EBONI MIXON
Chicago
Summary
Transformational Principal and Instructional Strategist with over 19 years of dedicated experience in Chicago’s urban education landscape, including 10 years in progressive leadership roles. My career is defined by an unwavering commitment to closing the achievement gap for students of color and those from low-income households. As an Academic Turnaround Specialist, I engineer and execute systems-centric strategies rooted in rigorous instructional data cycles and operational efficiency that drive rapid, sustainable academic growth. My leadership is proven to stabilize school environments and elevate performance. As Principal at Robert N. Dett Elementary, I spearheaded a focused instructional overhaul that resulted in an increase in literacy proficiency within a single academic year, demonstrating immediate and measurable impact. This was achieved by architecting a culture of high expectations, rigorous accountability, and compassionate, student-centered support, which also led to fostering the professional stability needed to achieve and maintain teacher retention rate.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Principal
Robert N. Dett Elementary School
Chicago, IL
08.2022 - Current
- Instructional Leadership & Academic Growth Spearheaded data-driven instructional strategies that yielded significant gains in student proficiency and growth across multiple school settings.
- School Culture & Staff Development Cultivated positive, stable, and collaborative learning environments by focusing on shared leadership and student engagement.
- Operational & Financial Management Managed school resources with precision, aligning budgetary functions with instructional priorities to maximize student and staff support.
- Literacy Proficiency: Engineered a strategic data cycle focused on Tier 1 instruction, resulting in a 15% increase in literacy proficiency for students in grades 3-8 within a single academic year.
- Targeted Intervention: Directed an i-Ready intervention program that successfully propelled 65% of participating students to meet or exceed their individual annual growth targets in reading and mathematics.
- Teacher Retention: Established a shared leadership model and robust internal coaching pipelines, achieving an 85% teacher retention rate and fostering a culture of professional stability and growth.
- School Climate: Cultivated a safe and supportive learning environment, leading to a significant increase in the 'Supportive Environment' rating on the district’s annual My Voice, My School (MVMS) survey.
- Budgetary Efficiency: Streamlined procurement processes and optimized resource allocation, reducing annual supply waste by 15% and guaranteeing all classrooms were fully equipped by the first day of school.
Assistant Principal
Robert N. Dett Elementary School
Chicago, IL
08.2020 - 10.2021
- Instructional Leadership & Academic Turnaround Engineered and implemented rigorous instructional systems that directly addressed historical academic challenges and accelerated student learning.
- Staff Development & Organizational Culture Fostered a stable, collaborative, and growth-oriented professional environment by establishing robust systems for coaching and shared leadership.
- Community Engagement & Student Empowerment Forged strong, trusting partnerships with families and empowered students to take an active role in shaping their educational experience.
- Literacy Proficiency Overhaul: Spearheaded bi-weekly Instructional Data Cycles focused on Tier 1 instruction, resulting in a 15% increase in literacy proficiency for students in grades 3-8 within one academic year.
- Targeted Student Growth: As Assistant Principal, leveraged the MTSS framework during remote learning to drive targeted interventions, enabling 65% of participating students to meet or exceed their annual i-Ready growth targets.
- Curriculum Implementation: Aligned discretionary spending with the CIWP to facilitate the successful, school-wide adoption and rollout of the new Core Literacy Curriculum for all K-8 classrooms, ensuring resource and training alignment.
- Teacher Retention & Stability: Achieved and maintained an 85%+ teacher retention rate, creating a consistent and expert instructional team. Restructured the hiring process to secure a 100% staffing rate before the first day of school, successfully filling all vacancies, including hard-to-fill Special Education roles.
- Instructional Coaching: Implemented a peer-observation and coaching cycle aligned with the REACH Framework, concentrating on Domain 3 (Instruction) to systematically build teacher capacity and efficacy.
- School Climate Improvement: Led the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) to drive school culture initiatives, resulting in a significant improvement in the 'Supportive Environment' rating on the annual My Voice, My School (MVMS) survey.
- Parent & Family Partnership: Launched a series of Family Literacy and Math Nights, increasing parent engagement by 20% in the first year and strengthening the home-school connection.
- Student Voice: Established the school’s first student council, empowering students to take an active role in shaping their educational experience.
