Dr. Valerie Parsons

MTSS Implementation Specialist

Valerie has been in education for 26 years, including 6 years as a teacher in elementary and middle school, and 5 years as an instructional coach in the areas of reading, English Language Development, RTI, and MTSS. Dr. Parsons started her journey as an educational administrator 15 years ago as a coordinator at the district office level, supporting professional learning, curriculum and instruction, and health education.

For the past 8 years, she has served as an Assistant Principal and Principal, where she worked in Title I schools and developed systems and structures for an MTSS framework that demonstrated growth in student achievement. For her dissertation, Dr. Parsons analyzed pre-existing data collected before and after the implementation of her MTSS framework. The findings showed statistically significant results in reading achievement.Dr. Parsons is dedicated to helping districts and schools improve student learning by building systems and structures that support an effective MTSS framework. She believes the effective use of data, through Branching Minds’ technology, supports the work of teachers and administrators in making learning equitable for all students.

Dr. Parsons is the author of the MTSS Playbook Series, including MTSS Playbook Series: Beginning-of-Year Gameplan for School and District Leaders, MTSS Playbook Series: Middle-of-Year Momentum: Halftime Strategies for School and District Leaders, and MTSS Playbook Series: End-of-Year Winning Plays, published by Branching Minds.