July 2026 Newsletter

We are excited to welcome Kenya Bradshaw as Chief Growth Officer of UnboundEd. In this role, Kenya will lead UnboundEd’s growth strategy, expanding our reach and deepening the organization’s impact on educators and students nationwide.

"Kenya understands that grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful instruction is what changes outcomes for students, and she has spent her career making that a reality, from the classroom to the statehouse. She brings the strategic acumen, the relationships, and the conviction to accelerate our mission and bring our work to far more teachers and students. I could not be more excited to welcome her to our team and to partner with her in this next chapter." 

— Dr. Linda Chen, President, UnboundEd

Despite decades of reform, student achievement remains stubbornly connected to a student’s background and zip code. Lacey Robinson's upcoming book, GLEAM^®: Teaching at the Level Every Student Deserves, introduces a transformative framework for addressing this crisis. Drawing on her experience as a teacher, a principal, and CEO of UnboundEd and CORE Learning, Lacey presents the GLEAM hypothesis: only when teachers’ mindset and planning are purposefully put into the service of grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful instruction, do we see teacher actions change and students thrive.

We're excited to welcome acclaimed educator and best-selling author Zaretta Hammond as a keynote speaker at this year's Standards Institute Philadelphia. Ahead of her keynote, Getting Students Ready for Rigor^®: Preparing Learners to Receive the Full Benefit of GLEAM^®, we invite you to explore her latest book, Rebuilding Students' Learning Power: Teaching for Instructional Equity and Cognitive Justice. In this highly anticipated follow-up to Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Hammond offers a practical roadmap for closing the knowing-doing gap, grounded in the science of learning.

As part of Standards Institute Philadelphia, attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in a special Book Talk with Zaretta Hammond on Tuesday evening from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. The session will include time for attendees to ask questions and a book raffle.

The UnboundEd HQIM Summit is for district and charter leaders and their curriculum teams planning or ready to adopt or implement new high-quality instructional materials (HQIM).

HQIM Adoption Pathway

What began as a book study of Lacey Robinson’s Justice Seekers among a handful of school and district leaders has grown into a districtwide coalition spanning every department, every school building, and many teacher groups. Along the way,  Green Bay Area Public Schools (GBAPS) treated GLEAM not as a short-term program but as a shared lens, one that now shapes the district’s strategic plan, school-level priorities, and even budget decisions.

Join UnboundEd and CORE Learning on November 5 for Unbound2026, a virtual professional learning event for educators committed to the success of every single student. Registration is free and secures your access to every session.