About RootED Analytics

Why We Do This Work

Hi, I'm Lindsay - Owner and Founder of RootED Analytics.

I began my career as a special education teacher, supporting

students with a wide range of learning needs. I saw firsthand

how often schools relied on trial and error when selecting interventions, frustrating stakeholders and losing precious time. I couldn’t help but wonder: What if we could better predict which strategies and interventions were most likely to work, based on what we already knew about each student, each intervention, and the broader instructional context?

That question led me to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where I earned a master’s degree in Mind, Brain, and Education. While there, I interned with the Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience at Boston Children’s Hospital, studying how brain development supports cognition and social functioning, particularly for children with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions. My time in the lab strengthened my belief that research can offer powerful insights— but only if those insights make their way into real classrooms.

After graduate school, I served as a research and data consultant for Ingham Intermediate School District, an educational service agency in Michigan, supporting 12 local districts and 9 charter schools. I helped leaders apply research and local data to improve programming, inform policy, and guide continuous improvement—across areas ranging from early intervention and supporting students with disabilities to AI strategy and career and technical education planning.

Today, through my consulting work, I continue that mission. I believe schools deserve more than vague recommendations and generic dashboards. They deserve a thought partner—someone who can help them ask the right questions, gather the right evidence, and use those insights to improve outcomes for all learners. That’s why I do this work and why I’m so passionate about making research and data both accessible and actionable.

Lindsay Wood, founder and consultant at Rooted Analytics

Mission

My mission is to help education leaders align research and data with their most pressing questions, bridging the gap between what’s practical and what’s proven, so that every school can make decisions that are guided by evidence, translated into practice, and evaluated for impact.

Vision

I envision a future where schools don’t just collect data for compliance—they use it as evidence to drive action, asking sharper questions, making strategic decisions, and leading meaningful, lasting change.