SPARKS

Igniting change in education for all students

Sparks
IGNITING TRANSFORMATION IN EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS

Contributors
Kerry Donahue
Prateek Dutta
Ali Fadlallah
Michael Figueroa
Annice Fisher
Ola Friday
David Hay
Zachary Herrmann
Amanda Klonskey
Andrea LaRocca
Michael LaRosa
Nicole Magnuson
Mark Martin
Sarah McLean
Derek Nio
Frances-Victoria Olajide
Christine Ortiz
Madonna Ramp
Dwight Rhodes
Tyler Thigpen
Sarah Warren
Editors
Catherine Pozniak
Jessica Rose
Mary Wall

Copyright 2014
All rights reserved.
ISBN:
ISBN-13:

ii

Dedication


To the students and teachers who
sparked our vision of equity and excellence for all.

iii

CONTENTS

1

INTRODUCTION
SECTION ONE

11

ONE
Renovating The Instructional Core In An Information Age
Tyler Thigpen

27

TWO
A-L-L E-L-L
Derek Nio

36

THREE
Catching a Case: Creating Schools that Meet the Needs of Young People
Returning from Prison
Amanda Klonsky

47

FOUR
What if Relationships Were the Alternative?
Michael Figueroa

59

SECTION TWO
FIVE
Creating a World Class Teacher Preparation System
Prateek Dutta and Zachary Herrmann

72

SIX
Supporting the Social and Emotional Professional Development of Child
Care Workers
Ola Friday

73

SEVEN
The Revolution Will Not Be Mandated: Why Teachers & Entrepreneurs Will
Shape the Future of Learning
David Hay

84

EIGHT
A Renewed Push for Professionalism
Dwight Rhodes and Sarah Warren

85

NINE
From Line Management to Instructional Leadership: A 21 Century
Progression for the Principalship
Frances-Victoria Olajide
st

iv

97

107

TEN
From the What to the How Taking a Developmental Stance
Madonna Ramp
SECTION THREE
ELEVEN
Access and Completion for All: Moving To and Through the High School to
College Pipeline
Annice Fisher

119

TWELVE
Next Generation Schools: Integrating and Innovating for the 21st Century
Kerry Donahue and Sarah McLean

130

THIRTEEN
Rural Schools: the Untapped Resource to Education Reform
Andrea LaRocca

138

FOURTEEN
What Schools and Teachers Can Learn From the Software Industry
Christine Ortiz and Michael LaRosa

161

FIFTEEN
School-Sharing
Mark Martin

172

SIXTEEN
Transforming the Third Space
Ali Fadlallah

183

SEVENTEEN
Sparking the Will for Change in Public Education
Nicole Magnuson

184

CONCLUSION

188

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

189

REFERENCES

206

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

213

ABOUT THE EDITORS

SECTION FOUR

Certain bodies ... become luminous when heated. Their

luminosity disappears after some time, but the capacity of
becoming luminous afresh through heat is restored to them by
the action of a spark.
Marie Curie

INTRODUCTION

Providing all children with free, high-quality education has long been an espoused value in the
United States. Yet, we see significant and persistent disparities nationwide among students in all
stages of our education system. Sobering statistics lead us to ask questions about how we go about
the fundamental ideas of what learning and teaching should look like, who is responsible for
providing it, and how we can create the conditions and system that set all students on a path toward
success.
Even though research has shown the beginning years of a childs life are critical for building the
foundation needed for success later in school and in life, children access early education
opportunities from birth and continuing through pre-school at very different rates. Studies show
that children from low-income families are less likely to have access to high-quality early education
and are less likely to enter school prepared to succeed (Adams et al, 2007). By third grade, children
from low-income families who are not reading at grade level are six times less likely to graduate from
high school than students who are proficient readers (Hernandez, 2012). Despite how powerful we
know early education investments to be, we under-deliver on them, especially with children who
need them the most: the U.S. ranks 28th out of 38 countries for the share of four-year olds enrolled
in early childhood education (OECD, 2014), and fewer than 3 in 10 four-year olds are enrolled in
high-quality programs (White House, 2013).
Although elementary and secondary education reform, particularly in recent years, has shifted to
focus on higher standards aligned to prepare all students for college and career, existing (albeit
insufficient) data show us that far too many students are far from that vision. Students of color and
low-income students often lack equal access to core elements of a high-quality education, including
strong teaching, rigorous course offerings, high standards, enrichment opportunities, and safe school
environments (Equity Commission, 2013). These students are also suspended, expelled, and face
other adverse disciplinary action at higher rates (CRDC, 2012). Although the national high school
graduation rate is at its highest point ever (80 percent), disparate results persist for students of color:
23 percent of African American students, and 15 percent of Hispanic students were still attending
dropout factory high school in 2012, compared to 5 percent of White students (Balfanz et al, 2014).
In today's world, when a college degree or advanced certificate increasingly represents the path to a
stable economic future, too few of our high school graduates are pursuing a postsecondary
certificate or degree -- let alone attaining it. The U.S. presently ranks 12th in the world in our share
of young people who have attained higher education (OECD, 2014). Just over half the students who
begin college in this country do not finish within six years, and looking across races and income
levels tells a more complicated story (NCES, 2014). High school graduates from the wealthiest
families are almost certain to continue on to higher education, while barely half of high school
graduates in the poorest quarter of families attend college; of those who enter college, four of five
individuals in the upper income quartile attain degrees, in contrast to only one of ten in the lowest
income quartile (Lumina, 2014).
These gaps not only hurt young people and their families, but they also negatively impact their
communities and have ripple effects on the strength of the countrys economy and democracy. It is

