About

Educational Epiphany is a highly sought-after consulting and publishing company with a proven track record. Our talented team and consultants are experts in curriculum, instruction, organizational development, and administration of schools. Our ideas for closing the achievement gap and accelerating achievement for highly able and gifted students are used in schools across the nation, making the goals of college and career readiness attainable for hundreds of thousands of children. Our professional development workshop series and next-generation instructional materials support schools in becoming high-performing exemplars, boasting double-digit gains in reading and mathematics for all student groups and ability levels.

Our Mission

With an emphasis on building teacher capacity and instructional leadership, Educational Epiphany offerings aggressively mitigate the disparity of performance between and among student groups in urban, rural, and suburban schools pre-K–12, regardless of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, or special needs. We are proud to be a purpose-driven organization focused on promoting student achievement and school improvement through a finite set of actionable, measurable, and replicable ideas.

Our Vision

Expert knowledge of the curriculum
Dynamic instructional leadership
Common instructional knowledge, language, and tools
Purposeful planning and delivery of daily instruction
Universal teacher expectations
Systematic assessment of student progress

Meet the Executive Team

Donyall D. Dickey, Ed.D.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Donyall D. Dickey, Ed.D. is a nationally recognized authority on curriculum, instruction, organizational development, and the administration of schools. Unparalleled levels of student achievement and school improvement distinguish Dr. Dickey’s 20+ year career as an educational leader. Dr. Dickey is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Loyola University, and George Washington University—D.C., where he earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership & Policy.

Dr. Dickey has led at just about every level in public education. After a decade of successful site-based leadership, Dr. Dickey served as Assistant Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer of the nation’s eighth largest school district and later as Chief Schools Officer and Chief Academic Officer of a prominent school district in the Southeast. In each case, his leadership resulted in record gains in student outcomes and state assessment scores, as well as significant improvements in organizational effectiveness.

Currently, as the Chief Executive Officer and Lead Consultant for Educational Epiphany, Dr. Dickey and his national consulting team is partnering with urban, suburban, and rural school districts in over 40+ states across the nation. They serve as a leading provider of standards-informed instructional materials for the core content areas and professional development for teachers, school leaders, central office personnel, state departments of education, and professional associations.

Richard Bourque
Chief Marketing Officer

Bourque has been a marketing leader in the publishing industry for over 20 years with a career spanning art, fashion, music, B2C, B2B, and most recently education. He started his career at Andy Warhol’s iconic Interview Magazine in the advertising department. He then moved to Complex Networks, where his passion for marketing and branding grew to new heights. For 13 years, he worked his way up to Vice President of Product Marketing at Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, where he successfully launched a multitude of K–6 core and supplemental programs across print and digital platforms. He is the proud recipient of the 2017 Scholastic Chairman’s Award, given to him by the late Chairman of Scholastic, Richard Robinson, Jr.

Bourque has most recently joined the team at Educational Epiphany, an organization dedicated to providing equity and access to the highest quality education for all students, as Chief Marketing Officer. In this role, he leads marketing and branding efforts in partnership with the company’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, Donyall D. Dickey, Ed.D., an educational leader for over 20 years.

Bourque graduated from Pace University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History, is an active member of the Pace Alumni community, and was recently featured in the Pace Alumni Magazine.

Bourque is an avid cooking enthusiast and culinary school graduate, a decent golfer, and he loves art, design, Detroit techno, and jazz.

Jerry D. Richardson II, M.Ed.
Director of Operations and Lead Ambassador

Jerry D. Richardson II has 15 years of cutting-edge elementary education and program operations experience. His wide breadth and depth of experience includes organizational effectiveness, instructional leadership, professional development, data analysis, curriculum development, and many other areas of discipline in education.

Recruited by YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, Richardson started his professional life as a Youth Program Director. He then transitioned to the classroom as a third to sixth grade classroom teacher. He worked on building the capacity of students from all different walks of life, including SPED, ESOL, Gifted and Talented, and various SES students.

Carrying over his classroom experiences and successes, he worked as an academic coach for kindergarten to sixth grade educators domestically and internationally. His primary focus was increasing rigor for all instructional staff, which led to a significant increase in students’ growth in science, social studies, language arts, and math.

Currently, Richardson is the Director of Operations for Educational Epiphany, a consulting and publishing company with worldwide partnerships that provide high-quality professional development and resources that maximize student growth and teacher capacity.

Over the years, he has volunteered in various organizations, including Young Men in Motion, a mentoring program for young boys learning life-coping skills through the physical exercise of running. Richardson regularly volunteers for a local college success program that educates ninth to twelfth grade students about the financial, emotional, and academic costs of college. He resides happily in Washington, DC, with his family.

Meet the Ambassadors

Educational Epiphany Ambassadors are certified through a multiyear, rigorous practicum and are highly skilled and effective in supporting schools and districts in the implementation of our ideas for improving student achievement and schools.

The Epiphany Ambassadors can support schools and districts with their expert knowledge of:

Pamela Ehnle, M.Ed.,
Epiphany Ambassador

Pamela Ehnle is a site-based Instructional Specialist serving teachers in the areas of curriculum development and instructional support. As an instructional coach, she strives to support staff by providing models of proven best practices aimed at content mastery for all students. Ehnle is a graduate of Western Illinois University and Olivet Nazarene University, where she earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She continued her educational journey by earning a certification in English as a Second Language and a National Board certification.

Constance Goodwine-Lewis, M.Ed., Epiphany Ambassador

Constance Goodwine-Lewis is a 22-year veteran educator with 13 years of principal experience. She is a native of the Gullah Sea Island of Beaufort, South Carolina. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from Clemson University and two Master of Education degrees, one in Special Education (Clemson University) and one in Educational Leadership (Charleston Southern University). Her instructional leadership skills led to groundbreaking improvements in student outcomes. As one of the longest serving principals in her district, she has been selected by senior leadership to mentor new and novice principals.

