating character development into all phases of education, present strategies that every adult involved with young people can use, and show how data assessment can give the true picture of the character of a school environment.

Improving Student Performance on High-stakes Tests
With increased high-stakes testing and greater accountability for results, raising test scores is a major concern for most educators. This session will present methods and strategies to help teachers increase student achievement on state and national tests. Participants will become familiar with ways to understand what is tested and how it is graded, develop techniques to ensure that what is tested is taught and discover initiatives aimed at continuously improving teaching as well as learning.

High Poverty-High Success: Schools That Defy the Odds
It is commonly thought that if a school serves primarily students who are poor or members of ethnic minorities, the students will perform poorly on state or national tests. Recent studies have found, however, that this need not be true. There are schools that serve these populations where the success rate on standardized tests is among the highest for any group of students. This presentation will shed light on the common denominators of success and how these characteristics can be put into practice on a day-to-day basis.

Characteristics of Successful Schools - The Vision in Practice
In this highly interactive format, characteristics of successful schools of the future will be examined and used as a catalyst for change. Skills needed to promote a climate of change include the ability to develop new perspectives concerning the change process and to analyze the motives and barriers of change. Educators must also know the roles of individuals involved and respond to ever-changing patterns. In this session, techniques will be demonstrated to assist educators in creating an environment conducive for change.

Assessing Leadership Capacity
Successful schools of the future must be able to tap all members in the organization to contribute to leadership work. To do this, leadership must be viewed from two dimensions: broad-based participation and skillfulness. In this workshop, participants will have an opportunity to take part in a leadership capacity survey designed to identify strengths and areas needing growth. A case study of a successful high school will be used as a model.

Building Leadership Capacity
This session will present strategies and tools to assist individuals to function as leaders within the organization. In a highly interactive format, participants will discuss and develop approaches to various aspects of leadership work, including cultivating governance groups, responding to research, developing critical results and focusing on student achievement.

Curriculum Mapping
Individuals and faculty teams are using mapping techniques to align curriculum and assessment with district, state and national standards. Calendar mapping is an important technique in getting communication about curriculum underway across classrooms and creates an environment for building rich interdisciplinary experiences. Working in a hands-on fashion, participants explore various mapping techniques and model maps from various grade levels, including maps for achieving curriculum renewal and for alignment purposes.

Raising the Bar in Classroom Utilization of Educational Technology
Ever since computers arrived in classrooms in 1980, questions have been raised about the benefit of educational technology to students. Educators are often asked to show evidence that computers are making a difference. This multimedia workshop will focus on attributes contributing to the effective use of educational technology in the teaching and learning process. Methods of gathering data to address accountability will be described, including activities to support planning for staff development, pedagogical change and hardware acquisition. Examples of data gathered will be shared. Attributes such as leadership, curriculum integration and real-world applications of knowledge need to be clearly defined to support the rigorous and relevant use of educational technology.