Who we are.
Success for All Foundation is a nonprofit education organization that helps schools make strong literacy instruction consistent across classrooms and across the school.
We bring together research-proven curriculum, tutoring, assessment, coaching, and schoolwide leadership structures so schools can prevent more children from falling behind, respond quickly when students need more, and sustain strong teaching over time.
Our mission
To develop and disseminate research-proven educational approaches that ensure all students, from all backgrounds, achieve at the highest academic levels.
That purpose guides every part of our work—from the research behind the model to the people who work alongside schools each day.
Where we come from.
Built from research. Proven in schools.
Nancy Madden and Robert Slavin shared a commitment to improving education and expanding what was possible for children. Over time, that commitment came to focus on a defining question:
What would it take to ensure every child could succeed?
In 1986, Baltimore education leaders approached researchers at Johns Hopkins University with an urgent challenge: too many students were leaving school without graduating. The evidence pointed back to the early years—and the importance of making sure children learned to read well from the beginning.
Bob, Nancy, and their colleagues studied the strongest available research on reading instruction, learning, cooperative learning, tutoring, assessment, family engagement, and school organization. They brought those practices together in one coordinated model, along with the materials, training, coaching, and schoolwide structures educators would need to put the research into practice consistently.
Success for All began in a Baltimore elementary school in 1987. From there, the work expanded to more schools and communities. The team continued studying the results, learning from educators, and refining the model without losing sight of its original purpose.
Since then, Success for All has reached more than three million children in more than 2,000 schools.
Robert Slavin died in 2021 after devoting his career to proving that stronger and more equitable outcomes were possible at scale. Nancy Madden—his partner, co-founder, and fellow researcher—continues to chair the Success for All Board of Directors.
The question that guided their work still guides ours today.
“It’s useful to stop from time to time and remember why we do what we do, and for whom.”
Robert Slavin
Co-Founder, Success for All
Who's leading the work now.
Leadership grounded in the work of schools.
Julie Wible
Chief Executive Officer
Julie Wible is Chief Executive Officer of the Success for All Foundation. A former classroom teacher and longtime Success for All coach, Julie has spent more than twenty-five years helping educators turn research into daily practice.
She leads Success for All with this promise: schools should not be handed materials and left to make them work alone. Leaders and teachers deserve a real partner, clear systems, and sustained support as they build strong instruction across every classroom and ensure success happens for every student.
The team behind the work.
Success for All is supported by people who understand both the daily realities of schools and what it takes to support strong implementation at scale.
Implementation leadership
Our Directors of Implementation lead the coaching teams that work alongside partner schools. They help coaches and school leaders solve problems, strengthen implementation, and protect the quality of the model as Success for All reaches more communities.
Kathy McLaughlin
Director of Implementation
Amanda Nappier
Director of Implementation
Erin Stecich
Director of Implementation
Program and organizational leadership
The work in schools depends on an organization capable of supporting it—from program guidance and materials to people, communication, and operations.
Samantha Clark
Director of Print Distribution
Tanya McKay
Director of Human Resources
Maureen Mirabito
Director of Communications and Marketing
Kenly Novotny
Director of Program Support
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors brings together deep experience in literacy research, school implementation, education policy, nonprofit leadership, and financial stewardship.
Nancy Madden, Ph.D.
Chair and Co-Founder
Dr. Madden is co-founder of the Success for All Foundation, and a professor at the Center for Research and Reform in Education at the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Madden graduated from Reed College in 1973, and received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from American University in 1980. Since 1980, she has worked at the Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) and earlier centers at Johns Hopkins University, where she has directed the development of the reading, writing, tutoring, language arts, and mathematics elements of Success for All, a comprehensive school reform program. An expert in literacy and instruction, Dr. Madden is the author or co-author of many articles and books on cooperative learning, tutoring, prevention of need for special education, and education of disadvantaged students, including Effective Programs for Students at Risk (Allyn & Bacon, 1989) and Two Million Children: Success for All (Corwin, 2009). Current research interests include computer-assisted tutoring strategies, effects of vision services on achievement, and comprehensive school reform.
Barbara Haxby-Brady, Ph.D.
Board Member
Barbara Haxby-Brady served as Vice President of Professional Development at the Success for All Foundation from 1998-2015, and during this time, directed all aspects of professional development for SFA staff and for 1,100 schools in the U.S. She is the primary developer of the Getting Along Together program, the Solutions program, and the Leading for Success program, which guide schools in school-wide prevention planning and problem solving, as well as parent involvement. In addition, Ms. Haxby-Brady worked closely with the Center for Data Driven Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University to develop ongoing leadership and data analysis training and professional development for school districts. She is a co-author of Two Million Children, which describes 20 years of development of the Success for All program. She currently spends most of her free time climbing mountains in Colorado, where she resides with her husband.
William Hodgetts
Board Member
Mr. Hodgetts is currently a consultant for business and finance matters for independent schools. He worked over 30 years as a Chief Financial Officer for independent schools in the Baltimore area, where he worked as a strategic partner with the Head of School and Board of Directors for developing the appropriate policies and programs to fulfill the school’s mission. He oversaw the budgeting, accounting, auxiliary programs, maintenance, housekeeping and business matters for the school. Prior to that he worked 3 years in accounting for a real estate development company (The Rouse company) and 3 years in construction management for projects in Baltimore City. After moving to Baltimore in the mid-70’s, he worked 3 years in a neighborhood housing center focused on neighborhood organizing and improved housing in inner-city communities.
Kent McGuire, Ph.D.
Board Member
Dr. McGuire is the Program Director of Education at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He leads the investments of our deeper learning and open educational resources strategies, with a focus on helping all students succeed in college, work and civic life. Dr. McGuire is a veteran of the national education movement for public education. Previously, Dr. McGuire was the President and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation, an organization committed to advancing public education in the American South, with a focus on equity and excellence. Prior to that, he served as the Dean of the College of Education at Temple University and was a tenured professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. From 2001 to 2003, Dr. McGuire was a senior vice president at the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, where he split his time between research projects on school reform and directing its department on education, children and youth. He has also been an education program officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts and directed the education program at the Lilly Endowment. Dr. McGuire served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 1998 to 2001. Dr. McGuire earned his Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Colorado, an M.A. from Columbia University Teacher’s College, and a B.A in economics from the University of Michigan. He serves on the boards of the Wallace Foundation, the Institute for Education Leadership, and the Panasonic Foundation.
Join us.
Bring your experience to work that matters.
Success for All is looking for experienced, thoughtful people who believe every child can learn to read—and that schools deserve the support required to make that belief real.
Our work calls for collaboration, evidence, humility, and a willingness to keep improving. Whether you work directly with educators or help build the organization behind that work, your contribution matters.
Success for All Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.
Current openings
Finance Manager
Lead the financial operations that support our work with schools.
Staff Accountant
Support the finance and accounting team that helps SFA steward resources well.
Coach
Partner directly with school leaders and educators to drive powerful changes in instruction.
To apply for a position, please email a cover letter and resume to HR@successforall.org.
Success for All Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.
Be part of the answer.
For school and district leaders
See what Success for All could look like in your school.
For supporters
Help put a proven schoolwide approach within reach of more schools and children.
