Where we are – Public education as we know it is a relatively new phenomenon. What began largely as a system of rote memorization has evolved tremendously in recent years, incorporating advanced methodologies and innovative approaches that are changing the way we learn. This critical shift was led by a consensus of educators, governmental authorities, and scholars who have collectively produced a growing body of evidence showing that success for our students and communities goes beyond teaching for purely academic understanding. Our Answer – We specialize in helping educational institutions implement the right blend of technical solutions and a long-term, sustained approach with a multidisciplinary team to strengthen cognitive and non-cognitive skills across all age ranges. Our approach is scientific and research driven; our solutions are both scalable and affordable. Our team encompasses a diverse mix of professionals, including seasoned and renowned career educators as well as progressive young scientists. We specialize in helping educational institutions test their systems and develop implementation strategies to increase student achievement at all levels of instruction. SMRT MISSION – Our mission is to develop the untapped potential of every individual and community by ensuring that they have equal access to education and that our friends, family, and fellow citizens grow up with the social, emotional, and cognitive development to thrive in the new millennium. Long before adding his SMRT leadership role to his professional duties, Lee was already making a difference in the lives of thousands of residents as director of affordable housing for Housing Services Incorporated. Under his leadership, HSI has developed 17 affordable housing communities throughout the state of Texas and provided services to over 10,000 residents across the state of Texas. In 2013, HSI shifted its operating philosophy to foster long-term community engagement by delivering sustainable service programs to the populations in and around the organization’s housing developments. It was then that Lee began developing an educational enrichment program in collaboration with partners in the Rio Grande River Valley — first for the local affordable housing community, and then for the community at large. The concept quickly gained popularity, prompting the HSI board of directors to fund the 501(c)(3) organization known as SMRT — Strong Minds Rise Together — where he serves as CEO and president. This gave way to SMRT Solutions, a for-profit entity that provides educational consulting. Phil received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his MBA from Loyola University Maryland. Phil’s 34-year career in education includes experience as a high school teacher and working in academic publishing, developing instructional materials for two- and four-year colleges at Cengage, Pearson, and McGraw-Hill. He has also served on the senior sales management and executive teams at these companies. Phil changed his focus in 2006 and became involved in online cloud-based educational software and cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) enterprise-level faculty information systems. Most recently Phil has made a commitment to the adult education and workforce communities with an emphasis on the impact of new WIOA legislation and the evolving age of accountability in education. Kathi Medcalf has been working in K-12 and adult education for over 25 years. She has taught both high school and middle school science, holding an International Baccalaureate Certification, and has also been the administrator for adult education and diploma programs in both Maine and Washington states. Kathi has a strong background in using data for program improvement at the state and local levels. She also has project management experience at both the state and local levels, supporting implementation and deployments on a large scale, such as the Maine Adult Education Portal. She has also provided professional development on social-emotional learning, competency-based instruction, and data science. Additionally, Kathi has served as treasurer of the Conference on Adult Basic Education (COABE) from 2013-2015. Kathi has a Master of Science degree in adult education from Southern Maine University and a Master of Arts degree in teaching chemistry from Villanova University. As a highly motivated strategic leader from Silicon Valley with strong people management skills, Sampath has over 20 years of experience in team and project management. Sampath has a proven track record of developing, managing, and executing complex engineering and IT projects while successfully adhering to time, quality, and budget directives. He has excelled in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business intelligence space since 1998, where his technical and functional understanding of ERP systems and data management is unparalleled. He understands the technology landscape and knows that technology is not the goal in itself, but a rather means to an end. His ability to translate technical language into business language has helped many business executives make the right decisions. Sampath has focused on guiding executives toward the right technology investments through his collaborations with leaders of the tech industry in both Texas and California at the executive level. Sampath’s education includes a Master of Science degree in computer science from Bishop Heber College. As a member of the senior executive team, Lenny shapes our long-term vision of technology and drives innovation for SMRT Solutions. He and his team are always looking to harness the power of emerging technologies for our clients as they explore the big ideas that are important to SMRT Solutions. He is a multiskilled, hands-on technology professional with a passion for creative problem solving. He has architected innovative Web and mobile solutions in a wide array of industries including big data, location intelligence, data aggregation, data collection, and data analytics. From his Silicon Valley location, he enjoys keeping up with