A Collection of Writings, Inventions, and Music-Related Creations

Dr. Butler began teaching in 2001 at a downtown Providence high school while simultaneously earning his Rhode Island Secondary Mathematics Teaching certification (Grades 7–12) and his MAT degree. By 2005, he was teaching at Beacon Charter High School, where he conducted the research for his dissertation. In 2010, he received the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from URI for Exploring Some Inattended Affective Factors in Performing Nonroutine Mathematical Tasks.

At Beacon, he later undertook a pioneering participant observation study, enrolling as a student for 79 consecutive school days in a Grade 11 chemistry class. He completed every assignment alongside students and recorded over 400 pages of field notes. This work, published in Who’s the New Kid in Chemistry (2014), offered an unprecedented view of student engagement and teacher best practices, including his concept of “flexible homework.” Notably, the teacher he mentored was later named Rhode Island Teacher of the Year (2013).

In 2013, he co-founded VGCS with colleagues Robert Pilkington, Ed. D., and Rochelle Baker, M. Ed., helping to design one of the nation’s first fully virtualized public high schools. His book Inventing School (2016) documents the creation of this “school of the future,” providing a blueprint for implementing e-courseware in high school programs.

In 2015, he developed an automated essay scoring program using the Wolfram Language (Mathematica) to prepare students for the PARCC writing assessments. His research, published in Knocking it Out of the PARCC (2016), documented how Village Green’s ELA proficiency scores rose from 16% to 71% in one year — the largest statewide gain.

Before education, Dr. Butler spent 22 years in engineering, designing automated machinery and supervising installations across the U.S. and Europe. He co-founded Mechtrix Corporation (1982), a leading wire processing manufacturer, and holds over 15 U.S. patents. His inventions, computer programs, and publications in electrical wire processing have influenced manufacturers worldwide.

As an engineering student, he won First Prize at the 1979 ASME Regional Student Conference (UMass Amherst) and Second Prize at the National Design Engineering Contest (St. Louis). He later presented his work at the ASME Winter Annual Meeting (New York), which ultimately led to two U.S. patents. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE).

Music has been a lifelong passion. In high school, Dr. Butler served as band president, earned second chair clarinet in the Rhode Island All-State Orchestra, received the John Philip Sousa Band Award, and joined the Providence Federation of Musicians. He also performed in a five-piece band with steady gigs in Rhode Island, including Newport venues and private events.

In college, he was president of the Community College of Rhode Island Concert Band and a member of the URI Jazz Band. Later, while teaching, he directed the after-school band at Beacon Charter High School for several years.

Dr. Butler plays clarinet, soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, vibraphone, upright bass, and the Aerophone AE-30 electronic wind instrument. Several of his musical arrangements are featured on this website.