Getting Smart Podcast

Today the Getting Smart team is bringing you a bonus episode! Recently, they got the chance to interview a ton of great people at the recent iNACOL conference and want to bring it to you early as a little holiday gift this season.

In this special bonus episode, Tom interviews Nicole Assisi and Shelly Kurt of Thrive to talk all about how they are building community and doubling proficiency rates for children from low-income neighborhoods.

Nicole and Shelly originally met at a San Diego Starbucks five years ago and went on to create one of the nation's most thoughtfully design K-12 networks serving diverse low-income neighborhoods — Thrive. From the first napkin of that fateful day, they outlined the key elements that make Thrive so special — project-based, personalized, and social-emotional learning. They wanted to create a place that helps develop good humans that solve problems with discernment, empathy, and agency — and they did. They picked two underserved neighborhoods in east San Diego, City Heights, and Linda Vista, and set to work combine all of these elements that make Thrive so special.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's bonus episode.

[1:27] Tom welcomes Nicole and Shelly to the podcast.

[1:45] About Nicole's high school education and early career.

[2:21] Where Shelly grew up, her high school experience, and when she decided to pursue education as a career.

[3:01] The story of how Nicole and Shelly first met.

[5:01] The core teachings and transformative education Nicole and Shelly focus on at Thrive.

[6:09] Nicole discusses the underserved communities they decided to focus on in San Diego.

[8:16] Nicole and Shelly discuss their newly opened k-8 campus.

[9:01] How the new space compliments their program.

[11:50] Jessica takes a moment to explain a campaign Getting Smart is supporting this winter called 'Share your Learning.'

[12:31] About the flexibility and functionality of their space.

[14:00] Shelly and Nicole discuss their project-based learning and social-emotional learning that they implement at Thrive, and how

[16:25] Nicole and Shelly describe their organizational learning.

[18:23] What else Nicolle and Shelly are doing to share their lessons outside of Thrive.

[20:49] Nicole and Shelly's learnings about high school.

[22:16] Does Thrive have ambitions to grow a giant network?

[23:16] What Nicole and Shelly are most curious about right now and want to work towards.

[26:00] A big thanks to Nicole and Shelly for joining Tom this episode!

For More on Great Schools, Check Out:

Episode 88 — "Making the City the Text at High Tech High" with founder Larry Rosenstock, and

Episode 95 — "Leadership for School Progress with Poway Unified" with School District's Superintendent and Principal from Design 39.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Thrive

iNACOL

High Tech High

Share your Learning

Corte Madera School District

Next Generation Learning Challenges

Silicon Schools Fund

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Today, and for the next three weeks, the Getting Smart team is going to explore a new initiative from Education Reimagined.

Education Reimagined recently released a paper entitled, "School's Out," which set out to explore how we could alter our perspective on the meaning, feel, and delivery of learning. Tom had the opportunity to sit down with the education leaders who authored "School's Out," and over the next three episodes, he will be digging deeper into what the future of learning may look like for students.

In this particular episode, Tom interviews Amy Anderson, Executive Director of ReSchool Colorado; and Scott Van Beck, former Executive Director for the educational non-profit, Houston A+ Challenge. Tom and Amy talk about family participation in learner advocate networks, flexibility within the learner's day, and what a reimagined model for education may look like for rural students; Tom and Scott Van Beck discuss the expanded role the community could play in offering learning opportunities for students, how teachers and community members could shift into the role of learning designers, and how parents could use their expertise to design learning experiences.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] Caroline and Jessica introduce today's topics and guests.

[1:01] Tom welcomes Amy Anderson to the podcast, and she talks about her early education.

[2:05] Amy's past roles in education, and about her current role with ReSchool Colorado.

[3:01] How the idea that 'learning occurs everywhere' became a core part of ReSchool Colorado.

[4:39] Amy's ideas on what is central to education and how she'd rethink schools.

[5:43] How and why guidance is so crucial in education.

[7:38] What a learning week might look like in Amy's reimagined school.

[9:55] What might this reimagined education look like in a rural environment?

[11:05] Amy's ideas on how schools can better equip students to show/demonstrate their expanded skills (i.e. an alternative to report cards.)

[13:40] How Amy invites educators to be a part of the conversation of reimagining school.

[16:41] An introduction to this week's next guest: Scott Van Beck.

[17:24] Tom welcomes Scott to the podcast.

