Our Projects

UPD was engaged to provide training to principal evaluators from districts throughout the state in the new educator evaluation system developed by the state under Race to the Top.

UPD was a technical assistance provider for the US Department of Education’s Reform Support Network. In addition to creating training and technical assistance artifacts for ED, UPD worked simultaneously with the state education agencies of Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee.

UPD developed scripts for four training modules to provide guidance for teachers, principals and district administrators in the effective use of longitudinal data to support academic improvement.

UPD was a technical assistance provider for the US Department of Education’s Reform Support Network. In addition to creating training and technical assistance artifacts for ED, UPD worked simultaneously with the state education agencies of Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee.

Developed Teacher Preparation Data Model and released to the Ed-Fi Exchange. UPD continue to support maintenance and upgrades to the TPDM.

Created and facilitated a bootcamp for new MSDF LEA and charter grantees to help them develop a data governance practice in support of their Ed-Fi implementations. Work also included one-on-one coaching sessions with each LEA/charter and a community of practice for all grantees in the cohort.

Created and facilitated a virtual bootcamp for educator preparation programs implementing or interested in the Teacher Preparation Data Model. Work also included one-on-one coaching sessions with each EPP.

Created a school-centered housing model in partnership with Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development, Baltimore City Schools, and citywide steering committee.

UPD completed a thorough exploration of CFUF’s Couples Advancing Together program using Design Thinking methods for stakeholder engagement, creating a series of recommendations for program design and implementation to strategically expand the program.

UPD Consulting conducted requirements gathering and wrote the district’s request for proposals or a new student information system.

UPD reviewed BCPS’s student enrollment projection and school boundary change processes and made recommendations for improvements.

UPD assisted Baltimore Montessori in developing a tool to measure the school’s success including a stakeholder survey and platform to record and analyze the data, a formulaic way to compare student achievement with external factors, and the creation of a tool that tracks the success of former students of BM.

UPD worked with Mt. Washington Elementary/Middle School to develop goals and actionable next steps for their new strategic plan.

UPD developed a strategy for Harbor Bank to combine its private sector commercial lending activities with the Baltimore Empowerment Zone’s quasi-public lending initiatives to generate deal flow for the bank’s federal allocation of New Markets Tax Credits.

UPD designed a private sector financing structure that would leverage public guarantees to raise large amounts of private capital for loans to businesses that have traditionally had difficulty accessing capital.

UPD worked with PPF to create a three-year strategic plan for the non-profit.

BCF engaged UPD Consulting to develop a five-year strategic guide, including an operational assessment and stakeholder engagement sessions.

UPD supported the new Commissioner of DHCD in creating a new organizational structure when the agency was split from the Housing Authority in 2017.

UPD designed and facilitated a two-day convening of city and county economic mobility professionals to develop use cases in support of connecting data (interoperability) to answer big questions around economic mobility.

UPD was a technical assistance provider for the US Department of Education’s Reform Support Network. In addition to creating training and technical assistance artifacts for ED, UPD worked simultaneously with the state education agencies of Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee.

Lead strategy development and research to support the addition of home-based child care businesses in the state’s policies and incentive systems.

UPD Consulting is providing a multi-year professional learning series for 350+ instructional staff and program leaders from organizations that provide adult education services across the state, focused on the institutional and individual practices impacting equity and opportunity in their organizations and classrooms.

Supported community group facilitation and planning in preparation for SY2020-2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UPD was engaged to lead the development of a Student Learning Objectives model for the district’s multi-dimensional educator evaluation framework. In addition, UPD designed, developed, and launched a data system for housing and displaying all teacher and administrator evaluation data.

UPD led the design of a student learning objective process and developed training for teachers and administrators.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), in partnership with Read Charlotte, funded UPD to implement a continuous improvement process using data to support and improve upon each of six pilot elementary school’s early literacy strategies (kindergarten through third grade).

UPD managed the installation and implementation of a new Reflect & Learn data system for CPS’s teacher evaluation model including design, development, testing, and training.

UPD provided process design support, facilitator training, and coaching support for the development and launch of the state’s regional district networking meetings for the 35 Race to the Top districts.

UPD was engaged to manage the implementation of a new educator evaluation IT system for Chicago Public Schools. The project consisted of a pilot, followed by a district wide rollout and end user support.