not only morally unconscionable for us not to act; remaining still and resorting to inaction will only
collectively hurt us in the long run. In the words of our professor and colleague Dr. Deborah JewellSherman, Demography should not be destiny (2011).
Authors apart from this book have argued that a low-quality education does not just maintain the
status quo, but that it actually leaves some students worse off than they were before. Angela
Valenzuela makes the case that schooling is actually a subtractive process for first-generation
immigrant youth and beyond, divesting students of important social and cultural resources, leaving
them progressively vulnerable to academic failure (1999). In response to these kinds of heinous
outcomes, Larry Leverett proposes that the contributions of an entire system are required to
overcome the complex set of conditions in place that currently preserve inequity and leave students
behind (2002). Overcoming the mindset of difference-as-limitation, Leverett argues that we all have
assets to bring to bear, as achieving equitable outcomes for all learners is beyond the capacity of
individual, highly talented leaders and requires the knowledge and expertise of others in the school
or district organization working with a shared sense of purpose. He pitches a reform movement
full of equity warriors to unapologetically - and without regard to their scarcity of resources or
position of authority - passionately lead and embrace the mission of high levels of achievement for
all students, regardless of race, social class, ethnicity, culture, disability or language proficiency.
In addition to persistent gaps among student populations, there is an increasing concern that there is
a disconnect between our current model of schooling, which was designed to meet the industrial
demands, and what we hope to achieve in our post-industrial and rapidly changing world. Cutting
across race, students are telling us in ever-increasing numbers that they are bored, disengaged, and
apathetic about school (Yazzie-Mintz, 2010). While many reform efforts focus on improving
conditions within our outdated system, there is also a growing call to spur innovation and reimagine
altogether what a 21st-century system of education could look like.
It is with a sense of urgency that the contributors of this volume approach our work in the field of
education and confront the task of charting possible paths forward for the changes we propose in
this book. We share Dr. Jewell-Shermans conviction that demography is not destiny. Tackling this
work requires an approach of improvement, innovation, and invention: the current way we are going
about all students is not working, and so it is time to see problems and solutions in a new light.
WHO WE ARE
The chapters that follow capture the present-day thinking of 24 educators who, in the fall of 2014,
entered into Harvard Graduate School of Educations Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.)
program. Our cohort is a diverse group across many spectrums including race, age, expertise,
ethnicity, and experience. We hold in common our commitment to improving education for all
students, but even so, our visions of that aspiration look different. If our predecessors in this
program are any indication, some of us will go on to become systems-level leaders in the traditional
sense as superintendents, while others will lead from within as the heads of departments and
initiatives, while still others will return to or will join the burgeoning trend of social
entrepreneurship, founding new education ventures from schools to human capital organizations to
ed tech companies. The diversity of the cohort, as the director of the program tells us, is intentional:
our selection was as much about our accomplishments as individual leaders as it was about our part
of making a whole.

The idea of writing a book came from our Thinking Strategically About Education Reform and Sectoral
Change course with Drs. Elizabeth City and Jal Mehta (really, it was an assignment). Writing a book
in our first semester was a tall charge and a bold endeavor, especially for a newly formed group.
Some believe that books that take on topics such as we have are the purview of academics steeped in
theory. It is true that we are fresh from the field. Some of us sport to class the jersey from the track
team we coached last spring, while many students from our own classrooms are still in the school
system.
We contend, however, that we need more practitioners to take up the pen. We have come to realize
that we bring as much learning as we have come to gain. The need to make responsible arguments
grounded in data and facts cannot and should not be evaded, but there also is something to be said
for the value of research and development emerging from the field. Indeed, each chapter in this
book offers a solution stemming from a real problem with which some segment of the sector is
grappling, and with which the author may have grappled with in her or his own work. Pieced
together, these snapshots provide a panorama of the challenges our education system is facing in
real time.
We are now students in an academic environment, having pressed pause on busy and successful
careers to become better leaders in this work. As many hours as we have spent together, there is
much we have to learn about the paths that led us to this program. In many ways, each of these
chapters is autobiographical, the author revealing her or his commitment to education from a
perspective that is as unique as a fingerprint a perspective that sits at a particular intersection of
values, personality, experience, and the evidence that supports them. By peering into the future with
them, we come to know from whence each of our writers stands.
Where to begin such an endeavor? To some degree, we are all here because of our dissatisfaction
with the status quo. When prompted to think about change in the education sector, however, it was
the possibilities that compelled this optimistic and action-oriented group, with many of us finding
hope in one or many promising things we have seen in the field. Interestingly and more often than
not, our inspirations are not full-fledged proof points. Far from instructive, our glimmers of hope do
not tell us precisely what we should do next; rather, they give us an idea about an idea a new way
to approach or think about the problems the sector faces. They spark our imagination.
As it turns out, sparks lend themselves to other sparks. We have drawn inspiration from sparks, and
we hope that our chapters will serve as sparks as well. Yet, readers will note that our chapters are not
stitched together to form one coherent approach for sparking change within the sector. We do not
endeavor here to build or advocate a singular viewpoint, and we do not coalesce around a single
theory of action. We reject the idea of a silver bullet and embrace the complexities of public
education practitioners are all too familiar with.
Sparks is a compendium of theories of action to transform the education sector. We believe we can
radically transform the picture we opened this introduction with, turning the story of the differences
among us not as one that perpetuates divisions and dictates disparate outcomes, but one that builds
on the strengths we all bring to bear in the struggle for reform. We believe our divergences are
complementary, and they illuminate impact that we could not have seen in isolation. Rather than
making a blueprint, we are interested in building a vibrant discussion based on the convergences and
divergences that our experience and learning has brought to life in us.