Assistant Principal
Fort Dearborn Elementary School
Chicago, IL
07.2017 - 06.2020
- Served in progressively responsible leadership roles over a 10-year tenure, shaping instructional practices, school culture, and operational systems from the classroom to the administrative office.
- Instructional Systems & Academic Achievement Architected and implemented data-driven instructional frameworks that produced consistent, measurable gains in student performance and established a culture of academic rigor.
- Teacher Development & Collaborative Leadership Cultivated a professional environment centered on continuous improvement and shared ownership, directly enhancing teacher effectiveness and instructional quality through targeted coaching.
- Primary Grade Foundation: Implemented a rigorous progress monitoring schedule for grades K-2, empowering teachers to focus on individual student goals and resulting in 40% of students performing at or above grade level.
- Middle School ELA Growth: Guided the middle school ELA team to achieve the 70th percentile in national growth on the NWEA MAP assessment, directly attributable to a systematic approach of data analysis, tiered intervention, and standards-aligned planning.
- Student Promotion & Attendance: Contributed to a school-wide strategy that achieved a 95% 8th-grade promotion rate. Spearheaded an attendance initiative that successfully increased the school-wide average from 92% to 95% over three years.
- REACH Framework Expertise: Coached a team of 12 teachers on differentiated instruction, resulting in an average 15% improvement in their Domain 3 (Instruction) REACH evaluation scores over two years.
- Instructional Coaching: Led weekly Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) that ensured 100% of teachers successfully aligned daily learning objectives with Common Core standards, and implemented a peer-observation cycle to accelerate new teacher development.
- Shared Leadership: Facilitated collaboration meetings with the 6th-8th grade teams to inform instruction, monitor student growth, and problem-solve based on network frameworks.
Lead Teacher (Instructional Lead K-5)
Whistler Elementary School
Chicago, IL
08.2014 - 07.2017
- As the K-5 Instructional Lead, I transitioned into a formal school-wide leadership capacity, architecting the systems for teacher development and data-driven instruction.
- Instructional Leadership & Teacher Development Guided a team of 15+ teachers through rigorous instructional cycles, building a culture of shared accountability and data-informed practice.
- Community & Family Engagement Designed and launched programs to transform parents into active partners in the educational process, strengthening the home-school connection to support student learning.
- Data-Driven Instruction: Facilitated Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) that resulted in 100% of teaching staff successfully implementing data-driven small group instruction.
- Instructional Coaching: My coaching and targeted feedback cycles, aligned with the REACH Framework, directly contributed to a 10% increase in K-5 literacy scores on the NWEA MAP assessment over three years.
- Strategic Intervention: Drove the successful implementation of Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and other CCSS-aligned strategies, supporting a strategic plan that reduced the achievement gap for Tier 2 students by 15%.
- Family Partnership: Established monthly Parent Informational Meetings and launched Family Learning Nights focused on literacy and math, increasing parent volunteer participation by 25%.
SEL & Lead Teacher
Fort Dearborn Elementary School
Chicago, IL
01.2013 - 08.2014
- School Culture & Student Support Systems Engineered and scaled social-emotional learning (SEL) and student support initiatives that stabilized the school climate, reduced disciplinary incidents, and created a compassionate, trusting environment.
- Instructional Excellence & High-Growth Achievement I cultivated a high-expectations ELA environment for grades 6-8, establishing a record of exceptional academic gains through a systematic approach to curriculum and assessment.
- Emerging School-Wide Leadership During the latter half of my teaching tenure (2011–2014), I assumed key leadership responsibilities that bridged classroom practice with administrative strategy, laying the groundwork for my future roles.
- At-Risk Student Intervention: As SEL Lead, designed and managed a school-wide mentoring program targeting at-risk students, where 75% of participants demonstrated measurable improvement in attendance, academics, and social interaction.
- Tiered SEL Implementation: Created and piloted a systematic, tiered approach to SEL in the 5th grade, which served as a model later scaled school-wide to decrease behavioral incidents.
- Operational Oversight: As Assistant Principal and Testing Coordinator, managed the seamless administration of all district-wide assessments (NWEA, PARCC/IAR) for a student body of 500+ and oversaw the master schedule to protect instructional time.
- NWEA Reading Growth: Engineered a vertically aligned middle school ELA curriculum that directly led to cohorts achieving double-digit growth in reading scores on the NWEA MAP assessment over a three-year period.