UPD was a technical assistance provider for the US Department of Education’s Reform Support Network. In addition to creating training and technical assistance artifacts for ED, UPD worked simultaneously with the state education agencies of Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee.

UPD is engaged by IBHE to provide technical assistance to a newly formed Advisory Council, conduct extensive stakeholder engagement throughout the state of Illinois, and facilitate the development of an equity-focused statewide strategic plan for higher education.

UPD supported Acero Schools in an organizational assessment and strategic planning process as the organization looked to expand its operations.

UPD conducted requirements gathering for a student information system through a series of stakeholder engagement techniques with teachers, administrators, students, and parents.

CMSD contracted UPD to implement Ed-Fi. The project is divided into two Phases. The goal of Phase I is to provide the district with a sample of the “out-of-the-box” Ed-Fi solution which includes only a subset of the total metrics and dashboards. In Phase II, CMSD intends to continue development and customize the solution as needed.

UPD conducted a three-month data diagnostic to identify data system challenges, strengths and gaps.

UPD developed a thorough set of requirements designed and dictated by CMSD needs, functional areas, and IT policies for a new integrated HR/Finance system RFP and supported CMSD through the vendor selection process.

UPD provided project management and technical support to CMSD to improve the School Choice portal, the system that allows parents and guardians to research schools and make an informed choice on where their children will attend school.

UPD was engaged to help CMSD update their current information on school boundaries, home schools, and the process by which they update these pieces of information to support school planning and school choice.

UPD managed the requirements gathering and vendor selection process for the development of a new student information system vendor.

UPD supported the Alliance in a comprehensive review of their projects, deadlines, and grant mandates to develop an overall strategy for completing the projects. The work involved the creation of a master schedule that provided a visual reference and pacing guide.

CMHA engaged UPD to identify key performance metrics that would be used to guide the implementation of the agency’s strategic plan through a performance management model.

UPD designed a new community development revolving loan fund for small and micro loans to businesses impacted by a tornado that struck College Station. The model leveraged a $250,000 grant provided by HUD with private sector capital from commercial banks and private corporations for the creation of the fund.

UPD proposes to provide the SCDE with technical and managerial support resources to develop the data warehouse based on open source data standards and model.

In 2021, UPD provided a four-session series of hands-on professional learning sessions and coaching for the core team at Commit Dallas, focused on practical opportunities for addressing ADEI challenges in the practical work of continuous improvement.

UPD was a technical assistance provider for the US Department of Education’s Reform Support Network. In addition to creating training and technical assistance artifacts for ED, UPD worked simultaneously with the state education agencies of Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee.

UPD provided coaching, thought-partnership, and facilitation support for the Colorado Education Initiative over the course of four months as they worked with teams from three local districts participating in the Measures for Continuous Improvement project.

Academic Resource Liaisons (ARLs) support improvement in all of the state’s priority schools. UPD was engaged to help analyze critical data, train ARLs in a process for using that data, and observe the in-person work with principals.

Put actionable and timely data into the hands of UTRGV program stakeholders for the purpose of continuous improvement and serve as a model for implementing a data standard and integrated data system that can be shared with other prep programs.

Beginning in August 2020, the UPD team supported the Superintendent and Cabinet of Hartford Public Schools (CT) to develop its Strategic Plan for key district priorities, as well as providing action planning and data capacity-building support for key priority team members.

UPD designed, led, and supported ongoing implementation of a network-wide strategic vision, teacher coaching & evaluation framework, aligned professional development, and data systems use, all grounded in native Hawaiian language, culture, and values and resulting in improved teacher practice and systems alignment.

UPD worked with the Hawaii Department of Education to design and implement a new teacher and principal evaluation system for the 254 schools in the state of Hawaii.

UPD conducted SchoolStat trainings for teachers and administrators that included interactive simulations and role playing exercises.

UPD coordinated the development of a capital access strategy for Houston’s Round III federal Empowerment Zone application to the US Department of Housing & Urban Development.

Supported teacher preparation coordinator in defining theories of action, defining metrics to measure progress and align data systems to help generate those metrics. Work also resulted in significant time-saving automation of student teacher matching and contracting processes.

UPD facilitated the development of a three-year strategic plan for Jersey City Public Schools.