THE CHAPTERS AHEAD

The books chapters are divided into four sections and each section advocates for sparking change
through a different lens or entry point. The chapters within Section 1 focus on sparking change in
schools by reforming the approach to learning and teaching. The ideas are grounded in the
instructional core and the experience of individual students. Section 2 addresses methods for
sparking change in the players who directly impact student success every day: teachers,
administrators, and the other leaders who affect the system. Chapters in Section 3 attempt to
instigate change in schools and systems through other levers that create the conditions for student
success. The last section offers considerations for how one might spark change from outside the
schools entirely through innovative partnerships and identifies groups to champion that work.
It is worthwhile to note that this book does not rely on sequential ordering: the reader should start
with a section or chapter that intrigues them. From there, our advice is to follow your interests,
whether that means turning the page and digging deeper into a section or hopping to another
chapter to find the answer to a newly emergent question. This is a book that holds many ideas and
as many pathways through those ideas.
Section One
Section 1 explores changes in classrooms and schools specifically around our approach to learning
and teaching. All chapters in this section illustrate ways to update the instructional core - the
relationship between student, teacher, and content -- to align with 21st-Century demands, student
interests and needs, and maximize access for our most vulnerable students.

Chapter 1, Renovating The Instructional Core In An Information Age, by Tyler Thigpen

addresses ways schools can drastically refine the American curriculum and way students
engage with material to deepen learning, increase engagement better prepare students for
college, career, and life. Specifically, Thigpen argues for a substantial subtraction of contentbased standard while simultaneously adding skill-based standards and evolving to a
transdisciplinary approach in contrast to the heavily segregated and fact-crammed content
areas that dominate most students current school experience. Thigpens recommendations
focus on changes that could be made today to nearly any school in the country and would
have wide implications if adopted.

In Chapter 2, A-L-L E-L-L, Derek Nio asks how the U.S. education system contends
with the needs of Spanish-speaking English-language learners (ELLs), a fast-growing
population of students that includes both recent-immigrant high school students as well as
native-born kindergartners. These students must master content, be remediated in those
areas in which he or she is below grade level, meet graduation requirements, and learn a new
language at the same time. Nio argues that if the nation is to truly teach all students, then
implementing thoughtful and comprehensive approaches for ELLs, especially recentimmigrant Spanish-speaking high school students, will be paramount.

Amanda Klonskys chapter, Catching a Case: Creating Schools That Meet the Needs of
Young People Returning from Prison, investigates what schools could do to better support
young people returning home from incarceration. She highlights the importance for students
to have trusting relationships with adults; for academic and social programs, social and
emotional services, and supports to be in close collaboration and alignment; and for students
to engage in authentic learning experiences that allow for self-expression that connects and
10

showcases their humanity. Klonskys chapter illustrates the daily hardships these young
people face, particularly in accessing education upon release from jail or prison. The essay
documents the ways in which policy perversely incentivizes schools to turn these neediest of
students away, and argues for policy changes and resources that would help schools to better
support them.

In What If Relationships Were the Alternative? Michael Figueroa focuses and extrapolates
on the importance of relationships that Klonsky discusses. He proposes the central change
that must take place in our schools to spark reform is not curricula-based, but instead firmly
rooted in the relationships between students and teachers. He argues that developing strong
relationships is more important than any other aspect of school -- even learning and teaching
-- and is the most vital lever for education reform. Like the two chapters before him,
Figueroas piece is situated with a particular population of students; in this case, those in
alternative education programs. Similarly to the preceding authors, though, his
recommendations for reform could apply to all schools across the country.

While all of the chapters in the first section focus on different populations with different
approaches, they all concentrate on the instructional core and the work of learning and teaching as
the nucleus of effective education. The authors make clear that policies unquestioningly impact
students lives and the ability of schools to support them, and must be addressed. They also believe
that focusing on the work that is happening in classrooms and schools this very moment (e.g. in the
relationship embodied in every student-teacher interaction) is paramount. Even when an author
discusses connecting students with internships, wrap-around services, or service learning
opportunities outside of the school, the authors have chosen classrooms in schools as the site for
the change they would like to see.
Section Two
Section 2 shifts from sparking change within schools and systems to considering the players who
enact reform on a daily basis: educators. Numerous studies highlight the incredible impact teachers
and school leaders have on students and the following chapters attend to these critical roles
alongside others within education that could spur lasting impact to the sector.

In Creating a World Class Teacher Preparation System Prateek Dutta and Zachary
Herrmann dissect teacher preparation in the United States. While Dutta and Herrmann
acknowledge that, no current single pathway has established itself as the undisputed model
for how to train individuals to become teachers, (60) they advocate for a best-practice
model based on competency development and an emphasis on clinical experience. In their
chapter they share with the reader a vision for a complete pipeline from recruitment and
selection to preparation, evaluation, and accountability.

Supporting the Social and Emotional Professional Development of Child Care Workers,
written by Ola Friday, builds on Dutta and Herrmanns argument for a new way to prepare
and support teachers by examining how a focus on the social and emotional dispositions of
teachers could facilitate stronger student-teacher engagement and consequently improve the
quality of early childhood education. Friday examines a new, promising professional
development initiative, R2, that engages early childhood teachers in a professional learning
community with connected coaching that centers on the development of social and