[17:33] How and why Scott originally became a teacher.

[19:14] Scott summarizes his insights in his "School's Out" paper.

[21:30] What Scott sees as the new backbone to learning.

[23:22] How learning coaches would work and develop.

[28:13] Scott's take on how we should think about career preparation now.

[34:29] The importance of getting to know kids, connect them to community opportunities, and how those outcomes can become more important than the traditional skills schools currently teach.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Education Reimagined

ReSchool Colorado

Houston A+ Challenge

"School's Out: What if Schools, As We Know Them, Didn't Exist?"

"School's Out: What if School Didn't Exist?"

"School's Out: Exploring a Family-Anchored Strategy to Transform Education" (Amy's paper)

"School's Out: How This Learner-Centered Society Would Liberate Parents" (Scott's paper)

Teton Science Schools

Donnell-Kay Foundation

HopSkipDrive GripTape

CottageClass

iNACOL

Who You Know: Unlocking Innovations That Expand Students' Networks, by Julia Freeland Fisher

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Today, the Getting Smart team is going international. Tom recently visited the Singapore American School (for his second time!) and is incredibly excited to share all about the signs of progress happening over there.

With a tradition of academic excellence, Singapore American School serves 4,000 preschool to 12th-grade students. After serving as a District Superintendent in Washington State, Dr. Chip Kimball joined SAS as Superintendent in 2012. The board asked Kimball to make the school as good at life prep as it was at college prep. The six-year transformation that ensued is a remarkable story of reinvention at scale.

In this episode, Tom speaks with Dr. Chip Kimball, along with Deputy Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Sparrow, who has deep roots at SAS and has been with them for 20 years (10 of those having led the academic team). Together, they tell Tom the SAS story and all of the exciting progress that has been happening — from talent, to care and guidance, to high-impact instructional strategies.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's episode with Tom, Chip Kimball, and Jennifer Sparrow.

[1:10] Tom welcomes Chip and Jennifer to the podcast.

[1:21] Tom's and Chip's background together, and why Chip decided to join SAS in 2012.

[2:50] Chip's progress in shaping SAS's education and facility.

[5:26] Jennifer's background as an international educator, and what originally drew her to SAS.

[8:12] Tom highlights some of the remarkable progress at Singapore American School since he last visited (two years ago), such as the talent agenda.

[11:18] Jennifer's and Chip's thoughts on fostering talent and the importance of their institutional commitments.

[14:18] About SAS's professional learning communities (PLC.)

[15:20] Jennifer speaks about how they continue to support, encourage, and monitor their PLC practices.

[17:05] Chip speaks about some of the investments that they've made to strengthen their PLC practices.

[20:44] Tom highlights another sign of remarkable progress at Singapore American School: care and guidance (such as adding more social-emotional programming). Jennifer and Chip speak about their work towards this and the progress they've made.

[22:53] Two more signs of remarkable progress at Singapore American School: better response intervention and PLC (What if kids don't get it? How do we intervene? And if they do get it, how do we accelerate their learning?)

[26:11] Why Chip decided to break the roles of college counseling and pastor of care into two.

[30:27] Jennifer and Chip speak about the next step to the work that starts with responsive classrooms: advisory.

[32:29] A focal point of SAS: mentoring (both for students and from students).

[34:24] Jennifer and Chip talk high impact instructional strategies at SAS.

[37:40] What is "try time" for students in middle school?

[43:23] About SAS's three tiers of inquiry-based learning.

[45:33] About SAS's personalized inquiry catalyst graduation requirement.

[47:45] One of SAS's most ambitious changes: becoming a leading AP factory and then scaling that back by strategically replacing AP courses with more advanced topic courses created by teachers and college faculty.

[52:10] Another academic area SAS is making huge progress in — competency-based learning.

[56:03] About SAS's new learning spaces on campus.

[1:02:57] Tom congratulates Chip and Jennifer in the progress they've made at SAS.

If You Enjoyed Learning about Singapore American school, be sure to check out:

Episode 162: "Personalize Learning and Build Agency by Using the 4 PLC Questions," featuring Tim Stuart.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Singapore American School

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Today Tom Vander Ark is flying solo — literally, he's flying right now on a trip between SoCal and Singapore. Just this past week he visited twenty amazing personalized learning schools in Southern California and can't wait to share everything he learned on personalized learning today.

