Education Evolution

Research shows that children who have had access to early childhood experiences show up to kindergarten more prepared to learn because they have improved cognitive development, motor skills, and behavior expectations. Those who don't have access aren't as prepared to learn and typically start out their formal education a bit behind. This can cause challenges for years to come.

What we need is tools and resources to help support young children, before they head to kindergarten, so they can be prepared to thrive.

That's what Cynthia Jackson is doing at Educare.

In this episode of the podcast, I sit down with Cynthia, the Executive Director of Educare, a learning lab that advances quality learning with partnerships, policy, and research so every child can thrive.

We talk about how children are learning from birth, the responsibilities of early childhood professionals, how data can create a continuous quality improvement mindset, and how other educators can get involved.

Cynthia D. Jackson leads the Educare Learning Network, a generative, coast-to-coast network of high-quality birth-to-five schools that function as innovative learning labs for the field of early childhood education. In her dual role as Senior Vice President at Start Early, she works alongside other senior leaders to advance the organization's mission. In collaboration with the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Educare Learning Network school leaders and other early childhood stakeholders, Cynthia advances practice, research and policy solutions to create greater system-wide impact. Prior to joining Start Early, she served as national director of training and technical assistance for Healthy Families America at Prevent Child Abuse America and director of the Midwest Learning Center for Family Support at Family Focus, Inc. Cynthia holds a master's degree in counseling and health education from the University of North Texas.

[1:50] - Where advocacy for young learners began for Cynthia

[3:30] - Children learn from day one

[4:18] - What is Educare and how does it contribute to a critical development stage

[5:25] - How partnerships in Educare work

[8:19] - The difference between children who have had access to early childhood experiences vs. those who haven't

[9:25] - How Educare addresses policy

[12:05] - How Educare manages the dynamic of cutting vs. adding

[13:02] - Innovative learning labs

[16:30] - Theory of change model

[17:35] - Parents are first and best teachers

[18:29] - Ways listeners can help shake up the resources for early childhood education

[20:42] - Turbo Time

[24:15] - Cynthia's Magic Wand

[26:01] - Maureen's Takeaways

Educare Learning Network

Connect with Cynthia on LinkedIn

Subscribe to Educare on YouTube

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Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

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Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

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LEADPrep

We focus a lot on the education of our youth, but people at the other end of their life need resources and education too. Many people lose their hearing as they age, making communication difficult and connection even more challenging. Seniors face isolation, which leads to anxiety, depression, and elevated symptoms of dementia.

What can help combat this is more family and community connections and learning something new. This week on the podcast, guest D'yann Crosby shares her solution to this challenge. And it's ingenious.

As an educator, D'yann has immersed herself in the deaf community, learning and understanding their needs and finding solutions to fill a need for a community that is underserved and marginalized. She emphasizes the importance of providing exercises for everyone, from hitting the beginning of language learning to senior citizens, and looking at the next generation.

Dr. D'yann Elaine is a leading American Sign Language (ASL) educator, interpreter, consultant, author, producer, and the founder of Sign with Me, Inc. She is an expert in connecting the hearing and Deaf communities and blazing new trails in this field.

Dr. D'yann holds a Doctorate in Divinity, two Bachelor's and two Master's degrees from prestigious universities. With a passion for social equity and inclusion, Dr. D'yann's goal is to help people expand their perspectives and focus on their abilities instead of their limitations.

With over two decades of experience, Dr. D'yann has dedicated her life to teaching others. She is the executive producer of the ASL Emergency Preparedness DVD Series and Unheard Voices Talk Show, as well as the author of the "Seniors Sign, Too!" book series. Her vision is to inspire a new generation of signers and make a positive impact by unifying communities through language. She has been featured in iDominate (April 2022 and February 2023) and Voyage LA (2022) and on various On-demand and podcast platforms including Power of Praise Network and Unshakeable Woman and Radio Theatre For Your Soul.

[1:40] - Learning is lifelong

[2:00] - Where the desire for impact started for D'yann

[4:05] - Equal communication access for those who are deaf and hard of hearing

[6:15] - 1 in 3 people over age 65 suffer hearing loss

[11:52] - Creating cross-generational and cross-cultural activities

[12:50] - ASL belongs to the deaf community

[13:57] - Family signing together and learning something new makes it more fun

[14:52] - Filling a need for a community that are underserved and marginalized

[18:01] - Serving those in the beginning stages of language learning on up to senior citizens

[19:19] - How to ease into learning ASL for parents and aging population

[23:19] - Goal is to raise awareness of ASL and continue to be lifelong learners, even as we age

[24:24] - Turbo Time

[31:57] - D'yann's Magic Wand

33:10] - Maureen's Takeaways

Sign with Me Inc.