11

emotional skills and dispositions. Friday makes a case that supports like R2 should be the
foundation of any early childhood professional development system.
David Hay, the author of The Revolution Will Not Be Mandated: Why Teachers &
Entrepreneurs Will Shape the Future of Learning, believes teachers must be the driving
force reinventing the ways students learn. Hay points to teachers as the connectors and
conductors between entrepreneurial innovators outside schools and the learning students
could tap into through novel forms of technology. He argues that relying on schools and
systems as the instigators of reform results in stagnation, and instead teachers should be
empowered to iterate and innovate. Hay anticipates a revolution on the horizon that changes
the way school looks and feels, permanently changes the lives of students for the better, and
alters the world as we know it.
In A Renewed Push for Professionalism, authors Dwight Rhodes and Sarah Warren argue
that if the quality of teaching is the most important factor in students educational success
then reforms must be made to professionalize the teaching profession. Rhodes and Warren
believe that if unions shift to a professional model, bridge the gaps between organizations at
the national, state, and local levels, and take advantage of the opportunity to organize around
reform efforts like the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and improved teacher
evaluation, then they will be able to drive forward the professionalization of teaching and,
ultimately, spark transformative improvements in the education system.
In Chapter 9, From Line Management to Instructional Leadership: A 21st-Century
Progression for the Principalship, Frances-Victoria Olajide reimagines school leaders as
instructional leaders, transformed from their former roles as line managers. Olajide reframes
principals daily activities through six dimensions of school leadership so as to directly
support excellent teaching and build leadership capacity. While the propositions Olajide puts
forth are common sense with the promise to be potent, she argues that we must also make
the systems-level changes required in the supervision, support, and evaluation of principals.
Visits to the majority of contemporary schools across the country would quickly reveal that
they have yet to be actualized.
In From the What to the How Taking a Developmental Stance, Madonna Ramp reasons
that the challenge for leaders at the school, district, state, and federal levels, is not identifying
which change is the best one to champion, it is figuring out which support the adults they lead
need. Ramp argues that in a stressful and rapidly changing education system, educators at all
levels of the system need enough support to balance out the challenges they experience. She
calls upon leaders at all levels to find or create support for themselves and their staff
members, and argues that shifting the climate to one of support is the most powerful change
lever available in the sector.

All authors in Section 2 articulate a great hope in the ability of adult actors to spark and sustain
reform in our nations schools. They believe that through dedicated investment in teachers and
leaders at all levels and areas of the system, from the beginning of their career through the end, great
impact will arise. They see educators as the most powerful and influential aspect of reform, whether
individually experimenting with technology in the classroom or collectively rallying and creating
national momentum.
Section Three
12

Section 3 examines ways to spark change at the systems level. Each chapter harnesses different
levers to address separate problems within the system across the country. Rather than working to
spark change within the existing paradigm, these authors are asking how to ask old questions in new
ways to encourage the creation of bolder and potentially more impactful solutions.

Access and Completion for All: Moving To and Through the High School to College
Pipeline, written by Annice Fisher, challenges pre-kindergarten to high schools systems -what she refers to as P-12 -- and postsecondary institutions to view the education system
as an interconnected and comprehensive educational pipeline, which Fisher refers to as P20. Fisher illustrates the inequitable achievement gaps that exist across the high school to
college pipeline by exploring the history and impact of P-12 and higher education
mis(alignment). Fisher proposes changes in P-12 and higher education that realign efforts to
increase student persistence and graduation.

In an attempt to combat the current inequities that Fisher illuminates as so obviously present
in our schools and society, Kerry Donahue and Sarah McLean put forth an approach that
intertwines integration with innovation. In Next Generation Schools: Integrating and
innovating for the 21st-century, Donahue and McLean argue that while neither integration
nor innovation are new ideas, weaving socioeconomic integration alongside a focus on
developing 21st-century skills could be the spark that gives rise to a new generation of
schools that adequately prepares our nations students to be globally competent and
competitive. The cohesive system they envision considers the critical and influential roles of
policy, law, state and federal aid, standards and state accountability, and public will.

While McLean and Donahues chapter is agnostic to setting, in Rural Schools: the
Untapped Resource to Education Reform, Andrea LaRocca focuses on rural schools, where
innovation is also needed. LaRocca points out that while rural communities are often
unrecognized in education debates, they are primed for reform efforts. She argues that by
using empathy to seek context-driven, locally based solutions, rural communities could
create change within their schools and serve as proof points for reform across the country.

In What Schools and Teachers Can Learn From the Software Industry authors Michael
LaRosa and Christine Ortiz note that education has often been compared to the fields of
medicine and law. While these analogies serve us well if we seek to incrementally improve
our sector, they fall short if we desire a more meaningful shift in the way we do our work.
Chapter 14 starts to imagine what schools and entire preK-12 systems would be like if they
followed the processes and mindsets of the software industry. They offer illustrative
examples where this work has begun, and imagine a world where four staples of the software
ethos are applied to education: the lean startup philosophy, a hackathon model of
launching new ideas, open sourcing, and building and sharing bodies of knowledge across
school systems. These mindset shifts intend to transition K-12 education from its historic
mass production, industrial-style model to an approach that directly engages and serves
students, families, and educators.

The four chapters in Section 3 utilize different levers to spark change across systems of schools,
from aligning preschools to post-secondary education, to tying socioeconomic integration with 21stcentury skills, to changing the mindset to seek context-driven solutions in rural schools, or
implementing a lean model design and adopting a new mindset. Together they show the potential
13

impact that could arise from selecting the right spark or mechanism to bring about large-scale
change.
Section Four
The last section considers how one might spark change by blurring the boundaries between schools,
communities, and other stakeholders such as business leaders, policymakers, media, the public, and
in many cases, students. The authors seek to reframe the current narrative, re-conceptualize
schooling, forge new and unique partnerships, and ultimately, mobilize people to action. Overall, the
message is that the education of students is not the sole responsibility of educators, but rather that
of a diverse group who can be found both inside and outside the classroom.

In Chapter 15, Mark Martin outlines the concept of School-Sharing, altering the long-held
idea that teachers and schools should be the central hubs of student learning. Martin
contends that communities need to unleash much of what they currently believe about the
purpose and responsibility of schools, to then reshape shaping learning environments that
adequately prepare students for the 21st Century. To shift the way students engage in deep
learning he envisions students venturing out of schools and engaging in workplace learning
with apprenticeships and internships facilitated by successful and educated mentor-adults in
community businesses.

