This special episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is a live broadcast of a conversation between Tom Vander Ark and authors from the Stanford d.school. Together they discuss four new books that speak to important aspects of this work. This conversation features Sam Seidel and Olatunde Sobomehin of Creative Hustle, Dr. Leticia Britos Cavagnaro of Experiments in Reflection, and Grace Hawthorne of Make Possibilities Happen to discuss what educators can learn and use from these books and the authors'...
May 01, 2024•1 hr 1 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Shawnee Caruthers is joined by Stacy Wall Schweikhart, CEO of Learn to Earn Dayton. Stacy brings more than 21 years of public sector leadership and a deep network of partners and resources to the CEO role. We’re also joined by Dr. Thomas Lasley, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Montgomery County Educational Service Center and Founder of Learn to Earn Dayton. Tom focuses on shaping policies and practices that impact P-16 educational attainment. Links: ...
Apr 24, 2024•26 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Rebecca Midles is joined by Nell Rosenberg, National Director of Teleservices at Clarke Schools for Hearing & Speech. Links: LinkedIn Clarke School for Hearing and Speech tVisit Teleservices Program National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management,...
Apr 17, 2024•26 min
This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is part of a new short monthly series where Mason Pashia is joined by Dr. Jason Cummins, a previous guest and a friend of the podcast, to speak with indigenous leaders and academics to discuss how indigenous ways of knowing and leading can, and should, shape the education system. In this episode, they are joined by Julian Guerrero Jr., the current Director of the Office of Indian Education (OIE) at the U.S. Department of Education. Together, they discuss...
Apr 12, 2024•38 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Rebecca Midles is joined by two members of the Transcend Usable Knowledge team —Cynthia Leck, and Juetzinia Kazmer-Murillo, to discuss their new report Igniting Agency in Early Learners . Links: Igniting Agency in Early Learners Cynthia Leck Cynthia Leck LinkedIn Juetzinia Kazmer-Murillo Juetzinia Kazmer-Murillo LinkedIn Transcend Transform Learning with Community-Based Design Agency and Young Children Research Collaborative...
Apr 10, 2024•19 min
On this special episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, producer Mason Pashia is joined by Timothy Jones. In honor of Poetry Month, Timothy and Mason discuss their deep appreciation and practice of the intersection and language. Timothy is a long-time educator, coach, mentor and someone who lives and breathes hip-hop. Timothy is the Chief Visionary Officer at #HipHopEd, a digitally-birthed organization with a sprawling membership of brilliant educators and passionate advocates that know just how p...
Apr 05, 2024•25 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Rebecca Midles is joined by Sydney Schaef, Managing Director at reDesign, a nationally recognized, women-led education design lab committed to ensuring every young person is future-ready. reDesign recently released the Future9 competencies, 34 skills across a six-level designed progression. The framework draws on more than a decade of collaboration with schools, districts, and state leaders, alongside extensive research reviews, and feedback sessions ...
Apr 03, 2024•26 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark and Shawnee Caruthers talk about a recent set of school visits in Minnesota as a part of an ongoing series of Real World Learning field trips. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is a thriving community of nearly 3 million people. Made up of 7 counties, 182 communities and 2 medium-sized, diverse urban districts (36k and 33k). Additionally, there are a couple big suburban districts like Apple Valley. Links: School for Environmen...
Mar 29, 2024•28 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Todd Smith, a New Pathways Fellow, founder and CEO of Symphony Workforce and former podcast guest hosts a conversation about an exciting initiative underway in Nebraska. These guests represent the Omaha Taskforce. Joseph Murray, Jesuit Academy . Osuman O. Issaka, Simple Foundation . Links: Todd Smith Osuman O. Issaka Joseph Murray Symphony Workforce Todd Smith and John Batcher on Helping Students Find Their Why | Getting Smart Simple Foundation Jesuit...
Mar 27, 2024•26 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Ryan Lufkin , VP of Academic Strategy at Instructure . Links: Ryan Lufkin LinkedIn Instructure Portfolium Canvas Credentials Parchment End of last year release - stratification...
