The Perkins Platform

Our September show features, Dr. Jordan Shapiro from Temple University in Philadelphia. Jordan Shapiro, Ph.D teaches in the Intellectual Heritage Program at Temple University, where he's also the Associate Director for Digital Innovation for the College of Liberal Arts. He is a Forbes' leading columnist on global education, game-based learning, kids and culture. An internationally known speaker and consultant on education technology, school reform, and 21st Century child-rearing, his unique perspective combines psychology, philosophy, social theory, and mythology in unexpected ways. His book: FREEPLAY: A Video Game Guide to Maximum Euphoric Bliss looks at the way the video games of the past (and present) impact our sense of identity. His next book: One Player, Multiplayer, We: How Digital Play Will Put Community Back at the Center of Education will be released soon. (Twitter: @Jordosh).His recent article in Forbes provokes us to think about the essential definition of education.  Is it access to information, facts and figures or is it something else?  Join us on Wednesday, September 23 at 2pm EST for this thought-provoking discussion on what achieving equity in education will take.

Our guest in August is Dr. Camille Farrington - Senior Research Associate, Consortium on Chicago School Research, will discuss her research on urban high schools.  She will discuss the psychological and systematic barriers to success and the ways we might redesign these schools for greater success with adolescents.  Given that the model we currently use is more than 100 years old, she proposes some innovative solutions to the roadblocks faced in many urban centers.  Join us at 2pm EST on August 12 for what promises to be a enlightening discussion.Camille A. Farrington is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Chicago, Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR), studying policy and practice in urban high school reform. She is a national expert on “noncognitive” factors in academic settings. Dr. Farrington is the author of Failing at School: Lessons for Redesigning Urban High Schools (2014, Teachers College Press); lead author of Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners: The Role of Noncognitive Factors in Shaping School Performance (2012, CCSR); and co-author of Foundations for Young Adult Success: A Developmental Framework (2015, CCSR). Throughout her work, Dr. Farrington draws on fifteen years’ experience as a public high school teacher and National Board Certified Teacher Mentor. She received a B.A. from the University of California Santa Cruz, teacher certification from Mills College, and a Ph.D. in Policy Studies in Urban Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In today's show, Dr. Perkins will discuss his framework for improving school experiences around the globe.  Over the last 15 years, Dr. Perkins has traveled extensively discussing school climate and educational contexts.  He is a respected expert on educational design and innovation and has been a consultant in the Republic of South Africa, Brazil, China and Thailand.   Listen in today and hear about how and why educational professionals have and should work to provide dynamic educational settings where children can experiment and grow.

Our current series on school improvement initiatives has focused on a variety of strategies.  All of which have required buy-in and support from a range of stakeholders including but not limited to teachers, students, parents, community members and policy developers.  This broadcast solicits the input from those on the front line responsible for the leadership of these inititatives at the building level -- the principals.  We invite prinicpals at all levels, from all regions, at all experience levels to call in and share with us the great successes, challenges and nuggets of advice on this topic.  We want to hear your solutions to challenges you might have.Call in at 347-826-9029!  May 14 - 2:00pm EST

In April, our guest is Dr. Warren Simmons, executive director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.  AISR is a national policy research and reform-support organization that works with urban districts and communities to improve the conditions and outcomes of schools, especially in urban communities and in those attended by traditionally underserved children. Their work focuses on three crucial issues in education reform today: school transformation, college and career readiness and expanded learning time.  We will speak with Dr. Simmons and Dr. Jesse Register, Director of Metro Nashville Public Schools. MNPS is currently engaged with the Annenberg Institute to improve achievement in that district.  Listen and learn what is happening in Nashville.Join us for what promises to be an incredible discussion on April 23 at 2pm EST.