In this episode, Tom covers five main attributes of personalized learning, five ways teachers can support personalized learning, ten ways administrators can build systems for personalized learning, and some thoughts on spaces and architecture for personalized learning environments.

Key Takeaways:

[:14] About today's episode.

[:35] What Tom will be discussing today around personalized learning.

[:54] What personalized learning is and the five main attributes of it.

[4:55] Five things teachers can do to support personalized learning.

[6:58] Ten ways administrators can help build systems for personalized learning.

[11:47] Tom closes this podcast with a few thoughts on space and architecture for personalized learning environments.

[16:48] Tom and the Getting Smart team would love to hear from you! Let them know what you think about this episode by emailing Editor@GettingSmart.com or leaving a review on iTunes.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Todd RoseThrive Public Schools

District 51

Albemarle Public County Schools

Salisbury Township School District

Cajon Valley Union School District

High Tech High

Larry Rosenstock

Randy Ziegenfuss on Teacher Leadership and Student-Centered Learning

Listening to Kids and Designing from Scratch for Timeless Learning

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

In this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, the Getting Smart team is throwing it back to one of their favorite episodes from Season 1 where they explore and listen to some student stories around their experiences with project-based learning (PBL); have an interview with a project-based learning STEM teacher of Flight by Design; as well as hear from education leaders in the project-based world, Bob Lenz and John Larmer of Buck Institute for Education (BIE).

The students in Flight by Design, an engineering and math course at Raisbeck Aviation High School in the Highline School District, are immersed in a year-long project to design an airfoil. In the process, the students are learning about engineering, math, and science while also collaborating and communicating effectively with their team.

In today's episode, you can look forward to hearing answers to questions such as: how do projects make students feel? What is it like, from a student's point of view and a teacher's point of view, to participate and lead meaningful projects? What skills do projects teach? And why is project-based learning, perhaps, a necessity for our democracy? You can also look forward to hearing BIE Executive Director Lenz discuss his inspiration for the work he does to spread high-quality project-based learning across the country (and the world); and John Larmer, author and BIE editor in chief, telling the team exactly what constitutes a high-quality project.

Key Takeaways:

[:16] About today's rerun episode from season 1!

[:48] What Megan thinks about when she hears the word "project."

[1:50] Did Megan do any cool and meaningful projects back when she was a student?

[2:40] About the students in the Flight by Design class and their latest project.

[3:20] FbD students explain their project assignment and what it has taught them.

[4:50] The students' career goals and how this project has helped them come one step closer to reaching those goals.

[6:00] The importance of the skills these students are learning with project-based learning.

[6:55] What these students would tell their future selves.

[7:44] How mentors that partner with Flight by Design have helped students learn.

[8:30] How this student learns best.

[9:05] What the student likes best about project-based learning.

[10:40] An introduction to the teacher who teaches the students who were just interviewed.

[11:03] The teacher introduces himself and explains the Flight by Design class and how their projects work.

[17:01] The teacher's recommendations to other teachers on creating a better class environment and more effective projects.

[20:25] About Getting Smart's next few interviews: Bob Lenz and John Larmer of Buck Institute for Education (BIE).

[20:56] John describes what a good student project is.

[22:18] Bob talks about an impactful project he did in the 5th grade under the instruction of his teacher, Mr. Cooper.

[23:37] Bob's thoughts on the way students most effectively learn.

[24:23] Why Bob started working as Executive Director at BIE and his excitement for PBL.

[26:14] What people should do if they want to learn more.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Buck Institute for Education (BIE)

Raisbeck Aviation High School

Highline School District

Westwood High School

PBL World (#PBLWorld)

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

If you follow education social media, you've probably heard of Salisbury Superintendent, Randy Ziegenfuss. Randy has been the Superintendent for almost four years but prior to that held different roles in education, teaching music and technology. Over the last few years, he's become a leading advocate of learner-centered education and blogs all about it at WorkingAtTheEdge.org. With his Assistant Superintendent, Randy has also produced more than 40 episodes of the Shift Your Paradigm podcast, where he explores learner-centered education and leadership.

Recently, Tom got the chance to catch up with Randy to find out what motivates and informs his leadership. Tom and Randy discuss his earlier roles in education, his current role as Superintendent, the shift in education to more student-centered education (rather than school-centered), the framework his district is using to help shape this, more about his podcast with co-host, Lynn Fuini-Hetten, and what they set out to accomplish with it.