- Curriculum Overhaul: Spearheaded a comprehensive overhaul of the 6th-8th grade ELA curriculum, creating curriculum maps and instructional frameworks that became the standard for achieving high-growth data at the school.
- Instructional Leadership Team (ILT): Served as a teacher representative on the ILT, contributing directly to the development of the school’s School Improvement Plan for Advancing Academic Achievement (SIPPA) and providing a classroom-level perspective on school-wide strategic planning.
Teacher
Fort Dearborn Elementary School
Chicago, IL
08.2007 - 08.2014
- As a Middle School English Language Arts (ELA) Teacher and designated ELA Lead, I architected foundational instructional and social-emotional systems that drove measurable student growth and served as a catalyst for my transition into school-wide leadership.
- Teacher Mentorship: Acted as a Mentor Teacher for new staff and student teachers, coaching them on instructional best practices, classroom management, and data analysis within the Chicago Public Schools framework.
- Foundational SEL Model: Designed and implemented foundational SEL routines and de-escalation strategies within my classroom, creating the model that was later scaled and adopted for the formal school-wide program I led in 2013.
- Teacher Mentorship: Acted as a Mentor Teacher for new staff and student teachers, coaching them on instructional best practices, classroom management, and data analysis within the Chicago Public Schools framework.
- Foundational SEL Model: Designed and implemented foundational SEL routines and de-escalation strategies within my classroom, creating the model that was later scaled and adopted for the formal school-wide program I led in 2013.
Principal Internship
John F. Kohn School
Chicago, IL
09.2012 - 05.2013
- Completed a full-year administrative residency required for Illinois Type 75 certification, assuming delegated leadership responsibilities for the Kindergarten through 2nd-grade primary wing.
- Early Literacy & Data-Driven Intervention Engineered a targeted intervention system for at-risk 2nd-grade students, utilizing DIBELS and mClass data to identify literacy gaps and provide supplemental support.
- Professional Leadership Development Selected by the building principal to design and implement a school-wide system for monitoring student progress, integrating mClass data into the instructional planning process for early childhood educators.
- Achieved significant growth in literacy benchmarks, successfully moving the majority of the targeted cohort from 'well below' status to 'at grade level' proficiency by the conclusion of the academic year.
- Led weekly collaboration meetings with a grade-level team of 5 teachers to monitor progress and refine instructional groupings based on formative assessment cycles.
- Collaborated with administrative leadership on the allocation of school resources and the supervision of staff, gaining critical experience in high-stakes decision-making and personnel management within the Chicago Public Schools framework.
Education
Master of Education - Educational Administration & Leadership
Saint Xavier University
Chicago, IL01-2013
Bachelor of Arts - English & Elementary Education
Chicago State University
Chicago, IL01-2007
Skills
- Instructional Leadership & Academic Growth
- School Culture & Staff Development
- Operational & Financial Management
Certification
- General Administrative (Type 75)
- Elementary Education (Type 03)
- Specific Endorsements: English Language Arts and Social Studies
Timeline
Principal
Robert N. Dett Elementary School
08.2022 - Current
Assistant Principal
Robert N. Dett Elementary School
08.2020 - 10.2021
Assistant Principal
Fort Dearborn Elementary School
07.2017 - 06.2020
Lead Teacher (Instructional Lead K-5)
Whistler Elementary School
08.2014 - 07.2017
SEL & Lead Teacher
Fort Dearborn Elementary School
01.2013 - 08.2014
Principal Internship
John F. Kohn School
09.2012 - 05.2013
Teacher
Fort Dearborn Elementary School
08.2007 - 08.2014
Bachelor of Arts - English & Elementary Education
Chicago State University
Master of Education - Educational Administration & Leadership
Saint Xavier University
PROFESSIONAL TRAININGS & DEVELOPMENT
- REACH Evaluation Framework (Certified Evaluator)
- CPS Network Leadership Series: Data-Informed Decision Making | Fall 2023
- Advanced i-Ready Diagnostic & Instructional Grouping Workshop | 2024
- Skyline Literacy Leadership Implementation Training | 2023
- Common Core Literacy Standards in Practice | Summer 2012
- Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) Certification | Refreshed 2024
- Advanced Restorative Justice & Peace Room Implementation | 2024
- Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Framework | Re-Certified Winter 2024
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): CASEL Training & Field Seminars | 2013 – 2015
- Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) School Safety Drill Coordinator | 2024