Connect with D'yann on LinkedIn

Follow D'yann on Facebook

Follow D'yann on Instagram

Connect with D'yann on Twitter

Watch D'yann on YouTube

Episode 68: Sign Language and Inclusion Literature with Kathleen Marcath

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Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

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Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

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LEADPrep

It is not enough for all children to have access to the human right of equitable and inclusive education. Our schools need to have a clear sense of the outcomes we want each learner to demonstrate. I've talked in some previous episodes about an amazing organization in Guatemala, Camino Sequro.

This week on the podcast, I'm sharing more about what makes Camino Seguro special and spotlighting a few other schools and tying in past episodes where we talk about why clear outcomes, a mission that drives the organization, and wraparound support are so important to the success of our students.

Systemic support is necessary for our students, including basic human needs like safety, shelter, and food. Combine these with clear student outcomes and we will see a big and positive shift in the education of our youth.

[2:10] - Three aspects of healthy humans and forward-moving organizations

[2:30] - Recap of first two parts of this series

[2:58] - Looking at mission-driven organizations

[4:30] - What I've learned from podcast guests

[5:06] - The way we frame direction for students

[5:52] - About Philips High School and its mission, vision, and accomplishments

[9:46] - How can we get to outcome-based clarity

[14:00] - Student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change

[15:30] - What holistic support looks like at LEADPrep

[17:30] - My own transition

Human Rights: The Right to an Education

Human Rights: Giving Back

Volunteer/Get involved at Camino Seguro/Safe Passage

Safe Passage

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Episode 39: Creating Human-Centered Learning with Jenny O'Meara

Edgecombe County Graduate Profile

Great On Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Be Effective

Great on Their Behalf - first chapter

EffectiveSchoolBoards.com

Great on Their Behalf

Email AJ Crabill

Email Maureen

Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

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EdActive Collective

Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition

LEADPrep

Human performance optimization is how elite athletes hone their crafts, but just about anyone can take these learnings and apply them to their own work.

This week on the podcast I'm talking to Ford Dyke, a human performance coach who is passionate about human performance on the field and court, in the boardroom, and in the classroom. Ford shares his journey from graduate school to becoming a subject matter expert in the field, emphasizing the importance of being open to lifelong learning.

Ford focuses on the human side of optimization, where it's essential to get to know oneself so you can support others. Ford believes that everyone is connected, and we all have a brain, set of lungs, and heart. Understanding how we're all connected is one of the keys to growth and optimization. To maintain our energy, we need to stop and return to normalcy, whatever that means for each individual.

Especially in this post-pandemic world, it's crucial to find what works for us and makes us feel good and work those processes so we can continue to grow and evolve. In K-12 education, the focus should be on reenergizing and moving the education system forward by applying human performance optimization principles.

Join us in this episode to learn more about Ford Dyke's work and how you can optimize your own performance.

Human performance optimization subject-matter expert Dr. Ford Dyke delivers his innovation through podcasts, consultations, workshops, webinars, and seminars.

Dr. Dyke collaborates globally with high-level performers such as corporate executives, elite athletes, physicians, academicians, first responders, and military personnel. His methodology integrates components of his Professorship, Team USA Athlete career, and experience as a Performance Coach for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Dr. Dyke's education, professional experience, and personal journey led to the creation of perfor[Hu]mance.® | A multidimensional space for The Human Experience.

​

As a native of the seaside community of Jupiter Beach, Florida, he remains mindful of an ocean breeze and waves breaking on the sand.