UPD supported the state in developing a district toolkit and other strategies to sustain student growth objectives (one measure of their ACHIEVE statewide teacher evaluation system) and position SGOs as an instructional initiative rather than an evaluative measure.

UPD conducted a complete organizational and program review of the quasi-public non-profit corporation that manages all housing production activities for Kansas City, MO. The project included an action plan for improving the performance of HEDFC’s loan and investment programs including changes to its loan programs, its portfolio management practices, and its staffing models.

Over the course of two years, UPD worked with four districts in Florida establishing a performance management process for the implementation of the Florida Core Standards and managing community of practice network among the four districts.

UPD facilitated school district leaders from across Nevada and the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) in a collaborative design-thinking process to to improve the statewide school and district improvement tools and processes. UPD is also supporting statewide implementation and roll-out.

UPD coordinated the development of a new 3-year strategic plan for the School District of Lee County including an intensive stakeholder engagement process to identify the district’s needs, strengths, opportunities, and challenges.

UPD was part of a team that conducted a district-wide assessment to identify areas of strength, weaknesses, and opportunities as a precursor to a full strategic planning process.

UPD designed a program to address the credit access problems facing small and micro businesses and developed a business plan for funding discussions with commercial banks in the area.

Put actionable and timely data into the hands of UTRGV program stakeholders for the purpose of continuous improvement and serve as a model for implementing a data standard and integrated data system that can be shared with other prep programs.

UPD led a formative learning project around the impact of the ELA Content Leader Program through interviews, classroom observations, program document review and analysis of student outcome data. Recommendations led to shifts that increased impact of many of LDOE’s teacher leader programs.

Members of US PREP will have access to a common US PREP data dashboard that allows for meaningful and reasonable customizations. Data will be used to visualize key performance indicators that will be used to make programmatic decisions and improvements on a day-to-day basis.

UPD conducted a k-8 math-focused assessment for this small, rural district in support of school improvement planning.

UPD worked with SCS to implement a custom Ed-Fi solution including dashboards for talent management, an early warning system, and a data usage module. In order to ensure everyone at Shelby was prepared to use Ed-Fi to the best of their ablilities, we facilitiated training programs and implemented strategies to encourage user adoption of Ed-Fi.

UPD was engaged to organize and deliver the SchoolStat performance management processes for central office functions and provide job-embedded training to the leadership team members and their core staff to enable them to set up and lead SchoolStat sessions independently.

UPD developed an early warning system that included a custom statistical model enabling the district to predict the likelihood of on-time graduation for students. The EWS shows risk predictions at the student level and provides aggregate data for each school and the entire district.

UPD developed Ed-Fi dashboards with a compatible data warehouse including custom talent management dashboards with real time data in a central location. The engagement included user adoption training to ensure long-term use of the new system.

Over the course of two years, UPD worked with four districts in Florida establishing a performance management process for the implementation of the Florida Core Standards and managing community of practice network among the four districts.

With funding from the Gates Foundation, UPD provided data use training to support principals in using teacher effectiveness data to best support teachers and guide human capital decisions in their schools.

UPD was a technical assistance provider for the US Department of Education’s Reform Support Network. In addition to creating training and technical assistance artifacts for ED, UPD worked simultaneously with the state education agencies of Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee.

Integrate data from multiple systems and partners to obtain a full picture of teacher candidates’ progress and to identify improvement strategies for Relay. Through this project Relay will improve program leadership utilizing data to continually improve the quality of teacher preparation and outcomes for all teacher candidates.

UPD provided the NYCDOE with a series of recommendations for legitimizing a culture of feedback and goal setting in Central offices.

UPD provided project management, strategy and direct outreach support to America Achieves to identify and recruit schools to participate in the OECD Test for Schools.

UPD supported TFP in reshaping the systems and processes that collect and analyze data, developed easy-to-maintain dashboards on key metrics, and worked with the staff to build out a clear continuous improvement structure to take action on the data.

UPD partnered with the Office of the Deputy Chancellor in the planning and launch of EduStat, the department’s performance management process. UPD designed and delivered a series of trainings for approximately 75 participants in their new process.

UPD was engaged to identify the state-level data that educator preparation programs would like to access to better understand the outcomes of their graduates now working as in-service teachers in Oklahoma public schools.