Key Takeaways: [:16] About this week's guest, Randy Ziegenfuss. [1:06] About Randy's early education. [4:11] Does Randy think that music teachers have a special appreciation for personalized and competency-based learning? And that every learner is on a different journey? [8:43] How being a band director teaches you humility. [10:48] How Randy moved from his position teaching music, to teaching technology, to becoming Superintendent. [15:17] About next week's iNACOL Party in Nashville. Email [email protected] to get your name on the list! [15:36] Randy speaks about the analog-to-digital learning shift in education and how it has helped to provide perspective on the current shift from school-centered to student-centered. [19:26] When student-centered learning really clicked for Randy. [21:13] Did Randy adopt Education Reimagined's student-centered learning principles as part of his strategic plan at Salisbury? [23:55] Randy's journey at Salisbury and his progress in shifting the schools to more student-based learning. [31:44] How Randy's framework is helping to shift the mindsets and allow time for reflection. [33:25] Randy's thoughts on the tension between innovation and equity (when progress is happening at different speeds in the district). [35:35] About Randy's podcast, Shift Your Paradigm, and what he's trying to accomplish with it. [41:37] Looking forward, what is Randy most curious about in transforming education? [44:22] Parting words and thanks from Tom and Randy.

Mentioned in This Episode: Randy's Twitter Randy's LinkedIn WorkingAtTheEdge.Org Shift Your Paradigm Podcast Lynn Fuini-Hetten's Twitter (Randy's podcast co-host) Social Good Summit Johns Hopkins University Education Reimagined Pioneering Newsletter

If you want to hear another great discussion with a student-centered leader, listen to: Episode 63: Listening to Kids and Designing from Scratch for Timeless Learning with Pam Moran

Get Involved: Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com. Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered? To get in contact: Email [email protected] and include 'Podcast' in the subject line. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

In this episode of the Getting Smart podcast, Tom interviews Sam Seidel, the Director of K12 Strategy and Research at the Stanford d.school, to discuss how he and his team are teaching design thinking in order to hack school and prep youth for complexity.

They talk about Sam's early education and whether or not he had any experiences that resembled design thinking, what the K12 lab at Stanford d.school does, about his previous work at the Business Innovation Factory (BIF), and his (and d.school's) definition on design thinking. They also discuss the importance of maintaining flexibility when it comes to using design thinking, some of the cool projects that d.school has launched in K12 in the last few years, the "shadow a student" challenge, what the deeper learning puzzle bus is, and what a school that fully incorporates design thinking might look like.

Key Takeaways:

[:49] About Sam's early education.

[5:12] Did Sam have any experiences in high school or college that resembled design thinking?

[7:06] Sam talks about the work he did at the Business Innovation Factory (BIF).

[12:00] What the K12 lab at the Stanford d.school does.

[13:02] Sam explains d.school's "crash course" on design thinking (from their Discover Design Thinking workshop).

[15:36] D.School's definition of design thinking — is it a mindset or methodology?

[17:40] The importance of maintaining flexibility when it comes to teaching/using design thinking.

[18:48] Sam speaks about their proposed equity-centered design framework.

[20:43] Sam talks about one of the cool projects that d.school has launched in K12 in the last few years: 'School Retool'.

[26:36] About the "shadow a student" challenge.

[29:22] About the active shooter drill Sam experienced while shadowing a student in a classroom.

[31:37] What is a deeper learning puzzle bus?

[35:35] Sam describes what a school that fully incorporates design thinking might look like.

[38:38] How Sam thinks about design thinking in writing, as an English teacher.

[40:00] Areas that Sam is thinking about, going forward, in the K12 lab at the d.school.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Stanford d.school

Business Innovation Factory

Gates Foundation

High Tech High

Getting Smart episode: "Apple Exec on Rewiring Education"

Digital Promise Association for High School Innovation (AHSI)

Rhode Island Department of Education

Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC)

360 High School

Edutopia

School Retool

Discover Design Thinking

Olin College

Hewlett

Einhorn Family Charitable Fund

4.0 Schools

Shadow a Student Challenge

Tom's article on Getting Smart: "32 Ways AI is Improving Education"

If you're excited about design thinking and its impact on education, take a look at these resources on GettingSmart.com:

Building Transferable Skills: Design Tech High at Oracle Campus

What's Up With All the Design-Focused Schools?