[2:08] - How Ford got involved in doing things differently

[3:28] - Life experiences that make him a human performance coach

[5:03] - How have you worked on optimizing your own performance

[7:49] - From psychology to exercise science to psychophysiology

[11:26] - Course for perfor[Hu]mance

[12:56] - The common theme for any performance is the human

[16:31] - Common themes within a wide range of performers

[19:34] - How this is applied to K-12 education

[22:35] - We all have a brain, set of lungs, and heart

[22:34] - What people can do to maintain their own energy

[28:43] - Turbo Time

[37:46] - Ford's Magic Wand

[39:30] - Maureen's Takeaways

Connect with Ford on LinkedIn

Perfor[Hu]mance

Visit Ford's website

Team USA Handball

Email Maureen

Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

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LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution

EdActive Collective

Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition

LEADPrep

Our youth in low-income communities were already struggling with finding opportunities to become more upwardly mobile before the pandemic. And now they're struggling even more to find resources and often turn to the workforce, delaying higher education. For the last 30 years, Spark the Journey has been creating such opportunities in D.C., providing mentorship and community support to help black and brown students continue their education or find careers they enjoy.

This week on the podcast, I'm talking with Khari Brown about his own journey from his ah-ha moment as a basketball coach, seeing the great divide between the opportunities of his white players versus those of color. That led him to Spark the Journey, which he has grown to supporting more than 1,000 participants and volunteers alike.

In this conversation, we talk about volunteerism, racial inequality, creating partnerships of nonprofits, and more. Tune in now!

Khari Brown is the Chief Executive Officer of Spark the Journey, a 30-year-old nonprofit organization that provides mentorship and a community of support to young adults from DC's low-income communities. When Brown joined Spark the Journey, he was its only employee. He has since built Spark from a small-scale scholarship program to a renowned mentorship organization that has served 1,000+ program participants and engaged 1,000+ volunteer mentors.

[2:01] - Where this journey began for Khari

[3:57] - What Spark the Journey is

[4:53] - How kids and volunteers can get involved

[6:16] - What it looks like to be part of the program

[7:21] - It's hard to focus on being a student or pursuing a career when your basic needs aren't being met

[9:12] - What workforce development looks like for Spark the Journey

[13:01] - Town for Tomorrow Alliance

[13:41] - What it takes to engage and retain volunteers

[16:00] - Roadblocks that Spark the Journey is experiencing right now

[18:15] - Ways you can support youth with what they need to succeed in life

[19:24] - Turbo Time

[25:15] - Khari's Magic Wand

[27:08] - Maureen's Takeaways

Connect with Khari on LinkedIn

Follow Khari on Twitter

Spark the Journey

YearUp

Workforce resources at the Debruce Foundation, episode 136

Email Maureen

Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

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EdActive Collective

Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition

LEADPrep

Every child deserves an education, no matter their circumstances or geography. But not every child actually does get to go to school or have access to a quality education.

If you have access to podcasts, you likely have privileges that many of our youth and young adults across the globe don't have. You have a roof over your head; you have food on your table; and you likely have a job that allows you resources and luxuries that some wouldn't even dream about.

One of those luxuries is likely time. No matter how busy you are, you don't have to scavenge for food or other basic necessities. And that means you have the means to give back to those who do.

This week on the podcast, I'm sharing part two of a three-part series on the basic human right to an education. In the episode, I share three ways you can make a positive difference in your own life that allows you to, at the same time, give back to others.

If you care about our youth on a global scale, listen in!

[1:15] - Part two of the three-part series

[1:40] - Clarifying beliefs about what every learner deserves

[2:43] - Our children are facing many issues

[4:12] - Three ways people can make a positive shift in their energy

[5:06] - Passion and purpose help us all dive into life

[6:51] - Implement a gratitude practice in your life

[8:03] - Explore voluntourism as schools and families

[8:55] - Get involved with Camino Seguro

[9:43] - Give your students and kids the gift of being empowered to make a difference

Episode 155: [Human Rights Series] The Right to an Education

Positive Psychology on Ikigai

Blue Zones–Live Better, Longer

School the World and their episode 79 podcast

New Dawn Guatemala

ME to WE trips

What is Voluntourism

Volunteer/Get involved at Camino Seguro/Safe Passage

Purple Community Foundation

Safe Passage

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

More SDG Goal 4 information

Episode 39: Creating Human-Centered Learning

Great on Their Behalf first chapter

EffectiveSchoolBoards.com

Great on Their Behalf

Email Maureen

Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

Facebook: Follow Education Evolution

Twitter: Follow Education Evolution

LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution

EdActive Collective

Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition

LEADPrep

In years past, summer school has been used as a way to punish kids who were falling behind, putting them into remedial classes where there was a lot of rote memorization and dry reading crammed into a short space. While those days aren't fully over yet, many organizations and schools are working hard to create summer school programs that are engaging and allow students to succeed on their own terms.