UPD coordinated the development of a five-year strategic plan and then supported its implementation with a SchoolStat performance management process.

Conducted an evaluation of the land use, zoning, traffic and economic development implications of the proposed Solo Cup Site Redevelopment.

Over the course of two years, UPD worked with four districts in Florida establishing a performance management process for the implementation of the Florida Core Standards and managing community of practice network among the four districts.

In SY 2018-19, UPD partnered with two turnaround high schools to lead a needs assessment process, provide leadership coaching, design and implement teacher professional development, and provide strategic guidance and implementation support around high-impact instructional strategies grounded in research.

In 2019, UPD partnered with three secondary schools in Pawtucket Public Schools, RI, to conduct their planning processes under the new Rhode Island ESSA system.

In partnership with FourPoint Education, UPD facilitated an assessment and a roadmap outlining recommendations for development and growth of career connected learning opportunities for Philadelphia public school students.

During the 2019-20 school year, the UPD team provided ongoing trainings, weekly coaching sessions, and facilitated a series of Continuous Improvement sessions with the Philadelphia Education Fund (PEF) team, focused on building data use capacity, structures, and mindsets as well as the foundations of continuous improvement practice.

UPD was engaged to develop an “out of the box” Ed-Fi solution, an operational data store, and dashboards of district performance data.

Performed an organizational assessment and provided improvement recommendations on transportation, physical security of buildings, and human resource technology.

UPD conducted a diagnostic analysis of the state’s longitudinal data system. This study formed the basis of the plan for the state’s Race To The Top application.

UPD managed the development of RIDE’s Race To The Top federal grant application. The process included gathering data to help develop strategies and initiatives that were required in the Race to the Top application while ensuring alignment with RIDE’s strategic agenda.

UPD managed the development of the State’s longitudinal data warehouse to track all public education students in the state from the time they enter K-12, through post-secondary education, and into the workforce.

UPD supported RINI in spring 2019 to conduct a needs assessment and develop the school’s comprehensive school improvement plan (CSIP) as required by the RI Department of Education under ESSA accountability. UPD then provided implementation support through leadership coaching, professional development, and data-driven continuous improvement support during the first year of the plan.

In partnership with FourPoint Education, UPD facilitated an assessment and a roadmap outlining recommendations for development and growth of career and technical education improvement for Providence public school students.

UPD Consulting is providing an equity assessment and facilitating the developing a playbook to support the implemention of equity and antiracist strategies in key areas across the organization.

UPD implemented the SchoolStat process with nine turnaround schools across the state. Our work included development of school goals and theories of action for school improvement for each site, identifying metrics to measure progress on each theory of action, and facilitating eight stat sessions for each school over the course of a year.

UPD developed several data tracking, reporting and visualizing tools to support the district’s principal-level performance management process.

UPD developed and implemented a monthly principal-level Stat process for purposes of performance management. UPD also provided the district with numerous data tools, and support and training in those tools. Having become acquainted with UPD’s work at Highland Park High School in Topeka, the Salina School District requested that UPD replicate its data process and tools from that ngagement for use by their own school district.

UPD led an organizational transformation project for the Information Technology Division including structure and staffing, data collections and systems, data governance, and the establishment of a Project Management Office.

UPD developed and implemented a SchoolStat performance management process with principals in grade-level cohorts and with central office administrators focused on reducing suspensions.

UPD was a technical assistance provider for the US Department of Education’s Reform Support Network. In addition to creating training and technical assistance artifacts for ED, UPD worked simultaneously with the state education agencies of Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee.

In partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UPD has supported the Education Quality team at FDOE in a pilot initiative to build the capacity of school leaders to better leverage data to improve decision-making that increases student learning.

UPD facilitated the planning and delivery of a statewide convening focused on growing capacity of Florida education leaders to support stanmdards aligned instruction in their schools and districts.

Over the past four years, UPD has partnered with the Bureau of Educator Recruitment, Development and Retention at FDOE to support redesign of its Professional Development Review protocols, a technical assistance model to support improvement of professional development systems in districts.

UPD used the SchoolStat performance management model to help Scott focus data cycle meetings and leadership team attention on the implementation of the school’s Guided Reading framework.

UPD conducted monthly performance management sessions (TeacherStat and LeadershipStat) with six teacher teams and one leadership team. The focus was on improving the likelihood that students will graduate on time.