Lynn Patton, M.Ed.,
Epiphany Ambassador

Lynn Patton is a distinguished educator recognized with several Teacher of the Year honors at the district, regional, and county levels over the course of 20+ years of categorically impacting student achievement and performance levels as an educational leader. Patton graduated from Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo, where she earned a master’s degree in Education. She believes when respect and student-teacher relationships are paired with high expectations and access to proven instructional practices, students will engage to achieve while the acquisition of higher-level skills provides them with a lifelong advantage.

Taneka Tate, Ed.D.,
Epiphany Ambassador

Dr. Taneka Tate is a lifelong learner who is passionate about education and ensuring that children have access to the highest quality learning opportunities. She became principal of Carnall Elementary School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 2017 after serving in a variety of other roles in public education, and she currently serves as the Associate Director of Special Education in the Fort Smith Public School District. Dr. Tate continued expanding and increasing professional development services with Dr. Dickey throughout the 2018–2019 school year, implementing Educational Epiphany’s Instructional Practices, during which Carnall’s annual growth rate rose to 86.92%.

Dr. Michelle Sizemore, Ed.D., Epiphany Ambassador

Dr. Michelle Sizemore is a district leader in science instruction and literacy integration. Improved student achievement and curriculum development in secondary science exemplifies Dr. Sizemore’s 20+ years in public education. Dr. Sizemore obtained degrees in middle school education from several Georgia universities including Albany State University, Georgia Southwestern State University, and Columbus State University where she earned her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction.

Katie Garcia, M.Ed., Ed.D.,
Epiphany Ambassador

After graduating from St. John Fisher College with a dual bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Special Education, Katie Garcia went on to earn a master’s degree in Early Literacy Education. In states from New York to Maryland to Virginia and Hawaii, she has served students in self-contained, inclusion, and Response to Intervention settings in grades from kindergarten to high school. This variety of experience has deepened her knowledge of learner needs and best practice, as well as content and curriculum. In addition to traditional classroom work, she has worked as a private tutor as well as an independent contractor for Educational Epiphany since 2011.

Dr. Matthew Woods, Ed.D., Epiphany Ambassador

Dr. Matthew Woods has served for more than 12 years assisting students, educators, and schools in a variety of roles. His professional experience includes being a high school social studies teacher, a middle and high school assistant principal, a middle school principal, a director of student support services, an adjunct professor, and a field instructor for student-teachers. Additionally, Dr. Woods hosts an education podcast, Leading Out the Woods, and is an accomplished keynote speaker and educational consultant.

Roadmap to School Improvement

There are 50 million school-aged children in the United States being educated in 100,000 school systems with more than 65% of the population reading below the proficiency threshold; but there is a solution—high-quality, initial instruction and strategic remediation characterized by an integrated approach to infusing literacy in all grades and disciplines.

That is exactly what Educational Epiphany helps schools and districts to do nationwide.

Framework for Unparalleled Student Achievement

This innovative framework has been meticulously designed to usher in a new era of teaching and learning, where student success is not just an aspiration but a reality. Seamlessly blending groundbreaking instructional practices with practical classroom application, the Educational Epiphany Framework empowers educators to create an engaging and student-centric environment that fosters
unparalleled student achievement.

3-Tiered Instructional Ecosystem

Tier 1

Instruction
(Whole Group)

Tier 2

Instruction
(In-Class Small group)

Tier 3

Instruction
(Intervention or Acceleration)

Classroom Key

Teacher-Directed Center

Whiteboard

Student Desk

Student-Directed Center

Library

Flexible Seating

Educational Epiphany’s Four High-Impact Instructional Practices

Addressing the most significant barriers to improvements in student outcomes/student achievement.

At Educational Epiphany, our work is steeped in four High-Impact Instructional Practices that are directly embedded and aligned with our professional development workshops and our Pre-K–12 instructional resources.

A performance-based instructional objective accessible to students, teachers, and observers linked to the content (something students must know) and a higher-order thinking opportunity (what students will do with what they now know).

ELA: Students will be able to (SWBAT) identify key details in order to (IOT) determine main idea.

Mathematics: SWBAT complete a function table IOT graph and describe the relationship between the dependent and independent variable.

Social Studies: SWBAT analyze the achievements of key historical figures IOT evaluate their impact on modern society.

Science: SWBAT identify elements on the periodic table IOT analyze their atomic mass and structure.

Curriculum-driven opportunities for students to determine the meaning of general and domain-specific words and phrases (before and during reading), including, but not limited to, the following Major Strategies (K–12):

Point-of-Use Annotation of Performance-Based Objective
Universal Language of Literacy
Word-and-Definition Word Walls
Word Parts
Context Clues
Point-of-Use Annotation of the Texts (in Real Time)
Sight Words/High-Frequency Words (Pre-K–9)

Instruction characterized by the gradual release of responsibility

Practice 3A

For English/Language Arts (ELA), Social Studies, Mathematics, and Technical Subjects (Electives) Only: Instruction characterized by gradual release of responsibility designed to transition students from teacher dependence to independent critical thinking/problem solving, speaking, and writing.

Practice 3B

For Science Only: Science instruction characterized by the inquiry-based model for teaching and assessing students’ understanding of phenomena and their relationship to crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices with attention to Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation.

Composition from Sources

Practice 4A

Curriculum-Driven Opportunities: Students compose original texts characterized by the use of information from multiple sources with attention to text types, text structures, and thesis statements.

Practice 4B

For Mathematics Only:

Curriculum-driven opportunities for students to use manipulatives to understand abstract mathematical concepts.

About Educational Epiphany