Transforming the Third Space by Ali Fadlallah explores the music industrys influence on
youth. Like Martin, Fadlallah argues that external spaces, rather than schools, are the lever
for lasting reform and spaces that can be full of learning. He illustrates a variety of exemplars
in the third space across the United States that are taking the power of musics inspiration
and making it positive and enriching for young people. Fadlallah argues that if community
members recognize the medias central role in adolescent development, and if education
leaders prioritize positive media resources, then students will be better able to navigate the
complex world of mainstream media and ultimately better positioned for college and
citizenship.

In the last chapter, Sparking the Will for Change in Public Education, Nicole Magnuson
argues that the most essential work moving forward is to build momentum for a social
movement around equity and excellence for all students in public education. Magnuson
explores paramount social movements in history and extrapolates best practices and critical
conditions necessary for large-scale change in education. She advances that the driving force
behind reform will be sparking external public and political will. Like Martin and Fadlallah,
her theory is grounded in the perspective that change in education will require partnerships
both within and outside of the system. Doing so will ensure a culture of high expectations
and propensity to take collective action in the best interest of all students.

These final chapters remind us how our current educational system does not meet students needs.
They emphasize any solutions we may be able to prescribe to a broken educational system will
almost certainly require more resources and people than those already present in the debate. Each
chapter in its own way amplifies the urgency of finding and implementing remedies that will support
the current students who are travelling to and from school each and every day, dependent on the
system to serve them well.

14

This book memorializes our first professional collaboration. While reading, consider which chapters
seem foundational or secondary, which interact and build on one another or run counter to each
other, which ideas seem to be prominent in reform today and why that might be the case, and what
has been left out. We hope these chapters spark discussion, debate, and, ultimately, action.

(Other chapters omitted)

15

TEN
FROM THE WHAT TO THE HOW
TAKING A DEVELOPMENTAL STANCE

By Madonna Ramp
REFRAMING THE PROBLEMADULTS NEED SUPPORT IN ORDER TO GROW
This books chapters eloquently describe many ways in which the education system might evolve in
the coming years. Each one frames specific problems and offers solutions that in particular contexts
show promise for improving the sector. Within the field, there are countless other actors with their
own ideas about how to better serve students. In the coming years, all educational leaders will be
responsible for guiding themselves and other adultsincluding both colleagues and constituent
groupsthrough some type of change. This chapter seeks to step back further to frame educational
change as a problem of creating the support necessary for humansand specifically adultsto
develop in the face of all of the change.
CHANGE IS INEVITABLETHE 21ST CENTURY DEMANDS ADAPTIVE TOOLS, TOO
As is alluded to in previous chapters, the 21st Century demands that each child develop into a very
different kind of human being than her or his parents and grandparents. The education system must
evolve along with the rest of the world, even though the specifics of that evolution will never be
entirely clear. Casner-Lotto and Barrington (2006) outline the skill sets that new entrants to the
workforce need to succeed in the workplace. Their findings indicate that while basic knowledge and
skills like the three Rs are still important in the work place, they are not as important as 21stcentury skills, such as professionalism and work ethic, oral and written communications, teamwork
and collaboration, and critical thinking and problem solving. The report concludes that students
leave the preK-12 education system and enter the workforce, "woefully ill-prepared for the demands
of todays (and tomorrows) workplace" (p. 9).
Furthermore, the research on 21st Century Skills does not take into consideration the emotional skills
needed to meet the disruptions of modern-day life both in and outside of work. The Adverse
Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study by The Center for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente
health maintenance organization uses ACEs to assess the total amount of stress during childhood,
including physical and emotional abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and parental mental illness,
substance abuse, separation and divorce. The higher the ACE score, the higher a persons risk for
innumerable health, social, and academic problems. Sixty-seven percent of the U.S. population has
experienced at least one ACE (Center for Youth Wellness, 2014). With a score of four or more out
of tenincluding an estimated 13% of adultsthe likelihood of chronic pulmonary lung disease
increases 390%; depression 460%; suicide 1,220% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[CDC], 2014).
A study by the Area Health Education Center of Washington State University (Stevens, 2012) also
found that students with at least three ACEs had three times the rate of academic failure, five times
16

the rate of severe attendance problems, [and] six times the rate of school behavior
problemscompared with children with no known trauma (para. 6). It is true that some children
will make it to adulthood untouched by such disruptions. However, there are enormous emotional
demands inherent in the fact that they will still study, work, and live in a world in which two out of
three of their classmates, colleagues, and friends are not as lucky. Children who grow into adults in
the 21st Century global society will struggle to accomplish anything they set out to do, unless they
develop the interpersonal, and intrapersonal, skills to respond appropriately to the adults around
them who walk through life with these experiences.
Some of these habits, mindsets, and non-technical skills, like grit, character, and growth mindset,
have garnered significant public attention in recent years, and critics have called into question
whether these skills should be within the purview of schools. The non-profit New America (Tooley
& Bornfreund, 2014) recently responded to that question, releasing a report synthesizing research
and practice on a number of fronts to broaden the scope of the work of education, including 21st
Century Skills, character education, social-emotional learning, and personal, social, and cognitive
psychology. They call these skills for successintegral to academic, professional, and personal
success (p. 1-2). They conclude that many of these skills, such as self-regulation and cooperation,
are, in fact, closely linked to academic achievement, that the skills are malleable, and that
schools can impact them (p. 2). This makes a strong case for educators to broaden the curriculum
to include these skills through direct instruction and improvements in school climate that enable
adults to model, and students to practice, these skills.
Though there is an initial understanding that students need to develop broader skill sets to meet the
current demands of school, work, and life, and some initial research into what impact some of them
have on school and life outcomes, there are many unknowns regarding which skills students will
need to use to adapt throughout their lifetimes. The future of human civilization is rapidly changing
and difficult to track. The problems of this century involve more than traditional technical
challenges that require the knowledge of simple, concrete answers that can be looked up in a search
engine, or the application of well-established routines and processes. This century also brings what
Harvard Business School Professor Ronald Heifetz (1994) defines as adaptive challengesthose that
require fundamental changes in values, beliefs, roles, relationships, and approaches to work.
James Martin from Oxford University (2007) outlines threats of the near futureclimate change,
famines, pandemics, violent religious extremism, terrorism, and nuclear warany one of which
could wipe out our species. Though these problems may have technical components, the
interconnected nature of a global society ensures that they are also communication problems,
intercultural problems, and emotional problems that cannot be solved by one person thinking in
isolation. Technical skills may be helpful in addressing the problems that Martin identifies, but
solving them will require a more evolved approach that incorporates many of the adaptive tools
outlined above, such as teamwork, collaboration, and self-management. Current students must
prepare to respond to these, and any number of other threats, as they grow into adulthood and take
the helm as leaders in our global society.
Education leaders must stay ahead of the curve. They must be at the forefront of research and
practice while the role of education broadens to include developing students who can use a wide
variety of ever-evolving tools to adapt to new situations. Even now, the normal state of education is
one of constant change, and so the adults in the system need to begin to use these adaptive skills in
order to lead by example for the children of the future.
17

