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Services
Who are our services for?
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Non-Profits
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Schools & Preschools
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After-School Programs
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Youth Sports/Athletic Programs
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Adult Learning Organizations
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Curriculum Developers
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Any organization who works with children
Areas of Expertise
Literacy
English & Spanish
Academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skill at the end of third grade.
(National Research Council, 1998)
Dr. Ortiz has extensive research and teaching experience in literacy acquisition and foundational reading skills. She is a co-author on several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on the topic of literacy. Dr. Ortiz has taught several courses and regularly delivers professional development workshops and trainings on the topic of literacy acquisition, the science of reading, and evidence-based strategies for students with learning disabilities in reading (including Dyslexia).
Literacy
Dr. Ortiz received her Bachelor's and Master's degree from Florida State University in Exceptional Student Education. While in the classroom she taught students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders and her research experience has been with students who have Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, and Intellectual Disability. Dr. Ortiz has a wealth of experience in evidence-based practices for working with students with disabilities and believes that ALL students can learn when given the right supports.
Special Education
Special Education is not a place, but rather supports and services brought to students through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
(Peak Parent Center, Inc.)
Specia Educatoion
Classroom & Behavior Management
Though classroom management is consistently a significant predictor of positive student outcomes, teachers often consider classroom management to be the most challenging aspect of their job; many exiting the teaching profession within their first five years indicate that classroom management is their primary reason for leaving.
(Gage & MacSuga-Gage, 2017; University of Florida)
Having taught students with behavior disorders, Dr. Ortiz knows that the teacher is the most important variable when it comes to classroom management. She has taught several behavioral intervention courses and continues to immerse herself in behavioral research. While in the classroom, her students consistently demonstrated at least one year of growth on their state assessments, and her classroom had the fewest number of behavioral disruptions within the entire school. Dr. Ortiz always incorporates a behavioral lens when delivering any type of professional development and is passionate about giving those who work with children the tools to be an impactful instructor no matter which context.
Classroom Management
Dr. Ortiz has in-depth experience of what it takes to develop and refine instructional curriculum programs. She works closely with the authors of Friends on the Block Literacy Curriculum and serves as an advisor for Learning Without Tears.
Dr. Ortiz has also served as a research manager for multiple research projects where she was responsible for training the research team on the administration and interpretation of the assessments used. Dr. Ortiz also has extensive experience teaching assessment related education courses at Southern Methodist University including Literacy Assessment & Assessment in Special Education.
Curriculum Design & Assessment
Restructuring learning environments to ensure that teachers
have access to rich data every day and recognizing that
the depth of data-driven instruction is critical for students success.
(Gilbert, 1978; McIntosh, Horner & Sugai, 2009)
CurriculumDesign and Assessment
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