technology and is ready to roll up his sleeves to solve any problem. As a founder of small startups, he has gained hands-on experience in various aspects of strategic planning, sales, marketing, and engineering. He has also served as a software and data architect in various projects with Digital Insight, the California Department of Public Health, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, KPMG Peat Marwick, and Citibank NA (India). Lenny holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in computer science, both from St Joseph’s College, India. When not CTO-ing, Lenny enjoys music, baseball and spending time with his family. There’s no shortage of anecdotal evidence that the SMRT program is making an impact. But thanks to the leading-edge data analysis expertise of Nicholas Anderson, we’re proud to say the results are quantifiable. Nick is responsible for evaluating program performance using an architecture that measures the economic, social, and health impacts on the communities we serve. He also manages the research team, directing their research in a collaborative manner that suits each organization’s needs. Prior to joining the SMRT leadership team, Nick served as a consultant to the United Nations in the Internal Evaluation Division, where he was instrumental in providing advanced data collection and evaluation for key initiatives. He earned concurrent bachelor’s degrees in economics, international relations, political science, and Spanish from Boston University. He also holds a master’s degree in political science from New York University, with a specialization in international affairs. What is this “social-emotional learning” everyone is talking about? Through dedicated research, and his knowledge of psychology, Joseph has the answer to that question and more. Prior to joining the SMRT team, Joseph attended UMASS Amherst, where he became involved in psychological research on racial profiling, as well as volunteering at a local prison counseling an inmate. After UMASS, Joseph transferred to McGill University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology. While at McGill, Joseph joined two research teams that went to local middle schools to study the effects of peer victimization and non-suicidal self-injury on students, administering and scoring scales such as the Beck’s Depression Inventory. After that, he turned his attention to human motivation and ecology in order to learn what drives people and how to foster motivation and well-being in others. He has spent the last two years working at a high-risk group home for the mentally ill, where he moved up the ranks quickly to become the program manager. Through skilled analysis of existing academic literature, Rashid has been instrumental in laying the groundwork for future SMRT research initiatives. He also manages the survey system deployment and shapes our data-driven approach to education. Rashid holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, and a master’s degree in political economy from New York University. In addition to the quantitative methods and statistical expertise he brings to our organization, Rashid is a doctoral candidate at Indiana University in the area of comparative political economy. Andrew graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from Brandeis University in 2010. Prior to moving to New York to pursue graduate education, he spent two years working for the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association (AACA) in Boston as an ESL instructor, followed by a two-month stint at the English Learning Institute in Dakar, Senegal. Prompted by his experience in West Africa, Andrew landed in New York City where he attended New York University, graduating with a master’s in political economy. Andrew has worked two years as a classroom teaching assistant as a part of the NYU America Reads program, as well as two years teaching as an after-school and summer enrichment instructor at Advantage Academy in Flushing, New York. Kathi Medcalf has been working in K-12 and adult education for over 25 years. She has taught both high school and middle school science, holding an International Baccalaureate Certification, and has also been the administrator for adult education and diploma programs in both Maine and Washington states. Kathi has a strong background in using data for program improvement at the state and local levels. She also has project management experience at both the state and local levels, supporting implementation and deployments on a large scale, such as the Maine Adult Education Portal. She has also provided professional development on social-emotional learning, competency-based instruction, and data science. Additionally, Kathi has served as treasurer of the Conference on Adult Basic Education (COABE) from 2013-2015. Kathi has a Master of Science degree in adult education from Southern Maine University and a Master of Arts degree in teaching chemistry from Villanova University. Laura has worked with San Antonio Independent School District for 30 years. She is an instructional coach and has worked at the elementary level for 13 years, middle school for 10 years, and is currently working at the high school level. Laura was named Bilingual Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas in 1998 and is very familiar with English as a second language (ESL) education. In 2013, Laura was recognized by Johns Hopkins University as Literacy Coach of the Year for Talents Development through Johns Hopkins University. She has also worked with adult students as an ESL teacher and a supervisor for 10 years. Her passion lies in helping teachers build strong professional learning communities in their classrooms to impact academic achievement. Long before adding his SMRT leadership role to his professional duties, Lee was already making a difference in the lives of thousands of residents as director of affordable housing for Housing Services Incorporated. Under his leadership, HSI has developed 17 affordable housing communities throughout the state of Texas and provided services to over 10,000 residents