Imagine Learning is one such organization. Through technology, teachers can personalize learning for students and try out new modalities in summer school. And students can grow leaps and bounds in smaller classes with teachers who are more focused on their needs.

This week on the podcast, Sari Factor of Imagine Learning is sharing more about the benefits of summer school, why we shouldn't be afraid of technology, how we can use summer school as a way to address inequity in learning, and so much more.

If you're an educator or parent who is wondering about the value of summer school, it's time to listen in!

Sari is the Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer at Imaging Learning.

She began her career as a mathematics teacher but soon thought of much bigger ways to impact students. Recognizing that technology could greatly transform the way students learn, she made a career move into education technology and has been working to leverage technology to help students, teachers, schools, and districts ever since.

Sari joined Imagine Learning in 2011 and has held leadership positions at successful educational publishing and learning technology companies, including Kaplan, McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin, and Everyday Learning Corporation. "I knew that I could fulfill my vision to combine technology with research on learning to make education truly student-centered."

[1:39] Where transforming education began for Sari

[2:42] - A tech upside to the pandemic

[3:59] - First response to tech is to feel threatened

[4:57] - You can't separate school work from work at large

[5:25] - How Imagine Learning is maximizing student learning

[6:35] - In summer school in particular, you can personalize learning in a way you can't during the regular school year

[8:26] - Teachers can focus better in summer school

[9:45] - Personalized intervention comes into play for mastery learning

[12:54] - The gift of mastery based learning

[14:40] - Making a positive impact on test scores

[17:50] - How administrators can address burnout of year round schooling and support teachers and students

[21:21] - Summer classes can address inequity in learning

[24:48] - What learners and educators can feel less daunted about summer school

[27:36] - Turbo Time

[32:48] - Sari's Magic Wand

[34:00] - Maureen's Takeaways

Connect with Sari on LinkedIn

Email Maureen

Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

Facebook: Follow Education Evolution

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EdActive Collective

Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

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LEADPrep

We've all always known that not everyone has the same access to a quality education. We only need to look in our own communities to see the difference. But travel overseas and you'll find children living in poverty that we can't even imagine who don't have access to some of our basic human rights, education being only one of them.

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala City to visit a school, Camino Seguro, that is trying to change this lack of access for children in its community. Known as Safe Passage in English, this school is just one example of what one teacher can do.

This episode is part one of a three-part series on our basic human rights. We'll cover the right to an education and mental health services as well as how to start supporting initiatives to ensure every child has what they need to succeed.

In this first episode of the series, I talk about the Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted by the United Nations in 2015, the loss of services many underprivileged areas saw as a result of the pandemic, and how one school is helping students disrupt the poverty cycle for their families.

[1:46] - A reminder of my beliefs and mission

[2:47] - Safe Passage and the right to an education

[3:51] - Learning about Jane Walker and the quality of life in Tondo

[3:45] - Families have to choose between sending kids to school or to work

[6:06] - Fast forward to today and having a broader sense of what learners need

[6:07] - Looking at equity and learning opportunities with a global lens

[7:08] - UN Sustainable development goals, adopted in 2015 as a call to action

[8:36] - Local public schools in international schools are vastly different from private schools

[9:50] - Children in extreme poverty have no access to basic human needs, including education

[10:30] - The global educational impact of the pandemic

[11:33] - We see the learning gap and how it's grown

[12:13] - Camino Segurio's systemic and holistic support to the poorest families in Guatemala City

[15:13] - Hanley Denning's story and how Safe Passage came to be

[17:02] - Safe Passage is a gateway out of poverty

[18:18] - Maureen's Magic Wand

Volunteer/Get involved at Camino Seguro/Safe Passage

Purple Community Foundation

Safe Passage

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Email Maureen

Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

Facebook: Follow Education Evolution

Twitter: Follow Education Evolution

LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution

EdActive Collective

Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition

LEADPrep

Traditional standardized assessments are easy to use because they expect every student to take the exact same test. It's easy to grade and inexpensive to administer. But these kinds of tests don't work. They expect mastery at a granular level and don't account for students who are well above or below the bell curve.

Technology now allows us to administer adaptive assessments, where students are taken on a journey and the test is customized to find out where they excel and where they might need more help.

One person leading this charge with adaptive assessments is Nathan Thompson of Assessment Systems. In this week's episode, Nathan shares more about the importance of adaptive technology, how we can do better as educators, and other use cases for this technology.

