Podcast appearances and mentions of lydia dobyns

Mike, Julie, Jeannine, and Matt strike up a conversation with EL Education's Ron Berger. Ron gets into EL's purpose, its core values, and some of the reasons why it's held back a bit in growing its network, despite calls for more EL schools around the country. Ron talks about EL's free resources, including their notable literacy curriculum and his own path as a teacher in a small rural town in Massachusetts. This week's plugs include: Maverick Teachers by Dave Baugh and AJ Juliani, Wide Open School, Rivet- a free reading practice tool, and Better Together by Tom Vander Ark and Lydia Dobyns. Music by Ketsa.

This week, the Getting Smart team is bringing you an episode with Nick Donohue, the CEO and President of Nellie Mae Education Foundation.   Nick went from teacher to trainer to Deputy Commissioner, then to Commissioner in New Hampshire. A dozen years ago, Nick took over the Nellie Mae Education Foundation where he developed a strategy focused on student-centered learning. The team’s focus on personalized learning, student agency, progress on mastery, and anywhere-anytime learning was about 10 years ahead of the sector. And now, the foundation is leading again. In January they announced a new strategy that recognizes that racism in many forms — personal, institutional, and structural — is a big part of the education problem.   Listen in to hear Tom and Nick’s conversation about the implications for New England schools and communities of a renewed focus on race equity!   Key Takeaways: [:14] About today’s episode. [1:10] Nick starts off the podcast by recalling his youth where he was familiar with wealth but living in poverty. [3:58] When and how Nick decided to work in education and how he came to be Deputy Commissioner. [7:00] Fast forward to the Nellie Mae Education Foundation; Nick speaks about the influences that led to his strategic plan in 2010 around student-centered learning. [12:04] Tom summarizes Nick’s definition of student-centered learning. [13:48] How Nick’s national strategy has had an international impact. [14:51] Tom praises Nick’s approach to student-centered learning. [16:32] Nick gives a summary about what he has learned about demand development activity — both public demand and educator demand. [19:03] Why New England seems to be an anomaly in that they don’t join school networks at the same rates seen in other parts of the country. [21:00] Nick talks about his new strategy as well as his personal and organizational journey over the last 24 months. [24:00] Nick speaks about what his new focus on racial inequities will mean for his support of student-centered learning. [34:28] Tom and Nick close out the podcast by summarizing and speaking about the new mission for Nellie Mae Education Foundation.   Mentioned in This Episode: Nellie Mae Education Foundation No Child Left Behind Act New England Secondary School Consortium Great Schools Partnership Better Together: How to Leverage School Networks For Smarter Personalized and Project Based Learning, by Tom Vander Ark and Lydia Dobyns   For More on How Intentionally Designed Competency-Based Learning Can Promote Equity: Listen to: Episode 177 which outlines equity-focused strategies for policy and practice! You can also check out Getting Smart’s Equity & Access topic on GettingSmart.com!   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!

Matt and Courtney interview Lydia Dobyns, President and CEO of New Tech Network (newtechnetwork.org). What does the model of New Tech Network look like, who do they serve, and what is the future of school networks? Buy her book she co-wrote with Tom Vander Ark, "Better Together".

Matt and Courtney interview Lydia Dobyns, President and CEO of New Tech Network (newtechnetwork.org). What does the model of New Tech Network look like, who do they serve, and what is the future of school networks? Buy her book she co-wrote with Tom Vander Ark, "Better Together".

Join us for a discussion with the authors of Better Together to hear about learning networks and how they can be leveraged for smarter personalized and project-based learning. Guests Lydia Dobyns, President/CEO, NewTech Network Tom Vander Ark, CEO, Getting Smart