SPECIAL BROADCAST!This lively and illuminating conversation about New York City’s public schools will focus on NYC’s educational successes and failures, the Bloomberg agenda and its impact, the Common Core roll out, privatization, charters, assessment, teacher quality, and what future direction lies ahead for our schools. It will feature, Mr. Eric Nadelstern (former Deputy Chancellor) and Ms. Willen (Director-Hechinger Institute) With nearly a century of expertise between them, they will also offer words of wisdom and caution for the de Blasio administration.Eric Nadelstern is a Professor of Practice in Educational Leadership at Teachers College/Columbia University where he directs the Summer Principals Academy.  Prior to accepting this position, he was the Deputy Chancellor for the Division of School Support and Instruction for the New York City Department of Education from 2009-11, overseeing instructional and operational support to the city's 1700 schools.  He is the author of Ten Lesson from NYC Schools published by Teachers College Press.Liz Willen is editor of The Hechinger Report and director of The Hechinger Institute. She is a former senior writer focused on higher education at Bloomberg Markets magazine. Willen spent the bulk of her career covering the New York City public school system for Newsday. She has won numerous prizes for education coverage and shared the 2005 George Polk Award for health reporting with two Bloomberg colleagues. Willen is a graduate of Tufts University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and an active New York City public school parent.Join us for this show with at live studio audience on April 12 at 3:30 EST.

In March, our guest is the legendary child psychiatrist, Dr. James Comer.  Dr. Comer is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center, and has been a Yale medical faculty member since 1968. During these years, he has concentrated his career on promoting a focus on child development as a way of improving schools. His efforts in support of healthy development of young people are known internationally.  We will speak to Dr. Comer along with Ms. Patricia Toney, a SDP school principal in South Carolina, about the fundamentals of SDP and the success to their school and community as a result.Join us for another wonderful installment on March 12 at 2pm EST.

Our February show will feature Dr. Robert (Bob) Slavin, co-founder of Success For All.  Success for All grew out of a program of research and development that started with basic research on cooperative-learning strategies. By 1980, Bob's group at Johns Hopkins University had learned how to harness the power of kids working with kids by structuring methods in which groups could succeed only if all members had mastered the academic material they were studying.  In 1987, along with Nancy Madden, Bob founded SFA.  Bob is currently Director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, part-time Professor at the Institute for Effective Education at the University of York (England), and Chairman of the Success for All Foundation.  Our 2nd guest will be Mrs. Linda Lorenzo, Principal for the Kane Area Elementary School  in Pennsylvania.  Kane Area has been recognized as one of SFA's exemplar schools.Join us for this 2nd in our series of school improvement initiatives at 2pmEST on February 12!

Conceptualized in 1948, the International Baccalaureate Programme has become widely recognized for its rigorous curriculum and evaluation process for grades 3-12.  Schools all over the world have adopted the IB program with a recent surge in interest and participation among schools in urban communities throughout the United States.  Our guests in January will discuss IB and its benefit to schools going through the accrediation process.  We are delighted to have Drew Deutsch, Director-IB Americas.  Drew joined the International Baccalaureate in April 2008 as the Regional Director for IB North America. On 1 January 2009, Drew was appointed as Director of the IB Americas region. We will also have Monique Lewis, Principal -Fondren Middle School International Baccalaureate in Houston, Texas.  We will discuss the principles of IB and what it looks like on the ground to become an IB school.  Join us on January 15(2pm EST) for an enlightening discussion.

Mental health in public schools is a major concern.  According to HHS, the figures usually indicated for diagnosable mental disorders suggest that between 12% and 22% of all youngsters under age 18 are in need of services for mental, emotional, or behavioral problems. The Center for Mental Health in Schools reports that the reality for many large urban schools is that well over 50% of their students manifest significant learning, behavior, and emotional problems.  For a large proportion of these youngsters, the problems are rooted in the restricted opportunities and difficult living conditions associated with poverty.We have two special guests in December:  Dr. Sally Baas, President - National Association of School Psychologists who will discuss these challenges nationally.  Our second guest is Irene Spence, the founding principal of Brooklyn Gardens Elementary School, a new school in East New York, Brooklyn. She has been working diligently to create partnerships with organizations to support children's social, emotional and academic needs. Join us at 2pm on December 18 for another amazing discussion!