This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is a part of our New Pathways campaign. In partnership with ASA, the Gates Foundation, Stand Together and the Walton 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, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Michael Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal service agency connecting individuals and organizations to tackle the nation’s most pressing challenges. Michael also served as executive director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and as director of Youth Opportunity Programs at the Obama Foundation. Prior, he was the White House’s Director of the Social Innovation Fund.

Links:

• Michael Smith bio
• AmeriCorps
• AmeriCorps Fit Finder
• AmeriCorps Guide for Districts
• The National Partnership for Student Success
• The Obama Foundation
• My Brother’s Keeper Alliance
• Best Practices Clearinghouse
• Public Health AmeriCorps
• Strategic plan

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Tom Vander Ark is joined by Dr. Belle Liang, a professor of Counseling Psychology at Boston College, and Tim Klein, an award-winning urban educator, clinical therapist, school counselor and formerly served as the Chief Impact Officer at Project Wayfinder. Tim now works with Belle at the Purpose Lab. 

Both are also authors of the great new book How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career, and Beyond. 

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, it’s a family reunion! Nate McClennen is joined by Abel McClennen, the Director and one of the founders of La Paz Community School in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. A PK-12 school on two campuses with a mission to cultivate informed, mindful citizens of the world.

Links: 

• La Paz School
• Abel McClennen LinkedIn
• Ted Sizer
• David Rogers on Dual Language Enrollment

This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is a part of our New Pathways campaign. In partnership with ASA, the Gates Foundation, Stand Together and the Walton 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 the recent Getting Smart Town Hall, the team was joined by Julia Freeland Fisher (Clayton Christensen Institute), Edward DeJesus (Social Capital Builders, Inc.) and Tyler Thigpen (The Forest School) for a discussion of innovative approaches to mapping and analyzing students’ existing networks as a way to build more asset-based pathways. 

This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is a part of our New Pathways campaign. In partnership with ASA, the Gates Foundation, Stand Together and the Walton 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 Tom Vander Ark is joined by Bruno Manno, a veteran of education philanthropy and editor of a new collection of essays, The Opportunity to Rise: Rethinking K-12 Education Pathways to Social and Economic Mobility.

This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is a part of our New Pathways campaign. In partnership with ASA, the Gates Foundation, Stand Together and the Walton 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, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Karla Phillips-Krivickas, CEO of Think Inclusion and member of the Arizona state education board in. Karla has spent 25 years leading policy work at KnowledgeWorks and ExcelinEd and is an expert in competency-based education. She also serves as an advisor to Getting Smart. 

Let’s listen in as they discuss Karla’s recent policy victories, what truly inclusive education means, Karla’s unique journey and much more. 

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Nate McClennen is joined by Lisa Lewis, a freelance journalist who focuses on the intersection of parenting, public health, and education and recent author of The Sleep-Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive. 

Let’s listen in as they discuss the problem with the school schedule, research and science around sleep and getting work done at the policy level. 

Links

• The Sleep-Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive
• Lisa L. Lewis
• Start School Later’
• Lisa Lewis Twitter

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Dr. Valerie Truesdale, the Assistant Executive Director of AASA, the Superintendents Association; and Dr. David Miyashiro, Superintendent of Cajon Valley Unified School District and Dr. Kelly Niccolls Teaching and Learning Asst. Director, Secondary at Cheney School District to discuss next generation school system leadership. 

Together they cover: What skills are required today? Who is the next generation of school leaders? What matters to them?

Links: 

• AASA
• Cajon Valley Unified School District
• Cheney School District
• Previous town hall with David Myashiro
• Previous podcast with Valerie Truesdale
• Decolonizing Education by Kelly Niccols

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Dr. Michael T. Conner, CEO/Founder of the Agile Evolutionary Group. Dr. Conner served as Superintendent of Schools (Middletown, CT), Chief Academic Officer (Norwalk, CT), Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning (Willimantic, CT) and Principal of Augusta Lewis Troup School (New Haven, CT). He is the creator and architect of the Disruptive Excellence Framework.

Links: 

• Agile Evolution Group
• Dr. Michael Conner Twitter
• Dr. Michael Conner LinkedIn
• Thomas Siebel - Digital Transformation
• What’s Next - Clay Christensen
• Atul Gwande 

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by the phenomenal Kaya Henderson. Kaya is the CEO of Reconstruction, a edtech company that delivers k-12 courses that situates Black people, culture, and contributions in an authentic, identity-affirming way. Kaya is a career educator, starting as a middle school Spanish teacher in the South Bronx with Teach for America.

Kaya has been a leader in DC for 20+ years, first with TFA, then TNTP and then a decade at DCPS. She co-hosts the popular podcast Pod Save the People, with DeRay McKesson. 

Let’s listen in as they discuss representation, hosting a podcast and the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy. 

Links:

• LinkedIn
• Pod Save the People