Curriculum built from scratch, and tested against real outcomes.
Six pieces of work that show the same pattern: start from the outcome, diagnose what's missing, design backward, and measure whether it actually worked.
UC-Approved Digital Music Course
Designed a complete secondary-level digital music course and shepherded it through University of California a-g approval, a rigorous, externally reviewed curriculum process. Required building full standards alignment documentation and writing the same type of formal regulatory submission required for CAEP and state DOE review.
College Readiness Seminar
90% acceptanceDesigned and ran a two-week college readiness seminar for graduating seniors. Started with the outcome, diagnosed what students' existing preparation had failed to give them, and built the seminar backward from there. The cohort achieved a 90% college acceptance rate.
Self-Pacing Learning System
Designed an individualized self-pacing system originally for one student navigating an unstable home environment. It worked well enough that student-athletes and students working after-school jobs began requesting to use it too, evidence that the design held up against real-world constraints, not just theoretical best practice.
Year 1: Structured Due Dates & Feedback Reform
Investigated whether replacing self-paced assignments with structured due dates and personal, cumulative feedback would improve AP US History outcomes. Applied peer-reviewed research on feedback and low achievement (Pitt, Bearman & Esterhazy, 2020; Carless) to redesign the assignment calendar.
100% AP-worthy thesesIn the formal mentor-observed lesson, every student produced an AP-worthy thesis statement, verified individually.
Year 2: Digital MC Practice & Skill Transfer
Tested whether weekly AP-aligned multiple-choice practice (Albert.io) improved exam readiness. Practice exam average was 70% across 18 students; the graded unit exam average was 75%, with only 5 of 30 questions overlapping between the two assessments.
70% → 75%A 5-point gain with minimal question overlap rules out memorization and points to genuine skill transfer. Also redesigned test corrections from grade-recovery into metacognitive reflection.
Original AP Pedagogical Frameworks
Independently designed and iterated a set of frameworks embedded across my AP courses: the ACE Protocol (Answer, Cite, Explain) for written response scaffolding, the HAPP Framework for primary source analysis, PIECES for LEQ theme brainstorming, and a 6-Step AP Question Strategy for multiple-choice mastery.
Evidence the strategies had been internalized, not just taught: in a formal observation, students independently eliminated wrong multiple-choice answers on their own without waiting for teacher confirmation.
Taylor Fox