CHANGE IS STRESSFULEVERYONE IS STILL RUNNING FROM TIGERS

It is worthwhile to consider how to restructure or replace the educational bureaucracy, and to
address the apparent talent crisis in the field. However, any solutions presented around these issues
only address symptoms of a much deeper problemthat change itself is stressful. The everincreasing types of change demanded by the 21st Century cause complexity and uncertainty, which is
stressful for the adults and children trying to make sense of them. Change on this scale demands
adaptive tools.
The amygdala is an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, memory, and
decision-making, and serves as an alarm system in times of crisis, sending distress signals to the
entire body through the nervous system. In prehistoric times, when a tiger came running after a
human being, her amygdala signaled the threat to her body, prompting her to run for her life. In his
book, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman (2006) states that if the amygdala perceives a threat
based on its stored emotional memory, it reacts instantaneously, like a neural tripwire, telegraphing
a message of crisis to all parts of the brainThe amygdalas extensive web of neural connections
allows it, during an emotional emergency, to capture and drive much of the rest of the brain
including the rational mind (p. 16-17).
He describes this process in which the rational part of the brain (the neocortex) is overpowered by
the emergency response system (the amygdala) as neural hijacking (Goleman, p. 14). No matter
how rational and creative a person is, once their amygdala becomes activated, that individual will no
longer operate using their logical reasoning abilities or creativity. They will instead respond from a
place of overpowering emotion and self-preservation that takes time to recover from. When their
amygdalae are hijacked, human beings experience distorted perceptions, invalidation, defensiveness,
and biased judgment. Where an outsider may see many options, an individual whose amygdala is
triggered will feel few or no options, and may panic. This amygdala hijacking incites a strong urge in
human beings to fight back, flee the situation, or freeze upwhat is popularly known as the fight or
flight reaction. This natural gut-level reaction that protected humans from being eaten by tigers at
the dawn of their existence is now the same reaction that thwarts their attempts to adapt to the
constant change inherent in 21st-century life.
The American Psychological Associations annual stress survey (American Psychological Association
[APA], 2013) shows that adults are living with more stress than they feel is healthy and that they are
having trouble managing the stress in their lives. In 2013, 42% of adults reported an increase in their
stress level over the past five years, and 36% said their stress level had stayed the same. Sixty-one
percent said that managing stress is extremely or very important, but only 35% said they are doing
an excellent or very good job at it. The most commonly reported sources of stress include money
(71%), work (69%) and the economy (59%)all relatively recent stressors in the history of the
species (APA, A stress snapshot section, para. 1-5). This stress interferes with everything from sleep
to exercise to nutrition in a significant number of adults. Only 50% of teens report feeling confident
about their ability to handle their personal problems (APA, Teens and stress section, para. 1).
Human brains and bodies are not wired to manage the chronic stress caused by 21st-century living.
When someone pays pay their bills, worries about their mothers recent cancer diagnosis, or fights
traffic to make it to their sons band concert, their bodies think they are running away from (or
fighting, or freezing in front of) a tiger. Just being alive today creates more anxiety than most adults
are equipped for.
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Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey (2009) extend the understanding of this human self-protection by
introducing a phenomenon they call Immunity to Change. They highlight the mismatch between
the increasing complexity of the world, including the world of work, and the mental complexity of
most adults, positing that each person has a hidden anxiety management system, or immune system,
that allows people to function in a wide variety of situations. In order to make true changes, one
must carefully examine and overcome that immune system, and construct a more expansive system
to replace the old one. Taking an immunity to change perspective, it is possible to move beyond the
common perception that educational bureaucracy is resistant to change, to consider that the human
beings that work in education are resisting change in a perfectly reasonable attempt to protect
themselves from real practical and psychological threats.
EDUCATION WORK IS PARTICULARLY STRESSFULEDUCATORS FACE MORE TIGERS
The daily work of education is sufficiently stressful to trigger an amygdala response. A classroom
teacher may recall stopping dead in his tracks when he realized that his evaluation and job security
would be based primarily on his students performance on an experimental test he had not seen or
been trained to understand. He cannot control that his students regularly arrive at his classroom an
average of three years behind grade level. His rational mind may want more feedback to improve his
practice and better serve his students, but the natural, emotional responses of fear and selfprotection take over. In the face of reforms like these, regardless of how effective they are with their
students, many great teachers dig in their heels, refuse to adjust their instruction, ignore the changes
entirely, or leave the work setting or profession.
This fight or flight reaction in experienced teachers is often misinterpreted as an unwillingness or
inability to improve, and has led to a public belief that to fix the nations schools requires replacing
the old, bad, teachers with new, good ones. The Time cover photo of Michelle Rhee holding a
broom with the caption about her battle against bad teachers (Ripley, 2008) is a stark example of
this phenomenon. Regardless of how well-intentioned reformers may be in their efforts to replenish
the teaching force, both research and reason clearly indicate that seasoned teachers are more skilled
at facilitating student learning. Ingersoll and Merrill (2014) cite several sources that document, the
reasonable proposition that teachers effectivenessas measured by gains in their students test
scoresincreases significantly with additional experience for the first several years in teaching (p.
20). And yet, principals, particularly in the most struggling and micro-managed schools and districts,
hire newer, younger teachers, because those teachers are more able to adapt to the reforms that
burnt out the ones who left.
Indeed, principals and system-level leaders are beginning to feel the pressure of the constant stream
of attempts at systems reform. Given time to reflect, most educational leaders can recall at least one,
if not countless, times when the demands upon them in their daily work made their stomach turn, or
left them with a tension headache or backache from tightening their muscles or clenching their jaw.
For example, a school principal can likely remember the tone of a heated conversation she had with
her supervisor when she was suddenly given responsibility for observing and providing substantive
feedback to over 150 staff members on top of the 70 hours of work she was already doing each
week. Even the strongest principals may feel temptation to let the test scores sort the teachers for
them because they do not see how it is possible to do that sorting themselves.
A district leader may think back to when he discovered that he was responsible for leading a divided
committee to overhaul that district evaluation system. A state official may recollect when she rushed
to lead a complete revision of state policy without significant input from practitioners in the field to
19

