About
Dr. Jamie Harper Martinez
Curriculum · Leadership · Podcast host · freedomintheframework.org
“The problem is almost never a lack of caring. It’s a lack of the right framework — the structure that gives caring adults the clarity, the tools, and the freedom to do their best work for kids.”
Doctorate
Educational Leadership
Texas Tech University
Masters
Educational Administration
Texas A&M-Commerce
Recognition
Region 8 Principal
of the Year, 2015
Career span
Classroom teacher
Campus principal
Assistant superintendent
Based in
Van Alstyne, Texas
Serving districts statewide
Also known for
Podcast host
Conference presenter
Published author
I started my career in a classroom, which is where I believe every education leader should start. Twelve years of teaching gave me something no leadership preparation program ever could: a deep, lived understanding of what teachers actually need and what gets in their way.
What I learned is this: teachers don't struggle because they lack passion or skill. They struggle when the systems around them are unclear, inconsistent, or built by people who have forgotten what it feels like to stand in front of 30 students, or 250, every day. My job, in every role I've held since then, has been to fix that.
As a principal at two different districts and multiple grade levels, I worked to build campuses where teachers were trusted as professionals and held to high standards because those two things are not opposites.
As Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction at a north Texas district, I spent nearly a decade working at the district level leading curriculum adoptions, building assessment systems, designing professional development, and coaching principals and cabinet leaders. I learned what it takes to move an entire system. And I learned what stops districts from moving, even when everyone in the room wants things to be better.
I started Freedom in the Framework because I believe the work of building great schools is too important to leave without support. Districts deserve more than a consultant who shows up with a slide deck and a checklist. They deserve a partner who has sat at every table they're sitting at; one who understands the board pressure, the budget reality, the teacher who is burning out, and the principal who is trying to hold it all together.
That's what I offer. Honest, practical, systems-based coaching — built around your specific people, your specific context, and your specific belief about what great education looks like.
I work with a small number of districts and leaders each year because this work deserves full attention. If you're ready to build the systems that set your people free, I'd like to talk.