Nathan Thompson is CEO and Co-Founder of Assessment Systems, a company driven to improve assessment by making modern psychometrics accessible to more organizations, from adaptive testing to item response theory to automated essay scoring. Nate earned his PhD in Psychometrics from the University of Minnesota, with a focus on AI algorithms in adaptive testing.

[1:42] - Where Nathan's story of impacting education began

[3:11] - What is computerized adaptive technology

[5:20] - Adaptive technology is beneficial for making assessment the right size for every learners

[6:14] - Where we are as a country in adaptive technology

[8:07] - Lots of room for improvement on state assessments

[9:09] - How to make adaptive tests more realistic for teachers

[10:18] - Difference between formative and summative assessments

[11:24] - How to do better as adults

[13:31] - How it works in the real world

[14:20] - How to get started in creating better assessments

[16:00] - Assessments can help people evaluate where they should go in their careers

Instead of expecting

[18:23] - Creating stackable credentials

[21:28] - What's next for this mission

[22:42] - How educators can use smarter and more accurate assessment tools

[24:48] - What about for educators that struggle with statistics and numbers

[26:56] - Turbo Time

[28:06] - What people need to know about computerized adaptive testing

[29:40] - What Nathan brings to assessment work

[32:07] - Nathan's Magic Wand

[33:32] - Maureen's Takeaways

Assessment Systems

Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn

Follow Nathan on Twitter

Agilities

Email Maureen

Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

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LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution

EdActive Collective

Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition

LEADPrep

Every human on the planet has a right to an education. And, more importantly, a right to the education that they need and want. In Western culture, that often looks like traditional education…sitting in seats in classrooms and memorizing vocabulary and historical dates.

Not only is this not what our children need, the ability to memorize isn't a sign of success. Nor is this even a good way to educate anyone.

This week on the podcast, I'm talking with William Tucker of Charity United, a US-based organization that provides humanitarian aid to those in need. William and I talk about what quality education actually is and why we need to ask what others need instead of simply assuming we know.

There's so much nuance in the way people learn and we need to approach education from the perspective of helping others to understand and learn how to think rather than thinking the way society does.

This was a wonderful conversation around the English language, human rights, and why we need to approach teaching and learning from a different mindset.

William Tucker and his wife have helped over 100,000 kids & civilians in the slums of India, improving their quality of life through literacy education, emergency aid, and other philanthropic initiatives. As a Co-Founder of Charity United, a U.S.-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and civilians in need, William helps ensure children receive food, clothing, shelter, and education.

William has worked as an educational specialist and corporate training officer in International Charitable organizations for several decades, training thousands of individuals for their jobs in order to improve the productivity of these organizations. After selling his house and living in the slums of India for a year, William discovered through on-the-ground experience the problems that kids most often face while living in the slums, mainly a lack of educational opportunities.

In collaboration with charities and volunteers in India, Africa, and Latin America, Charity United provides educational tools to children with the aim of giving all children an equal opportunity for a promising future.

[1:47] - How William joined the cause

[2:50] - The underlying cause of challenges - failure to communicate, uneducated

[3:51] - What counters undereducation

[5:15] - The ability to think is what sets us apart

[6:42] - Goals for working with students in India

[7:20] - Don't be arrogant and assume you know better

[10:02] - In all the top English literature education materials, they didn't teach the sequence of learning a language

[16:08] - Use illustrative examples and the kids will start learning

[16:57] - Removing frequency words for better understanding

[19:08] - The real point of education: understanding

[19:54] - We're not telling them what to think; we're telling them how to think

[20:25] - Illustrations for educational purposes is much different than illustrations for entertainment

[21:47] - Adults can extract logic out of an image but kids are a blank slate

[24:47] - Making the right of literacy a priority around the world

[26:24] - Turbo Time

[27:27] - What people need to know about learner-centered learning

[28:27] - Everyone has opportunity to human rights, no matter where they grew up

[29:36] - How to be an activist to support learning and literacy

[30:54] - William's Magic Wand

[31:38] - Maureen's Takeaways

The Young Genius Series

Charity United

Follow Charity United on Facebook

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Subscribe to Charity United on YouTube

Email Maureen

Maureen's TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

The Education Evolution

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EdActive Collective

Maureen's book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

Micro-school feature on Good Morning America

The Micro-School Coalition

Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition

LEADPrep