About Lizzie
Educator, consultant, author, and lifelong learner.
Lizzie Hetzer is a K-8 educational consultant helping districts and schools reach their literacy goals for students. She works with schools to strengthen literacy instruction and implement meaningful, large-scale change. She believes that teacher agency and joyful, relevant reading and writing work can live alongside research-based practices to ensure that all students experience literacy success.
A former special education teacher and literacy coach, Lizzie spent the early years of her career in New York City Public Schools, serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and languages. She has since worked with elementary schools across the country and internationally, supporting districts as an educational consultant and curriculum writer.
She collaborates with school districts to lead change, harness strengths, and grow effective practices and systems in the service of student learning. She values listening, connection, and joy in the professional development sessions she leads: energizing and motivating teams to grow and solve challenges together.
Lizzie is a co-founder of Daffodil Hill Press, which publishes decodable books that help children learn to read. She holds a Master's degree in Educational Theatre and a Master's in Teaching Students with Disabilities, and is a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship at New York University.
She lives in Brooklyn, hails from Pittsburgh, and is a proud first-generation college graduate.
What I Believe
Teacher agency and joyful, relevant literacy work can live alongside research-based practices. That combination is what actually moves students forward.
Learning better, knowing better, and doing better means replacing what doesn't work. Without delay.
Knowing better isn't just about learning new approaches. It means unlearning some, too. It means revising existing systems, even when that's hard.
Teaching should be as simple as possible and as complicated as necessary.