across the state of Texas. In 2013, HSI shifted its operating philosophy to foster long-term community engagement by delivering sustainable service programs to the populations in and around the organization’s housing developments. It was then that Lee began developing an educational enrichment program in collaboration with partners in the Rio Grande River Valley — first for the local affordable housing community, and then for the community at large. The concept quickly gained popularity, prompting the HSI board of directors to fund the 501(c)(3) organization known as SMRT — Strong Minds Rise Together — where he serves as CEO and president. This gave way to SMRT Solutions, a for-profit entity that provides educational consulting. Kathi Medcalf has been working in K-12 and adult education for over 25 years. She has taught both high school and middle school science, holding an International Baccalaureate Certification, and has also been the administrator for adult education and diploma programs in both Maine and Washington states. Kathi has a strong background in using data for program improvement at the state and local levels. She also has project management experience at both the state and local levels, supporting implementation and deployments on a large scale, such as the Maine Adult Education Portal. She has also provided professional development on social-emotional learning, competency-based instruction, and data science. Additionally, Kathi has served as treasurer of the Conference on Adult Basic Education (COABE) from 2013-2015. Kathi has a Master of Science degree in adult education from Southern Maine University and a Master of Arts degree in teaching chemistry from Villanova University. Andrew graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from Brandeis University in 2010. Prior to moving to New York to pursue graduate education, he spent two years working for the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association (AACA) in Boston as an ESL instructor, followed by a two-month stint at the English Learning Institute in Dakar, Senegal. Prompted by his experience in West Africa, Andrew landed in New York City where he attended New York University, graduating with a master’s in political economy. Andrew has worked two years as a classroom teaching assistant as a part of the NYU America Reads program, as well as two years teaching as an after-school and summer enrichment instructor at Advantage Academy in Flushing, New York. As a highly motivated strategic leader from Silicon Valley with strong people management skills, Sampath has over 20 years of experience in team and project management. Sampath has a proven track record of developing, managing, and executing complex engineering and IT projects while successfully adhering to time, quality, and budget directives. He has excelled in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business intelligence space since 1998, where his technical and functional understanding of ERP systems and data management is unparalleled. He understands the technology landscape and knows that technology is not the goal in itself, but a rather means to an end. His ability to translate technical language into business language has helped many business executives make the right decisions. Sampath has focused on guiding executives toward the right technology investments through his collaborations with leaders of the tech industry in both Texas and California at the executive level. Sampath’s education includes a Master of Science degree in computer science from Bishop Heber College. Through skilled analysis of existing academic literature, Rashid has been instrumental in laying the groundwork for future SMRT research initiatives. He also manages the survey system deployment and shapes our data-driven approach to education. Rashid holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, and a master’s degree in political economy from New York University. In addition to the quantitative methods and statistical expertise he brings to our organization, Rashid is a doctoral candidate at Indiana University in the area of comparative political economy. As a member of the senior executive team, Lenny shapes our long-term vision of technology and drives innovation for SMRT Solutions. He and his team are always looking to harness the power of emerging technologies for our clients as they explore the big ideas that are important to SMRT Solutions. He is a multiskilled, hands-on technology professional with a passion for creative problem solving. He has architected innovative Web and mobile solutions in a wide array of industries including big data, location intelligence, data aggregation, data collection, and data analytics. From his Silicon Valley location, he enjoys keeping up with technology and is ready to roll up his sleeves to solve any problem. As a founder of small startups, he has gained hands-on experience in various aspects of strategic planning, sales, marketing, and engineering. He has also served as a software and data architect in various projects with Digital Insight, the California Department of Public Health, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, KPMG Peat Marwick, and Citibank NA (India). Lenny holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in computer science, both from St Joseph’s College, India. When not CTO-ing, Lenny enjoys music, baseball and spending time with his family. Laura has worked with San Antonio Independent School District for 30 years. She is an instructional coach and has worked at the elementary level for 13 years, middle school for 10 years, and is currently working at the high school level. Laura was named Bilingual Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas in 1998 and is very familiar with English as a second language (ESL) education. In 2013, Laura was recognized by Johns Hopkins University as Literacy Coach of the Year for Talents Development through Johns Hopkins University. She has also worked with adult students as an ESL teacher and a supervisor for 10 years. Her passion lies in helping teachers