Jason Porter

Senior Education Strategy Consultant
Academic Solutions Group

Jason Porter has been a STEM educator since 2003, first at the university level, teaching biology courses to undergraduates, and then at the K-12 level from 2012-2017. In addition to serving as a High School AP Biology teacher at a Title 1 supported High School in Philadelphia, Jason served multiple teacher leadership roles, including science department chair and regional curriculum coordinator for STEM, as well as serving as the facilitator of a weekend STEM enrichment program, supported by TGR Fountain. In 2016, Jason became a High School Assistant Principal. This represented a shift in Jason’s career from primarily instructing students to serving as an instructional coach and curriculum leader, which particularly meshed with his interests and talents. In 2017, Jason joined TGR Foundation as Director of Professional Learning, co-managing a team of facilitators to develop and run over 100 in-person and online workshops focused on transferring inquiry strategies to educators to develop successful STEM classrooms. In this role, Jason had the opportunity to work with many schools across the US (especially in California and on the East Coast) with American supported international schools and with rural schools in both Africa and South America. Through this work, Jason and his team started to see connections between supporting teachers in their classrooms and the foundational needs of integrating STEM across an entire school. Through the adoption of STEM frameworks from Carnegie Science Center (Pittsburgh, PA) and PEAR Institute (Cambridge, MA), Jason and his team were able to help leaders and teachers better understand the fundamental needs of STEM program development and management, leading to sustainable programs. Jason is currently serving as a Senior Education Strategy Consultant for Academic Solutions Group, continuing the work of connecting schools and districts to the tools they need to develop powerful STEM programs for their students and the organizational structures to sustain these programs.