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About Us

We Believe in the Power of Schools to Change Students’ Lives

Instructional Empowerment’s social mission is to end generational poverty and eliminate racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps through redesigned rigorous Tier 1 instruction that develops students’ agency.

We partner with school and district leaders to build schools’ capacity and instructional systems. Our goal is for schools to achieve rapid, measurable, long-term outcomes for their students by focusing on rigorous classroom instruction, deeper learning, and school advancement.

Learn more about why our founder, Michael Toth, is passionate about breaking generational poverty.

Our Philosophy for Student Learning

We believe all students of all backgrounds have the potential to develop the skills for upward mobility. However, not all students have equal opportunities to do so.

By shifting from teacher-directed instruction to student-led team learning, schools and districts can empower every student as an independent, critical thinker who takes ownership of their learning.

When implemented effectively, student-led team learning has been proven to close or narrow opportunity and achievement gaps. We see our mission validated as students in our partner schools nationwide develop the crucial high-agency skills needed for success in a rapidly evolving workplace. That is why student-led team learning is at the core of what we do.

Our Vision for Instruction

Widespread effective implementation of student-led team learning leads to the Destination Vision of Instruction. This Destination Vision is reached when systems, capacities, and culture mature to the point that all students of all races and socioeconomic status achieve grade level proficiency or higher and develop the agency to break generational poverty.

Our Applied Research Center

We are so serious about our social mission that we founded our own independent Applied Research Center.

Our research center verifies every project using the most exacting federal research standards. We ensure our methods work in every school and every classroom in all the different communities that our partner schools serve.

Learn more about Applied Research Center

Our Applied Research Center’s Commitment to You:

Rigorous methodologies
Hypothesis testing
Replicable results
Continuous improvement

Our Founder and CEO

Michael D. Toth is founder and CEO of Instructional Empowerment and leads IE’s Applied Research Center. He is the multi-award-winning author of The Power of Student Teams with David Sousa; author of Who Moved My Standards; and co-author with Robert Marzano of several books. Michael also speaks at national conferences and serves as an executive coach for superintendents and district cabinets.

IE’s social mission is personal to Michael, as he experienced poverty as a child.

Read more about Michael’s story on the Founder’s Page

Our Executive Team

Lina Toth, MBA, MA
Chief Operating Officer

Penny Sell, MEd
Chief of Professional Services in School Advancement

Our National Expert Educators

Our national expert educators are passionate about helping you reach your goals by applying their deep knowledge of IE’s instructional systems and methodologies and their experience from years of practical work in schools and districts across the country.

Marguerite “Meg” Bowen, MEd

Executive Director,
Customer Experience
and Growth

Michelle Fitzgerald, EdD

Executive Director,
Advocacy and Networking

Kimberly Harris, MEd

Executive Director,
School Advancement

Deana Senn, MSSE

Executive Director,
Model of Instruction

Dodi Davenport, EdD

Field Director,
School Advancement

Jody Honaker, BSE

Field Director,
Model of Instruction

Kevin McDonald, MEd

Field Director,
School Advancement

Jennifer Watson, BS

Field Director,
School Advancement

Our Highly Skilled Faculty

Instructional Empowerment goes to great lengths to provide the best school leadership coaches to our partner schools. We are honored to have an amazing faculty of former highly successful district leaders, school leaders, and teacher leaders. Every one of our leadership coaches has served as successful school or district leaders and is trained extensively in our metrics and methods.

Learn more about our highly skilled faculty

Our Partner Schools and Districts

We are proud to have partnered with a diverse array of over 200 school districts nationwide, from large urban districts to smaller community schools. Our partners include schools facing achievement gaps, as well as high-performing districts committed to continuous improvement. Each partnership is unique, and we tailor our comprehensive services to meet their specific needs and goals for student success. What unites them is a shared commitment to delivering rigorous Tier 1 instruction focused on deeper learning and student agency. 

Explore Our Partnered Solutions