"People confuse a student's current performance level with their potential. Those are not the same things."

- Jonathan Plucker

Dr. Jonathan Plucker is not afraid to share information. He talks to me about the importance of interpreting data, looking at good data and bad data, how we're using the information we gather in education to improve our schools. He talks about the importance of nurturing students' potential, and bridging excellence gaps in education. He even asks me about my journey through education at the end of the interview!

You can find Jonathan on Twitter @jonathanplucker and on the Bright Now! podcast

01:45 - An overview of Jonathan's podcast and his favorite episode

05:35 - Data is important: we all need to learn to interpret it, differentiate between the good and the bad, and stop being scared of it

11:00 - You may find things you're not looking for when you look at data

13:20 - What's the difference between performance and potential, and what factors affect them?

19:05 - Use your privileges and blessings to improve what you can for those who come after you

21:15 - Barriers to students' development

27:30 - What are excellence gaps and how are we working to close them?

34:00 - My journey through education