build strong professional learning communities in their classrooms to impact academic achievement. What is this “social-emotional learning” everyone is talking about? Through dedicated research, and his knowledge of psychology, Joseph has the answer to that question and more. Prior to joining the SMRT team, Joseph attended UMASS Amherst, where he became involved in psychological research on racial profiling, as well as volunteering at a local prison counseling an inmate. After UMASS, Joseph transferred to McGill University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology. While at McGill, Joseph joined two research teams that went to local middle schools to study the effects of peer victimization and non-suicidal self-injury on students, administering and scoring scales such as the Beck’s Depression Inventory. After that, he turned his attention to human motivation and ecology in order to learn what drives people and how to foster motivation and well-being in others. He has spent the last two years working at a high-risk group home for the mentally ill, where he moved up the ranks quickly to become the program manager. Phil received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his MBA from Loyola University Maryland. Phil’s 34-year career in education includes experience as a high school teacher and working in academic publishing, developing instructional materials for two- and four-year colleges at Cengage, Pearson, and McGraw-Hill. He has also served on the senior sales management and executive teams at these companies. Phil changed his focus in 2006 and became involved in online cloud-based educational software and cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) enterprise-level faculty information systems. Most recently Phil has made a commitment to the adult education and workforce communities with an emphasis on the impact of new WIOA legislation and the evolving age of accountability in education. There’s no shortage of anecdotal evidence that the SMRT program is making an impact. But thanks to the leading-edge data analysis expertise of Nicholas Anderson, we’re proud to say the results are quantifiable. Nick is responsible for evaluating program performance using an architecture that measures the economic, social, and health impacts on the communities we serve. He also manages the research team, directing their research in a collaborative manner that suits each organization’s needs. Prior to joining the SMRT leadership team, Nick served as a consultant to the United Nations in the Internal Evaluation Division, where he was instrumental in providing advanced data collection and evaluation for key initiatives. He earned concurrent bachelor’s degrees in economics, international relations, political science, and Spanish from Boston University. He also holds a master’s degree in political science from New York University, with a specialization in international affairs. Successful educational reform hinges on mainstreaming SEL teachings, data-driven practices, and positive and sustained collaboration in school or program practices. These three areas underpin a culture of inquiry in which continuous organizational self-assessment, improvement, and learning become automatic. To successfully make this transition, the SMRT team believes that we need to reculture, rather than restructure, programs for success. We provide specialized and con¬tinuous professional learning opportunities to schools or program faculty. Only through equipping our educators with appropriate tools, strategies, and best practices can we succeed. SMRT engages clients in a holistic and focused way as we work with them to reculture their systems. Creating a schoolwide culture of data-driven practice — in particular, using data to improve instructional techniques — goes beyond simple data collection practices and hasty analysis. It requires all staff members to internalize a passion for data and to see it as a means to connect school processes (educational programs, instructional strategies, homework assignments, etc.) to student learning. Holistic Strategies – We believe in taking a holistic and realistic approach to education that touches on all important aspects of a child or adult learner’s development. This means using age-appropriate strategies to support the development of the right kinds of skills at the right time. Doing What Works – We now find ourselves in an incredible information age, and we take advantage of this fact by searching for solutions that have already been implemented and thoroughly and evaluated using rigorous standards. We specialize in taking proven interventions and adapting them to fit local needs and customs. A Multidisciplinary Approach – A truly holistic approach to reform education and your program requires a multidisciplinary strategy. This enhances the way we conceptualize existing developmental gaps as well as the blends of strategies that we can use to correct them. While this list is by no means exhaustive, the main disciplines that SMRT draws upon are education, economics, psychology, cognitive science, neurology, sociology, and the science of human development. Evaluation and Transparency – Given the large strides made in the social sciences over the course of the 20th century, there is no excuse for neglecting to test program efficacy using the appropriate evaluation methodology. Knowledge Sharing – SMRT is eager to share the valuable information and insights we’ve gained with regard to successful development strategies or challenges, and we look forward to learning from the experiences of educators and research colleagues as well. Knowledge sharing dramatically increases our collective capacities to foster long-term, sustainable, and inclusive community development. Community Collaboration – No single organization can, by itself, solve the myriad challenges of a given community. This is why working together, and recognizing how each of our strengths and weaknesses can complement or supplement each other as we work toward our shared goal of community development, is a critical ingredient for success.