Mar 20, 2024•27 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Shawnee Caruthers is joined by Erika Giampietro, Executive Director at the Massachusetts Alliance for Early College. Erika recently led a design team as a part of the Accelerate ED initiative, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Accelerate ED is built on the idea that high schools can provide early access to quality higher education in ways that incorporate work-connected learning and have long-term benefits for students. This initia...
Mar 13, 2024•29 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Shawnee Caruthers and Tom Vander Ark discuss a recent set of school visits in Dallas, Texas. These schools do an incredible job of showcasing dual enrollment, pathway management, business partnerships and building culture in their schools. These schools create radical new pathways to economic mobility and cultures of possibility. Links: BigThought The Future of Learning with Dr. Pamela Moran, Byron Sanders and Dr. Ed Hess Remake Learning Dallas County...
Mar 08, 2024•26 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Mason is joined by repeat guest Aaron Schorn of Unrulr and two new guests for the Getting Smart Podcast, Kwaku Aning, Director of the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking at the San Diego Jewish Academy and Mike Yates, The Reinvention Lab at Teach for America. Links: Kwaku Aning LinkedIn Aaron Schorn LinkedIn Mike Yates LinkedIn San Diego Jewish Academy Reinvention Lab at Teach for America Designing Your Life MSCHF Hallcraft School Studio...
Mar 06, 2024•25 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Shawnee is joined by New Pathways Senior Fellow Timothy Jones to discuss one of our New Pathways Design Principles: Equitable. When designing pathways, they must “provide equitable accessible, meaningful accommodation and support the development of social capital needed to access opportunity. Links: New Pathways View All Design Principles Episodes...
Mar 01, 2024•22 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Shawnee is joined by New Pathways Senior Fellow Timothy Jones to discuss one of our New Pathways Design Principles: Intentional. When designing pathways, ensure that they are “co-authored experiences and journeys with personalized and localized guidance and support.” Links: New Pathways View All Design Principles Episodes...
Mar 01, 2024•22 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Shawnee is joined by New Pathways Senior Fellow Timothy Jones to discuss one of our New Pathways Design Principles: Curated. When designing pathways, they must be “meaningful sequences of learning experiences linked to opportunity. The result in experiencing success in what’s next: real work experience, college credit, and industry-recognized credentials.” Links: New Pathways View All Design Principles Episodes...
Mar 01, 2024•22 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Shawnee Caruthers is joined by New Pathways Senior Fellow Timothy Jones to discuss one of our New Pathways Design Principles: Purposeful. When designing pathways, they must “help learners identify strengths and interests and match them with possible futures. With a growing sense of purpose, learners spot opportunities and develop an entrepreneurial mindset.” Links: New Pathways View All Design Principles Episodes...
Mar 01, 2024•21 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Shawnee Caruthers is joined by Michael Gonzalez, Executive Director of Rural Schools Innovation Zone, a first-of-its-kind partnership made up of five school districts and five institutions of higher education in South Texas that, like our New Pathways campaign, help students find success in what’s next. Links: Rural Schools Innovation Zone Michael Gonzalez LinkedIn Progressive Policy Institute...
Feb 28, 2024•24 min
Join your community March 4-7 in Austin, Texas for SXSW EDU 2024 to help create a new tomorrow for learners everywhere! Go to sxswedu.com/attend/ to learn more. On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Lydia Logan , Vice President, Global Education and Workforce Development, Corporate Social Responsibility at IBM. Together, Lydia and Tom talk about the credentialing landscape, the rise of green skills and how IBM is bridging those worlds with SkillsBuilds. Links:...
Feb 21, 2024•26 min
Join your community March 4-7 in Austin, Texas for SXSW EDU 2024 to help create a new tomorrow for learners everywhere! Go to sxswedu.com/attend/ to learn more. On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Mason Pashia is joined by Josh Schachter, Founder of CommunityShare and long-time storyteller of environment and community. CommunityShare is a platform that connects young people to local opportunities and mentors to grow their networks. Their website prompts visitors to “Imagine your commun...
