Featured Research Findings
Peer-reviewed scholarship and field-tested professional tools from Puzzles Solutions Group — research that informs practice, and instruments built for the professionals who make high-stakes decisions inside schools.
Preview selected findings and resource highlights below. Complete research materials, presentation decks, and professional tools are available through renewable individual or institutional licenses. Puzzles Solutions Group retains ownership of its intellectual property.
Featured Research · Six-Slide Preview
Research Findings, Presented Clearly
Explore a concise visual overview of Dr. Nacovin J. Norman’s doctoral research on teacher-to-principal upward feedback in K–12 schools. The complete study is available as a research book, presentation, or professional learning experience.
This preview shares selected findings only. Complete research and presentation materials are provided through the appropriate purchase, engagement, or license agreement.
For School Districts & Child Study Teams
Professional Resources
Practical, field-tested tools developed by Dr. Nacovin J. Norman for the professionals who make high-stakes decisions inside schools — built to bring structure, consistency, and defensibility to the work.
The Autism Tier Placement Guide & Rubric
Consistent, defensible autism program placement — SC Autism 1–4.
Deciding which level of specialized autism programming a student needs is one of the highest-stakes calls an IEP team makes — and too often it varies from one case manager to the next. The Autism Tier Placement Guide & Rubric brings a shared, structured framework to that decision.
Built for case managers, child study teams, and special-education leaders, the guide scores a student’s current functioning across seven domains — communication, behavioral and regulation needs, adult support, academic functioning, social interaction, adaptive independence, and self-care. The domains that most affect placement, staffing, and safety are weighted more heavily, producing a clear program-consideration score aligned to four levels of self-contained autism programming, with built-in safety review flags that surface students who warrant a closer look regardless of their score.
It is guidance, not a gatekeeper. The rubric supports the IEP team’s professional judgment and stays fully aligned with IDEA, FAPE, LRE, and NJAC 6A:14 — it never replaces individualized, team-based decision-making.
- Consistency across case managers, teams, and buildings
- Defensible, criteria-based placement conversations with families
- Weighted to reflect what actually drives programming and safety
- Automatic review flags for high-need and safety situations
- Legally grounded and centered on the IEP team’s decision
A guidance tool that supports — and does not replace — the IEP process, present levels of performance, evaluations, and individualized placement determination under IDEA and applicable state code.