prevent federal sanctions after half of her states schools were labeled failing. A federal policymaker
might remember how he felt when he realized that Congress would not revise the federal
accountability system, leaving his boss to make difficult choices about how to proceed in the wake
of increased nationwide failure ratings.
All of these situations threaten the leader in question and trigger a state of high alert in their body
because these situations call upon them to change something about their approach to the work in
order to solve a complex problem. If they decide to change, then there is risk involved. They might
fail, be exposed as a fraud, find out that they were wrong, or lose their job, or any number of other
negative things might come to pass. Their amygdala sees these modern threats as equal to the
primordial threat of a tiger rushing hungrily toward them, and reacts just as strongly, flooding them
with all sorts of overwhelming physiological and emotional signals.
In the book In Over Our Heads: The mental demands of modern life, Kegan (1995) contends that people
grow best where they continuously experience an ingenious blend of support and challenge; the rest
is commentary (p.42). He goes on to describe environments that offer insufficient challenge as
boring, and states that Environments that are weighted too heavily in the direction of challenge
without adequate support are toxic; they promote defensiveness and constriction. He concludes,
In contrast, the balance of support and challenge leads to vital engagement (p. 42). The work of
education provides more than enough challenge; what is missing is the support necessary to make
sense of those challenges and take steps toward the personal growth necessary to overcome them.
As our education system is increasingly becoming a focus of public discourse, the educators doing
the work on the ground are increasingly in a position to respond to a seemingly endless stream of
ideas that manifest as changes in their daily work. That means that people working in education are
constantly thrown off balance and do not have sufficient time or support to recover from the
disruptionschange is constant and their amygdalae are constantly hijacking their neocortices.
Martin Haberman from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (2004) describes a psychological
model of how stress leads to burnout as a result of teachers inability to protect themselves against
threats to their well-being and self-esteem. Teachers face demands that activate their coping
mechanisms constantly. The coping mechanisms are not successful in mitigating the demands and
their stress levels increase, threatening their physical and mental well-being. This leads to burnout
and attrition. He concludes, [B]ecause a high level of continual alertness is required, teaching is a
high stress job (p. 1). For teachers, and for leaders throughout the system, constant change and
high alert is the norm.
In January of 2014, a parent of two Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) teenagers, Sara
Roos, wrote a blog post called Too Much Change, Too Fast (Roos, 2014), in which she states, As a
parent I am overwhelmed by all the new education changes flying toward us, straight in the
facegood luck even grasping whats happening before a whole new, even bigger initiative
blindsides you (para. 1). She goes on to enumerate a list of changes specific to LAUSD, but
indicative of the amount of change most educators, students, and parents in our country are trying
to adapt to right now. The specific changesany one of which would require enormous resources
to respond appropriately toinclude the proliferation of charter schools, local control funding
formulas, Common Core State Standards, high-stakes testing, and technology integration into the
classroom via mobile devices.