In this special episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Erik Day and Mary Ryerse are (temporarily) kicking Caroline and Jessica out of the studio to talk about what they’ve learned (and shared) about competency-based education at the this year’s iNACOL Symposium.   Getting Smart staff recently published a landscape report on the state of competency-based education (CBE), entitled: “Show What You Know: A Landscape Analysis of Competency-Based Education,” which was discussed at a panel with Mary and a fantastic group of education thought leaders at the iNACOL Symposium. Following that, Mary had a conversation with Tom where they recapped their findings of the report, as well as some of the leading schools and districts that are personalizing learning and pacing.   In this episode, the Getting Smart team will be sharing portions of the panel and Mary’s subsequent conversation with Tom. You will be hearing from Michele Cahill, Managing Director of School Success, at XQ; David Ruff, Executive Director of Great Schools Partnership; and Shatoya Jordan Ward, the Principal of Purdue Polytechnic High School (at XQ). Tune in to hear their takes on competency-based education!   Key Takeaways: [:14] About today’s special episode. [1:16] Tom and Mary set the stage for the report. [1:34] Mary’s favorite examples of competency-based learning in her own life. [3:17] Mary and Tom discuss the premise of the report and how it all came to be. [5:00] Why competency-based is more appropriate than measuring learning through grade levels. [6:18] The importance of keeping equity at the forefront of competency-based learning. [7:24] Mary introduces the thought leaders involved in the panel. [7:38] Michele speaks about her time in New York City. [8:45] What Shatoya has learned about competency-based learning. [9:38] David shares his thoughts and passion for competency-based learning. [10:17] Mary summarizes the five key themes they explored in the panel about competency-based learning. [10:43] Mary and Tom discuss noteworthy model schools and networks. [13:49] The panel’s thoughts on what makes a noteworthy model school or network. [19:01] Tom and Mary discuss competency learning processes and tools. [20:15] Tom mentions some promising partnerships where model schools are being developed in conjunction with toolsets. [20:58] Mary talks about the importance of utilizing tools. [21:25] Shatoya elaborates more on the tools and model at Purdue Polytechnic High School. [24:11] Michelle talks about competency tools and their goals at XQ. [27:38] The panel discusses well-informed assessments. [29:41] The panels discusses some of the challenging parts of competency-based learning and some of the significant barriers involved. [34:44] The importance of sharing and getting feedback. [35:23] The panel discusses policy and advocacy around competency-based education. [38:57] Michele and David answer an audience question about scaling competency-based education. [43:39] Tom and Mary discuss how to best prepare teachers for (and support them in) competency-based environments. [44:46] The panel’s observations on the subject of teacher prep. [47:34] Mary’s final words for wrapping up this week’s episode and Erik’s recommendations for further listening.   Want to Listen to More on This Topic? Take a listen to Episode 151 where Tom talks with Michael Fullan about how schools worldwide are redefining learning outcomes, and Episode 158, where Tom and Lydia Dobyns discuss why and how schools should work together in networks.   Mentioned in This Episode: iNACOL iNACOL Symposium XQ Institute “Show What You Know: A Landscape Analysis of Competency-Based Education” Great Schools Partnership Purdue Polytechnic High School Lindsay Unified School District League of Innovative Schools Nokomis High School Empower Learning Teton Science School DSST Public 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!

How good are schools at learning? Can they get better? As a culture, we worry a lot about student learning. But students don’t learn in a vacuum: Most are part of organizations (namely schools) that involve adults who also are engaged in learning, both individually and collectively. So what could help them learn? Here’s the one of the biggest quiet buzzwords in education: Networks. They can happen in any community—among educators, among schools or districts themselves and, of course, among students. And so emphasizing learning networks nudges educators to think about learning in different ways. Three recent books explore the power of learning networks. This past spring, EdSurge caught up with the authors at the Personalized Learning Summit sponsored by Education Elements. Ed Elements CEO Anthony Kim, who works with hundreds of educations throughout the US, wrote “The New School Rules: 6 Vital Practices for Thriving and Responsive Schools” with Alexis Gonzales-Black. As Kim worked with school leaders, he realized that what typically drives success or failure of efforts to improve school is not the educational approach but instead “the culture of our schools, organizational structures, and methods of communication and decision making.” He consequently identified what he sees as six “domains of school organization” and explores how schools can learn from one another in these areas. Lydia Dobyns, CEO of New Tech Network along with co-author and long-time education pundit, Tom Vander Ark, believe deeply that school systems need to learn collectively. In “Better Together: How to Leverage School Networks for Smarter Personalized and Project Based Learning,” they write: “Networks offer the best path to avoid every school attempting to reinvent the wheel.” Dobyns’ experience, both as an executive in the private sector and now as head of the New Tech Network, which involves about 200 schools across the US, takes readers through a tour of how schools can work together in both formal and informal networks to better support student learning. Julia Freeland Fisher, who directs education research at the Clayton Christensen Institute, similarly believes in the power of learning from peers but her focus is on students themselves. In “Who You Know: Unlocking Innovation that Expand Students’ Networks,” she writes about how students build their own networks of relationships. “Whom you know turns out to matter across all sorts of industries and institutions,” she writes. But by design, schools have wound up “limit[ing] their students’ access to people beyond their embroyic community.” This isn’t just about giving students access to social networks. Instead its about how educators can purposefully help students create relationships inside of schools that will widen their opportunities when they go beyond the school walls.

