The Perkins Platform

Teach Kentucky is an educational organization that helps launch careers of college graduates in Louisville, Kentucky’s public schools.  The program is designed to recruit and retain high quality teachers.  How can aspects of this program be replicated in other states and urban centers around the US?  Join us for an exciting and informative conversation with Executive Director, Rowan Claypool!  Rowan is a serial social entrepreneur, having founded two long-term highly successful educational nonprofits in Louisville: Bulldogs in the Bluegrass and Teach Kentucky. Over the past 17 years, 343 participants have been recruited to teach in the greater Louisville area and 190 are still teaching in Kentucky. His programs have demonstrated a higher-than-average retention rate and are creating high impacts in education and economic development. Rowan is devoted to making his community a better place and he believes that talented young people are the way to do it.  In his words, “change the course of the river in young people’s lives and in the cities in which they plant themselves." Rowan received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and received the prestigious Yale Medal in 2005. Join us for this broadcast on Tuesday, November 10 at 2:00pm EST.

Raising boys to men is a formidable challenge.  Add discrimination, poverty, inequality and institutionalized racism and you have considerable higher walls to scale.  In Baltimore, a group of educators are defying the odds and despite overwhelming obstacles making a difference in the lives of black boys.  This broadcast features the head of school, Archie Tyson, who will describe his journey to lead the school and how their committment to Baltimore is impacting the entire city.  Join us for this inspiring and powerful conversation!

Recent US events have catapulted a long-standing crisis in America to the forefront.  Black men in America have long been the target of unfair educational, judicial and social practices.  This reality reached fever pitch when George Floyd was brutally murdered at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, MN.  Now, around the clock coverage has begun on the other american experience suffered by black men.  During this broadcast, we will hear from a panel of young black men (adolescent to college student) from around the United States to describe their feelings about the attention now being placed on this issue.  Join us for what will surely be a provacative, informative conversation for educators and leaders about a sub-population they serve.

Across the US, parents and adult caretakers have been catapulted into roles as primary educators in ways not seen or anticipated.  This has caused a great deal of stress in homes particularly around the interactions between adults and children around school assignments and academic performance.  With the best intentions, adults are attempting to provide feedback to learners, but it doesn't always go as expected.  Today's guest, Claire McCarthy, MD, is a pediatrician at Boston Children's Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.  She is a guest writer and columnist for Huffington Post and a Senior Editor for Harvard Health Publishing.  Join us for a exciting, informative conversation with Claire as she provides some insight on constructive criticism.

There are a number of longitudnal studies on the impact summer break has on learning and content retention.  Today's broadcast features one of the foremost experts on the topic from the Northweast Evaluation Association, Dr. Megan Kuhfeld. Megan Kuhfeld seeks to understand students’ trajectories of academic and social-emotional learning and the school and neighborhood influences that promote optimal growth. Dr. Kuhfeld’s work covers a range of topics, including  longitudinal growth modeling, achievement gaps, and summer learning loss. It has been featured in Education Week, the Los Angeles Times, the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, and Applied Psychological Measurement.Prior to joining NWEA, Dr. Kuhfeld completed a PhD in quantitative methods in education and a master’s degree in statistics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her dissertation was funded by a grant from the American Educational Research Association and was the recipient of the 2017 Brenda Loyd Outstanding Dissertation Award from the National Council on Measurement in Education. Additionally, we are delighted to welcome Fenesha Hubbard, professional development specialist with NWEA.  Fenesha joined NWEA in 2012. A former middle school math teacher, instructional coach, workshop facilitator, trainer, and consultant, she’s passionate about creating authentic learning experiences and helping others grow. She’s currently a content designer on the Professional Learning Design team at NWEA. Fenesha holds a BS in math from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MEd in instructional leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

There is no crystal ball to predict what the future is for our public schools in the coming year.  There are some who have extrapolated the previous data related to summer slide and applied it to what's happening now with the Corona virus crisis.  Today's guest, Dr. Paul von Hippel,  is an expert researcher on the topic and has some predictions for when school resumes in the fall (if it resumes).  Join us for another amazing conversation!

While there is no federal mandate for public education, each state has codified a system and process to provide education to their citizens.  Each state also has a chief state school officer who presides over public education to fulfil that committment.  Our guest in this broadcast is Supertintendent Jillian Balow (Wyoming) who is the current president of the Council of Chief State School Officers.  Superintendent Balow will discuss what State Superintendents are discussing all over the US regarding Academics, Athletics, Testing and More.  Join us for another amazing discussion.

Conflicting stories about the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic have left many adults anxious, confused and upset.  What about the children?  Many will take cues from their adult caretakers while many others are left wondering about the current conditions and future.  Proms, graduations and other rites of passage have been suspended with no real plan to address the impact on the mental well-being of our nation's young.  This week's guest, Warren Y. K. Ng, M.D., M.P.H., President-Elect: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry will join us for a serious talk about what's happening with the children in our care. Dr. Ng is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University; Medical Director for Outpatient Behavioral Health at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC); and Director of Clinical Services, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at CUIMC. Dr. Ng oversees the spectrum of clinical programs in child, adolescent, and adult outpatient behavioral health at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Ambulatory Care Network and all psychiatric services at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York.   Join us at 2pm!

For the past two weeks, we have focused on the COVID-19 Pandemic from the perspective of adults - teachers, parents, school and district leaders and community members.  This broadcast features a number of children from elementary school to high school who have been engaged to different extents in distance learning and virtual learning environments.  Join us to hear what they have to say about this experience and what advice they would give adults.

While it may be hard to imagine at this point a world without COVID-19 restrictions, the day will come when we will try to resume our lives and routines before this all happened.  In addition to making up for lost academic programming, schools will have the challenging responsibility to deal with the emotional and psychological well-being of students in their care.  This responsibility falls largely on the school counselors in our nation's districts.  Join us for a discussion with Jill Cook, Assistant Director - American School Counslelor Association and two practitioners, Sarah Kirk and Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott, to hear their predictions for what will be needed in a post-COVID world.  Monday, April 6 - 2pm.Jill Cook is assistant director of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), where she helped develop and continues to oversee the National School Counselor of the Year and Recognized ASCA Model Programs.Sarah Kirk is a school counselor who focuses on social, emotional, academic, and career development utilizing a comprehensive, data-driven counseling program. Sarah was Oklahoma's 2018 School Counselor of the Year and a 2019 National Finalist. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision.Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott is an Associate Professor, Graduate Program Director, and School Counseling Coordinator at Old Dominion University, in VA. She is proud to have received a research grant from the American School Counselor Association, and is the recipient of the 2020 Research Award from the American Counseling Association.