Design Thinking as Pedagogy For Students and Educators

Design Thinking and its Impact on Education Innovation

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Today, Tom and Emily are taking you on a virtual field trip to Murie Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. Over the last year and a half, you may have seen a ton of blogs (from the Getting Smart website) on place-based education. The Getting Smart team is extremely passionate about this topic — so passionate in fact, that they're currently writing a field guide to place-based learning, and they're doing it with experts in the field at Teton Science Schools in Jackson, Wyoming.

Tom and Emily take you to Jackson, to speak with Nate McClennon, VP of Education and Innovation at Teton Science Schools and Cristen Girard, the host at the Murie Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. Together, they dive into the six aspects of place-based education at Teton Science Schools and discuss the guidebook they're writing. They also explain their hopes for the impact that Murie Ranch will have on students, what all educators should know about place-based learning, what exactly defines "place" education and all the reasons why place-based education is so powerful, impactful, and relevant today.

Key Takeaways:

[:14] All about today's episode.

[1:08] Cristen introduces herself and explains what the Murie Ranch is.

[2:43] The famous people that have spent time at the Robin's Nest cabin at Murie Ranch.

[3:38] Cris explains what happens the kind of learning that happens at the ranch.

[4:38] What Cris hopes for the impact that the Murie Ranch will have.

[6:00] What should all educators know about place-based learning?

[7:14] Is place-based learning worth all the extra effort?

[9:36] Nate describes place-based education.

[10:11] The community impact that place-based education has.

[10:45] The three components Teton Science Schools defines "place" as.

[11:16] Emily explains how place-based education relates to high-quality project-based learning.

[13:18] Nate runs through the six design principles of Teton Science Schools, starting with the first: that the community should be viewed as the classroom.

[16:36] Nate explains the second of the six design principles: learner-centered.

[18:06] The third design principle: inquiry-based.

[20:35] Emily explains the fourth design principle: local to global.

[24:10] The fifth design principle: design thinking.

[25:28] Teton Science Schools' view on design thinking.

[27:32] The sixth, and last, design principle: an interdisciplinary approach.

[28:46] How to get involved with Tom and Emily's guidebook that they're writing on place-based education.

[29:42] Where to learn more about Teton Science Schools.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Teton Science Schools

Murie Ranch in Grand Teton National Park

Big Picture Learning

Getting Smart Episode: "What's Up With All the Design-Focused Schools?"

PlaceSchools.org

For More on the Topic of Place-Based Education, Check Out:

Season 2, Episode 16: "Experiencing Place-Based Education at Teton Science Schools"

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Today, Tom has a discussion with Rie Nøorgaard. Growing up in Denmark, Rie found design integrated into her life. After completing a design degree at the Danish School of Media and Journalism, she spent a decade as a Creative Director for several agencies. Three years ago, she joined San Francisco-based SYPartners, a consulting firm that behaves like a design firm. Clients of SYPartners include AT&T, eBay, Facebook, IBM, Google, and non-profits such as PBS and Planned Parenthood. What led her to SYPartners was her passion for design as an active service — from designing more inclusive organizations to reimagining how an ordinary product could become extraordinary for its users.

This episode, Tom talks to Rie about design thinking and her new podcast, Designing for Humanity. They discuss a typical day at work with SYPartners, the kinds of transformations she is helping the organizations she works with to achieve, all about the complexity of transformation, what "design being an active service" means, where and how design could be incorporated into schools, and her recommendations for further learning on the topic.

Key Takeaways:

[:18] About today's episode with Rie Nøorgaard.

[1:20] Tom welcomes Rie to the podcast.

[1:33] The origin story of Rie's interest in design.

[2:38] Rie's experience at the Danish School of Media and Journalism.

[3:17] About Rie's role at SYPartners.

[4:13] Is it more of a structured process or a set of tools that SYPartners brings into every engagement with each client or partner?

[5:45] What SYPartners' tools look like in terms of structuring a conversation or designing an experience.

[6:37] What it's like to work at SYPartners; a typical day for Rie at work.

[9:39] Does SYPartners have a number of clients and partners at one time?

[10:17] The kinds of organizations that Rie works for and the kinds of transformations she's helping them to achieve.

[13:02] Rie explains the complexity of transformation.

