What I Do

Write. Edit. Mentor. Educate. Train. Develop content. Proselytize for quality.

Writing

I write. A lot. I write reading passages (stories, poems, articles, functional text) for K-12 assessments and curriculum materials. I write test items. I write test specifications and ancillary materials. I write short stories (published) and novels (not yet published) and articles. I write proposals and abstracts and once took a shot at a white paper. I write test analyses, emails, memos, notes, comments, rants, raves (I Yelp like nobody’s business), reviews, journal entries, grocery lists, thank-you notes. (I didn’t used to write thank-you notes. Not writing thank-you notes was one of the eleventy-million things I felt bad about until it seemed easier to write them than feel bad about not writing them. I never felt anything about grocery lists.)

Editing

I edit. I edit all kinds of text, although my specialities are ELA content, and any manner of narrative prose. I’d rather not edit highly technical or numbers-intensive text. Numbers and I have a relationship best described as wary.

Mentorship

I’m a mentor. I recruit likeminded, talented writers into the field and support them as they learn what they need to know to succeed in ELA assessment and curriculum content development. 

Education

I teach writing. I work with writers, individually or in groups, to develop their skills and knowledge of the craft. Narrative prose is my first true love, so my Most Favorite Thing is working with writers of narrative fiction and narrative nonfiction.

Training

I provide training, individually or in groups, on item writing, content editing, test assembly, and all aspects of English language arts content development and evaluation.

Test Content Development

I develop tests: summative, formative, norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, achievement, high-stakes, low-stakes, standardized, classroom performance, portfolio, you name it. I develop tests of various kinds and for various purposes and for various clients. 

Quality Evangelist

I speak up for quality, and for giving our kids–they are all our kids, it takes a village–the best work we can do. I believe to do otherwise is immoral.