A Paradigm Shift and the SMRT Answer
SMRT Solutions drive sustainable change by putting people
at the center of every initiative — reculturing, not reorganizing.
Enhance Your Program
SMRT takes a custom approach to each engagement, working with you to meet the unique needs of your organization.
SMRT Directors by Department
Founder / CEO
Senior Vice President Client Services
Director of Client Services
COO / Senior Vice President Data Architecture
Senior Vice President / Chief Technology Officer
Director of Research and Evaluation
Director of Psychological Evaluation and Case Management
Data Analyst
Education Research Analyst
Director of Client Services
Director of Professional Learning: K-12
SMRT Directors and Department Heads
Founder / CEO
Director of Client Services
Education Research Analyst
COO / Senior Vice President Data Architecture
Data Analyst
Senior Vice President / Chief Technology Officer
Director of Professional Learning: K-12
Director of Psychological Evaluation and Case Management
Senior Vice President Client Services
Director of Research and Evaluation
Our approach
RECULTURING, NOT REORGANIZING
ENHANCE, INCREASE, AND IMPROVE DATA-INFORMED DECISION MAKING
The SMRT philosophy can be summarized in six key pillars
SMRT is focused on 21ST Century Methodologies
SMRT Solutions drive change
Holistic Strategies – We believe in taking a holistic and realistic approach to education that touches on all important aspects of a child or adult learner’s development. This means using age-appropriate strategies to support the development of the right kinds of skills at the right time. Doing What Works – We now find ourselves in an incredible information age, and we take advantage of this fact by searching for solutions that have already been implemented and thoroughly and evaluated using rigorous standards. We specialize in taking proven interventions and adapting them to fit local needs and customs. A Multidisciplinary Approach – A truly holistic approach to reform education and your program requires a multidisciplinary strategy. This enhances the way we conceptualize existing developmental gaps as well as the blends of strategies that we can use to correct them. While this list is by no means exhaustive, the main disciplines that SMRT draws upon are education, economics, psychology, cognitive science, neurology, sociology, and the science of human development. Evaluation and Transparency – Given the large strides made in the social sciences over the course of the 20th century, there is no excuse for neglecting to test program efficacy using the appropriate evaluation methodology. Knowledge Sharing – SMRT is eager to share the valuable information and insights we’ve gained with regard to successful development strategies or challenges, and we look forward to learning from the experiences of educators and research colleagues as well. Knowledge sharing dramatically increases our collective capacities to foster long-term, sustainable, and inclusive community development. Community Collaboration – No single organization can, by itself, solve the myriad challenges of a given community. This is why working together, and recognizing how each of our strengths and weaknesses can complement or supplement each other as we work toward our shared goal of community development, is a critical ingredient for success.
A Paradigm Shift and the SMRT Answer
SMRT Solutions drive sustainable change by putting people
at the center of every initiative — reculturing, not reorganizing.
Enhance Your Program
SMRT takes a custom approach to each engagement, working with you to meet the unique needs of your organization.
SMRT Directors by Department
SMRT Directors and Department Heads
Our approach
The SMRT philosophy can be summarized in six key pillars
SMRT is focused on 21ST Century Methodologies
SMRT Solutions drive change