[14:54] Are design and design thinking becoming more important?

[17:13] Rie's thoughts on how and where design could be incorporated into schools (particularly secondary schools.)

[20:58] What does "design being an active service" mean to Rie?

[22:37] The purpose and goal of Rie's Designing for Humanity podcast.

[25:56] Online resources Rie recommends for learning more about design and design thinking.

[27:26] Where to learn more about Rie and SYPartners online.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Danish School of Media and Journalism

SYPartners

Designing for Humanity Podcast

Stanford D.School

IDEO U

Hello Design Thinking by IDEO U

"Designing for Humanity: Do we need a new design frame?" by Rie Nøorgaard

Want More Episode on Design?

Check Out: "What's Up With All the Design-Focused Schools?" and "Design Thinking and Its Impact on Education Innovation".

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

In this episode, Tom interviews David Conley, a professor at the College of Education at the University of Oregon.

For more than 20 years, Conley has been a leading authority in American education policy. His seminal book, College Knowledge, outlined what students need to know and be able to do to succeed in college and careers. His famous Think, Know, Act, Go outcome framework was foundational for Summit Learning and My Ways from NGLC. Conley's new book, The Promise and Practice of Next Generation Assessment, offers 10 principles for better assessment — and a vision for how assessment can be integrated into learning and be a positive experience for learners.

In this conversation with Tom, David discusses his new book in-depth, explaining the 10 principles of next-generation assessment — five of which are student-centered and the last five which are school-centered. David also outlines a good week in a dream middle school that uses next-generation assessments and explains how students becoming good help-seekers is critical to being successful in post-secondary or careers.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's episode with David Conley.

[1:10] Tom welcomes David to the podcast.

[1:58] About David's education in Bilingual Education and Curriculum Studies.

[3:07] How David's Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies helped inspire his new book, The Promise and Practice of Next Generation Assessment.

[4:34] About the start of David's book; from blog to fully-fledged book.

[5:05] David talks about the 10 principles of next-generation assessment he outlines in his book, starting with the first one on how "next-generation assessment is focused on learners' needs first and foremost."

[8:37] David describes the 2nd principle: "next-generation assessments view development from a novice to expert continuum."

[9:58] David elaborates on the 3rd principle: "learners understand the structure of knowledge, not just the facts. Online assessment interrogates the structure of knowledge."

[12:24] David expands on his 4th principle: "good assessments would promote ownership of learning and help develop self-knowledge."

[14:23] Tom asks about the second half of David's principles, which are more school-centered. He starts with the 6th, which focuses on how good assessment can make information actionable for teachers in schools.

[17:04] David talks about making assessment information more useful for learners and describes the two ways that schools generally aggregate information now.

[19:34] How becoming good help-seekers is important to be successful in post-secondary or careers.

[22:04] About the iNACOL Book Party for Tom's new book, Better Together.

[22:45] David's sense of what actionable information for teachers in schools would look like.

[25:06] Why David and Tom are so excited about David's 7th principle on how next-generation assessments will have high cumulative validity.

[29:01] David explains the 8th principle on how assessment should acknowledge once you pass the basics understanding of something, learning becomes more context-specific.

[31:35] How David views the 9th principle on "harmonizing instructional improvement and accountability."

[33:34] David answers his 10th principle: "How do good assessments take equity into account?"

[36:57] David talks Tom through a good week in a dream middle school that uses next-generation assessments.

Mentioned in This Episode:

College of Education — University of Oregon

College Knowledge: What It Really Takes for Students to Succeed and What We Can Do to Get Them Ready, by David T. Conley

Think, Know, Act, Go outcome framework

Summit Learning

My Ways from NGLC

The Promise and Practice of Next Generation Assessment, by David T. Conley

Berkeley University of California

JFF Blog

The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness, by Todd Rose

International Baccalaureate

Better Together: How to Leverage School Networks For Smarter Personalized and Project Based Learning, by Tom Vander Ark and Lydia Dobyns

Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment, by Todd Rose and Ogi Ogas

"How I Know" Series

Want to Attend the iNACOL Book Party?

Send a message to editor@gettingsmart.com and let them know you want on the guest list!

Want to Learn More About Formative Assessment?

Check out the "How I Know" series of blogs and podcasts about the great work being done in Austin, Dallas, and Tulsa.

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include 'Podcast' in the subject line.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!