Feb 14, 2024•28 min
This episode is an overview of a recent contribution to a publication from the Hoover Institute written by Tom Vander Ark. This publication takes a look at the shift from print to digital in light of the 40th anniversary of A Nation At Risk. This era marked a shift from information scarcity to abundance, a shift from searching to sorting. It changed what, how, and where people learn, and not always for the better. In American schools, the shift to digital learning was gradual, uneven, often chao...
Feb 09, 2024•20 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Nate McClennen is joined by Rachna Mathur, Senior STEM Strategist, CEO/Founder of Stemology Club and Meg Grothman, Director of Arizona Impact and Mathematics Innovation at ASU Prep. We have worked with ASU Prep and ASU over the years, and they both continue to live up to their reputation as innovative organizations that are inclusive rather than exclusive in who they serve. They are organizations that say yes to any solution that will help all student...
Feb 07, 2024•44 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Shawnee Caruthers is joined by Sharif El-Mekki, Founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development. A proud alum of Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, PA and the former principal of Mastery Charter, Shoemaker Campus, Sharif sees education as activism and teachers as civic leaders. Sharif is also the co-host of the 8 Black Hands podcast. His mantra, “We Need Black Teachers” is more than a rallying cry, but a deep desire to give voice to t...
Feb 02, 2024•34 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Tom Vander Ark is joined by Charles Fadel, Founder of Center for Curriculum Redesign . Center for Curriculum Redesign is a leading authority on elementary and secondary outcomes and they recently published a great new book called Education for the Age of AI . This book is one of the most thoughtful explorations of what skills humans will need to learn to do uniquelly meaningful work alongside AI. It explores how many of the 21st century skills will be...
Jan 31, 2024•35 min
This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is part of a new short monthly series where Mason Pashia is joined by Dr. Jason Cummins, a previous guest and a friend of the podcast, to speak with indigenous leaders and academics to discuss how indigenous ways of knowing and leading can, and should, shape the education system. On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Mason Pashia is joined by Dr. Jason Cummins and Dr. Hollie Mackey to discuss her incredibly important work in field building, policy...
Jan 26, 2024•31 min
How might we design new school models to better serve all young people? What are the skills, and jobs of tomorrow? IFTF’s Foresight Essentials course is great for those looking to build something new or trying to innovate within their current role. On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Tom Vander Ark is joined by Amanda Bickerstaff, the Co-Founder and CEO of AI for Education . Amanda has been involved in 10 edtech and impact startups over the past two decades and continues to drive import...
Jan 24, 2024•37 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Nate McClennen is joined by Derek Wenmoth, Founder of Futuremakers , teacher, principal, distance educator and educational policy adviser in New Zealand and internationally. He’s also joined by Annette Thompson, Chief Executive Officer at Inquire Innovation and, previously, an elementary school teacher and principal for 37 years. She was named Arkansas Elementary Principal of the Year and an NAESP National Distinguished Principal in 2017. Together, D...
Jan 17, 2024•40 min
On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Mason Pashia is joined by two individuals from America’s Promise Alliance (APA), an organization that weaves people and organizations together for a positive impact. Mike O’Brien, CEO of America’s Promise Alliance, and Parvathi (Parv) Santhosh -Kumar their VP of Community Impact. Together, they talk about the importance of field building, how uniquely bi-partisan and longstanding organizations like APA can drive change through radical collaboration, ...
Jan 10, 2024•27 min
This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is a part of our New Pathways campaign . In partnership with American Student Assistance (ASA), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Stand Together and the Walton Family Foundation, the New Pathways campaign will question education’s status quo and propose new methods of giving students a chance to experience success in what’s next. On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast we’re joined by Superintendent Michael Matsuda. Superintendent Matsuda has...
Jan 03, 2024•27 min
On this Getting Smart Town Hall, we took a look at apprenticeship pathways and tried to answer some of the following questions: What does a modern apprenticeship system look like? How might we set up the necessary systems to create earn-and-learn opportunities in technology and teaching pathways. We were joined by Erin Mote, InnovateEDU and Maureen Tracey Mooney, Department of Education who talked about Teacher Apprenticeships and Ryan Craig, author of Apprentice Nation as well as Chip Linehan, ...
Dec 20, 2023•49 min