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Ensuring literacy materials are evidence-based is more critical now than ever.

According to national test scores, pandemic school breaks have resulted in our nation’s largest decrease in reading achievement in over 20 years. Poor reading ability in third grade is detrimental to overall future academic progress. It’s critical now more than ever to ensure we’re aiding our children with evidence-based practices and tools for literacy effectiveness.

Join in the national conversation about educational technology, using data to inform product development, and incorporating learning sciences into instructional design.

While companies claim their products are research-based, they may not include evidence that proves viable long-term effectiveness. It’s sometimes difficult for leaders to cut through the marketing “noise” and figure out what will work for our students.

Dr. Schechter’s keynotes offer solutions to leaders, educating them on how to identify true evidence-based research products, so they choose products they know will work.

Dr. Schechter’s keynotes offer solutions to leaders, educating them on how to identify true evidence-based research products, so they choose products they know will work.

Familiarizing leaders with the knowledge words, requirements, and claims related to evidence-based educational programs is a powerful step in accelerating literacy. 

Dr. Schechter’s keynotes are designed to equip leaders with the necessary tools to ensure we make sure that our students are using evidence-based products that help them learn.

With the ultimate goal of:
  • Creating learning acceleration to make up for lost time post-Covid,
  • Closing the literacy gap in kindergarten to change the trajectory of literacy throughout the student’s life, and
  • Remediating our nation’s current literacy concerns by helping leaders choose products that work.
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Dr. Schechters’ Keynote Topics

Safeguard From These Three Main Pitfalls with Typical Product Research

Education leaders know that a teacher’s time is their most precious resource. This talk will share how to avoid the three main pitfalls with typical product research, the intricacies of the current landscape, and an Evidence-Informed Decision-Making Framework that helps educators choose products that accelerate students’ literacy scores and learning trajectories for our students of today. 

Your Keys to Identifying True Evidence-Based K-3 Literacy Programs

Less than 5% of the curriculum available fails to meet the state ESSA requirements. This talk shares what evidence to look for to satisfy state requirements and what types of evidence to trust for long-term reading acceleration.  While also sharing how research determines that the product is working, and how compelling evidence depends on the rigor of the methodology and the sample size, and other factors. 

Learn the Evidence-Based Review Framework that Satisfies State Requirements

There are over 1,400 tools used to assist students with their learning in any given school. Districts will need to make informed decisions on how to prune the web of tools. How do educators evaluate the relevance and efficacy of educational products and interventions to ensure that they fit the learning context? This talk answers this question using an ‘evidence-based framework’. 

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Literacy equity helps level the playing field to have school be the public service and education that Americans deserve. It is vital for our nation.


Dr. Rachel Schechter, Keynote Speaker & Founder of LXD Research

Dr. Rachel Schechter’s Bio

Dr. Rachel Schechter is a global keynote speaker, facilitator, and lead researcher, known for supporting Edtech leaders, school districts, and educators, by cultivating a strong foundational knowledge for critically identifying valid evidence bases when choosing products to elevate literacy effectiveness.

In 2000, Rachel began her research career as a production assistant on the first and second seasons of Dora the Explorer, where she discovered how testing responses and measuring the efficacy of the lessons, improved learning experiences.

She has a BA in Psychology from The University of Massachusetts, a Master’s in Education (EdM) in Arts-in-Education from Harvard University, and a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in child development from Tufts University. Recently, Dr. Schechter was a finalist for The Edtech Award Trendsetter Award to recognize her contribution toward research in educational technology.

She was at the inception of evaluating technology-embedded assessments to discover learning outcomes for improving instructional training. She later became the Director of Research at Lexia Learning and led the user testing research and product development for the Lexia Reading Core5 literacy program, which thousands of schools still use.

Today she owns Learning Experience Design (LXD) Research, where Dr. Schechter partners with edtech companies around the globe to conduct rapid-cycle research evaluations that not only provide the efficacy research needed under the Every Student Succeeds Act law but also inform the interactive improvement of products used by tens of millions of children worldwide. 

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What others are saying

Katie Rondstadt

“Rachel’s innovative research-based thinking led to the creation of new processes allowing content specialists to make data-driven decisions around the effectiveness of the program. Her work was critical to the success of Lexia Reading Core and Lexia PowerUp”

Carol Chanter

“It was my absolute pleasure to work with Rachel Schechter. Rachel developed and presented a comprehensive review of educational assessment for our internal team of Scholastic editors, designers, product engineers, markets, and professional learning consultants. Rachel’s presentation was professional, engaging, and informative.  We would happily engage Rachel for future work.”

Brandon Olszewski

“Rachel served as a subject matter expert for ISTE’s Course of Mind project, helping us craft criteria – grounded in the learning sciences – for evaluating the quality of edtech products. Her multi-faceted background really was an asset, as she demonstrated a wonderful ability for balancing the practical needs of edtech decision-makers with what we know about learning sciences research.”

Schedule Dr. Schechter Today