UPD supported the state in developing strategies to use student growth objectives as formative feedback rather than an evaluative measure.

UPD was engaged by CEL to develop a comprehensive diagnostic process and series of tools to help districts understand the ways they might better structure and manage instructional leadership in principals. The diagnostic tools were piloted with the Tulsa Public Schools.

Using the Ed-Fi data standard, UPD developed student academic dashboards of individual and aggregated student data, state assessments, attendance, and more.

UPD developed a value-added model to be incorporated into the Oklahoma Educator Evaluation system and facilitated statewide content training for teachers, school and district leaders, and state department staff.

UPD linked early childhood data from multiple organizations throughout the region and analyzed the data to answer a set of research questions. The project demonstrated the value of regional data linkage as a proof point for the future development of a longitudinal data system.

UPD supported TPS to build district and school-leader capacity to institute continuous improvement routines, take an equity approach in their continuous improvement practices, and to plan for and navigate implementation of their covid reentry plans.

Volusia County Schools (VCS) has been engaging with UPD Consulting on a long-term project to assess and rewrite the District’s current three-year strategic plan. The District has been working with the current strategic plan but found the strategies and metrics to be misaligned to the goals originally approved by the board. The process for engaging VCS includes four phases intended to accomplish the following: create clarity around desired change or outcomes that each departmental team’s strategies are designed to effect in support of the district’s overall goals; establish coherence of goals and strategies across departments and clear alignment with the district’s goals; and develop interim (leading) and long-term (lagging) outcome indicators that inform the district about progress towards impact.

UPD was engaged to assess and improve the District’s existing three-year strategic plan.

Helped principals transition from building managers to instructional leaders through a two-tier collaborative continuous improvement process focused on aligning instruction with the standards.

Over the course of two years, UPD worked with four districts in Florida establishing a performance management process for the implementation of the Florida Core Standards and managing community of practice network among the four districts.

UPD supported the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building team to work with leaders from nine institutions of higher education as they engaged in a Learning Map process to clarify their logic models, develop essential improvement questions, and identify related metrics and data collection plans.

UPD provided executive training TFA’s Executive Directors and Senior VPs to improve team effectiveness, establish communication norms, and strategize around obstacles and how to overcome them.

UPD managed the implementation of OSSE’s Special Education Data System including correcting for misalignments between policy and process.

UPD Consulting worked with MAPCS to implement a performance management process.

UPD assisted OSSE in determining the applicability of approximately 30 assessment for educator evaluations for teachers of untested grades and subjects.

UPD managed a pilot process for the automated data transfer of student information from LEAs to OSSE.

UPD developed a performance management and data use technical assistance program for eight Race to the Top States (NY, FL, CO, RI, NC, DE, TN, and MD).

The Innovative Professional Development (“iPD”) project aimed to redesign the deliver of PD among a national network of districts. UPD provided guidance and thought leadership in designing a technology audit for participants.

UPD provided an assessment of the PCSB’s data systems to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the systems and procsses in place for collecting, storing and reporting charter school data.

UPD coordinated the development of a community and economic development strategy for a dual-jurisdiction application for Round II federal Empowerment Zone status to the US Department of Housing & Urban Development.

UPD provided technical assistance to seven Round 1 Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community cities in the Mid-Atlantic region. We facilitated partnerships with private foundations and corporations to help get Empowerment Zone programs implemented, and served as liaison between federal agencies and localities to speed federal funding and support to the localities.

UPD was part of a team that developed a training module on program performance evaluation for local recipients of federal HOME funds and delivered training to city staff members at regional HUD-sponsored workshops.

UPD conducted an organizational reform of the 150-employee housing agency. The project resulted in the creation of a new Division of Strategic Planning, and UPD developed position descriptions and coordinated the initial hiring for the unit. UPD also established new lending and portfolio management guidelines and trained staff in the new processes.

Implemented an Ed-Fi ODS to meet the data requirements of dashboards focused on the District’s Continuous Improvement Framework (CIF).

Supported DCPS staff in their implementation of their data governance practice, including development of a data governance strategy road map, coaching, and direct data governance committee meeting planning and facilitation.

In partnership with the Racial Equity Institute, UPD supported a comprehensive equity assessment of Teach for America’s internal operations.