Mike Smith has spent over 20 years in the field of K-12 education with the bulk of the last decade as a consultant for school and district leadership on a variety of subjects. His experience in research and data analysis introduced him to the world of fundraising for independent schools, which gradually developed his expertise and the services he offers in that area. In addition to culture and climate evaluations, his evaluation work has included an examination of high school learning pathways in a large urban district in Wisconsin. Prior to his work as a consultant, Mike worked as a senior data analyst in the Chicago Public Schools supporting a region of elementary schools and guiding their leadership in responsible use of data and data-driven instructional practices.

Mike also spent six years as a Strategy Officer with Modern Teacher, consulting with superintendents and their cabinets in nearly 30 districts around the country as they designed and implemented multi-year strategic plans to spread innovative, learner-centered instructional models to all of their classrooms. To help execute those plans, Mike engaged with all levels of his client districts, training cohorts of teachers in learner-centered strategies, coaching school leaders on effective classroom observation practices, and holding regular full-day planning sessions with leadership cabinets. 

Mike has not only trained over a thousand teachers on learner-centered practices, he also trained hundreds of district and school leaders on effective classroom observation and is an expert in Elmore, City, et al’s Instructional Rounds process. In one three-year engagement, Mike trained every principal and assistant principal in nine Delaware school districts–over 250 school leaders in total–over five full-day sessions. Mike is an avid runner and officially incorporated as Kiptum Consulting LLC in October of 2023 in honor of Kelvin Kiptum’s world record-breaking finish in the Chicago Marathon that year. He and his wife live just outside of Chicago with their five-year-old daughter and a bunch of other creatures, including their mastiff, cat, chickens, and parakeets.