Adam Withycombe, NWEA principal content designer at HMH, began his career in education as a classroom teacher. He spent four years as a bilingual (Spanish) third- and fifth-grade teacher in Oregon and Washington; a year as a talented and gifted coordinator and ELA/social studies teacher at a middle school in Washington; and four years as a third- and fifth-grade teacher in Tennessee. Adam also taught graduate courses on English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) methodology. In 2014, he received his doctoral degree in educational leadership from the University of Oregon.