This week, Tom Vander Ark speaks with Lydia Dobyns, CEO of New Tech Network, to talk about their new book, Better Together: How to Leverage School Networks for Smarter Personalized and Project-Based Learning. Tom and Lydia are excited about the potential of personalized and project-based learning but worry about the degree of difficulty for teachers. Their book suggests that schools working together in formal (or informal) networks to share models, tools, and professional learning to achieve their goals.   In this episode, Tom and Lydia discuss and share their ideas on a variety of topics from their book, Better Together; talk about some of their favorite school districts that use networks; and how the use of networks is transforming schools.   Listen in to learn more about their work, ideas, and their new book, Better Together!   Key Takeaways: [:14] About today's podcast and guest. [1:11] About Tom and Lydia's early careers and changes in the industry from technology. [5:20] When Tom and Lydia started thinking about networks and education. [7:06] How and when Lydia found out about New Tech Network. [9:43] About Tom and Lydia's book, Better Together. [10:36] Tom and Lydia's opinions on the Platform Revolution. [18:04] Lydia describes what a typical New Tech looks like it and how it works. [21:50] Lydia's favorite team-taught courses. [23:13] What it's like to teach at New Tech, how teachers are connected, and how learning is promoted across the network. [26:45] The networks Lydia has collaborated with over the last several years. [29:25] Mentionable charter management organizations. [30:59] Mentionable school districts that operate like networks. [32:10] Districts that use a portfolio strategy and use multiple networks. [32:49] What makes a good district and the next big learning for district leaders. [36:00] Lydia summarizes how leading in a network is different. [38:38] Tom and Lydia summarize their book, Better Together.   Mentioned in This Episode: New Tech Network Better Together: How to Leverage School Networks For Smarter Personalized and Project Based Learning, by Tom Vander Ark and Lydia Dobyns High Tech High New Tech High New Tech Network Hewlett Big Picture Learning EL Education New Visions for Public Schools Brooklyn Lab School Kettle Moraine School District Denver Public Schools DSST Public Schools STRIVE Preparatory Schools Rocky Mountain Prep Beacon Network Schools League of Innovative Schools Remake Learning Avonworth School District El Paso Independent School District   To Learn More: Check out GettingSmart.com/BetterTogether and NewTechNetwork.org for a ton of great blogs and information about working in a network.   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!   Over the next year, The Getting Smart team will be pulling together workshops to explore the power of school networks. Email Taylor@GettingSmart.com or click on the Services tab on GettingSmart.com to learn more.

John chats with Lydia Dobyns, president and CEO of New Tech Network, which has about 200 K-12 schools in 28 states, and Matthew Swenson, assistant principal at Cross County (New Tech) High School in Cherry Valley, Arkansas. New Tech Network’s mission to reimagine schools using four basic pillars that apply in their two models, one for elementary, and for the secondary level: culture that empowers students; project-based learning; embedded use of technology, and schoolwide learning outcomes, both academic and non-academic. Swenson works in a rural town (population 650) in the Mississippi delta, with about 600 students in the district, which was on a state low-performing list. His students, Swenson says, need 21st Century skills, which New Tech provides. The New Tech model is meant to be applied by the community, using virtual and on-site experience, for the specific economic and other needs of the local community, notes Dobyns. In Cherry Valley, the school is the hub of the community. New Tech implements its program by building deeper understanding of the challenges faced by teachers, administrators, parents, local business leaders, in terms of culture issues. For example, the school and the network established a Virtual Internship, in which the student and a professional “build something together.” Graduating students now have a plan for what they’ll be doing after high school, Swenson notes. Here’s a link to a must-see New Tech Network video:  Turning Point