20

Many of these changes, and others like them, are taking place in other localities across the nation
and this parent is not the only stakeholder involved who feels overwhelmed by them. All it takes is a
quick Internet search on any one of the topics above to discover thousands of similarly frustrated
voices from teachers to parents to students. Constant change has become the new normal in
education, and it is unlikely that anyone will be able to bring his or her best self to work in that sort
of environment. The only way in which the human beings working in the education sector will ever
be able to grow or change to reach their potential is if they create an environment that reduces stress
and provides extensive support.
EDUCATIONAL PRACTITIONERS NEED SUPPORT TO MANAGE THAT STRESS
In the worst-case scenario, the adults referred to in the previous section will not receive the type or
amount of support they need to adapt to the challenges presented to themthey will not improve
their practice or the results of the organizations they lead. Untrained observers might see a hostile
teacher, a checked-out principal, an indecisive district leader, an aloof state official, or a tone-deaf
federal policymaker. A student of adult development might frame those problems much differently.
Every single one of the leaders in question is facing more challenge than they have the support to
adapt to, and therefore are unable to resist their immunity to changethey are stuck contending
with their tigers alone.
If those same leaders had appropriate support they might be able to grow and employ adaptive skills
to mitigate the problem. In this case, perhaps the federal policymaker would join a peer collaborative
support group of federal leaders from a variety of domestic federal policy areas, including education,
health, and transportation. A highly skilled executive coach would guide members to regularly reflect
on problems of practice with a long-term collaborator, who would serve as a peer coach. The
supposedly tone-deaf policymaker would bring the issue of congressional inaction around his policy
to his peer collaborator. She would listen and help him to understand what is threatening to him
about it in the first placewhat makes it feel like a tiger to him. Then, they would collaborate to
develop a response to the complex challenges of leading his team to craft policy that makes sense,
finding the time, money and other resources to do so, and communicating with the public about it.
Only then would observers see the true potential of that federal policymaker, and only then would
he draw closer to achieving his intended results.
If one overlays the starkly different leadership outcomes described above with what the National
Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) (2003) calls a national teacher attrition
crisis (p. 3)they estimate that one-third of all new teachers leave after three years, and that 46
percent are gone within five years, costing schools and districts nationwide $7.34 billion a year
then it becomes clear that the demands made on teachers today involve too much challenge without
enough support. They are fleeing in droves.
The Alliance for Excellent Education (Alliance) and the New Teacher Center (NTC) (2014) recently
released a report that seeks to understand this crisiswhy half of teachers leave their jobs within
five years. They cited a Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) report entitled The Schools
Teachers Leave (2009), which found that schools serving low-income, minority students turn over half
of their staffs every three years, so the attrition crisis disproportionately affects these most
vulnerable schools and students. According to Alliance, most teachers leave because of job
dissatisfaction, and those that do link their decision to five main factors: 1) inadequate administrative
support, 2) isolated working conditions, 3) poor student discipline, 4) low salaries, and 5) a lack of
collective teacher influence over school wide decisions (p. 4).
21

NTC suggests that improving teaching and learning conditions and strengthening new teacher
induction could fix the attrition problem. In reality, both of those levers are within the locus of
control of school and district leaders. Only through equipping leaders with the ability to experience
and lead adaptive change can these problems truly be addressed at their roots. If sufficiently
developed and supported, principals in most schools, and leaders all the way up the chain of
command, could positively and profoundly influence at least four out of five of the factors cited by
Alliance simply by providing a supportive environment for growth and change. Shifting the
environment in the sector from one of burnout to one of support would stem teacher attrition.
Most of the money and effort currently spent recruiting new teachers could then be redirected to
developing the teachers and other staff members already working in schools today, positioning the
current teaching force for unprecedented success with students.
The principal turnover problem follows the same trends, costing $163 million annually according to
a report by the School Leaders Network (2014), which calls upon decision-makers and funders to
value and prioritize principal retention efforts as much as principal pipeline development efforts,
which research shows are necessary for the sake of students and schools (p. 2). Principals and
superintendents are even less prepared for, and less developed in, their work than teachers are. Few
come close to reaching their potential as leaders for the same reasons teachers leave the
professionthey do not have the support they need. In a survey of educational leaders conducted
by Public Agenda, 69% of principals responding (and 80% of superintendents) indicated that
traditional leadership preparation programs were, out of touch with the realities of what it takes to
run todays schools (p. 31).
Meaningful adult development experiences for principals alone would greatly impact at least four out
of five of Alliance's factors, lowering teacher and principal attrition. What would be possible if
district, state, and federal officials, and the leaders of the boards that govern them, invested time and
energy into managing their own immunity to change and supporting the adults with which they
work to do the same?
TO FOSTER REAL CHANGE, LEADERS MUST TAKE A DEVELOPMENTAL STANCE
The challenge for leaders in education is not identifying which change is the best one to champion, it is
about figuring out which support is necessary to equip the adults with whatever it is they need to
overcome their immunity to change. Every educational leader needs to address the developmental
needs of her or himself and the adults they leadwhether she sees herself as a Chief Executive
Officer or an instructional leader, and whether he is leading a charter management organization or
restructuring a state education departmentor else adaptive change is not possible.
This is made even more salient when placed in an international perspective. In How the Worlds Best
Performing School Systems Come Out on Top, McKinsey and Company (2007) examines educational
systems that have made swift progress toward excellence. The authors conclude that, There is not a
single documented case of a school successfully turning around...in the absence of talented
leadership...we did not find a single school system which had been turned around that did not
possess sustained, committed, and talented leadership (p. 40).
That leadership requires incredible personal resources, and leading adaptive change requires constant
increases in mental complexity. Developing ones own mental complexity requires intentional selfreflection. Thankfully, in Immunity to Change, Kegan and Lahey outline a theory, and describe
22

some of the practice, for how leaders and organizations can provide appropriate support and
challenge. Leaders can use processes like this one to resist their own immunity to change, and the
immunities of those they lead.
Kegan and Lahey (2009) propose that To foster real change and development, both the leader and
the organizational culture must take a developmental stance, that is, they must send the message that they
expect adults can grow (p. 308). They go on to outline seven crucial attributes of a genuine
developmental stance, 1) committing to ongoing adult development, 2) honoring the distinction
between technical and adaptive learning goals, 3) recognizing and cultivating individuals intrinsic
motivation, 4) assuming that mindset change takes time and can be rocky, 5) recognizing that
changing mindsets involves the head and the heart, 6) recognizing that transformation happens
when change in mindset and behavior work in tandem, and 7) providing safety for adults to take the
risks inherent in changing their mindsets (p. 308-322).
Recent research has suggested that educational leaders enacting a balance of technical and adaptive
leadership are able to increase student achievement at higher rates than those employing only
technical leadership skills. These studies have gone so far as to show that several facets of trust
benevolence, reliability, competence, integrity, openness, and respectare highly correlated with
school performance and student outcomes. Daly and Chrispeels (2008) conclude, Trust, particularly
the specific aspects of respect, risk, and competence, are significant predictors of adaptive and
technical leadership (p. 2). Taking a developmental stance means creating a safe environment for
employees to make mistakes and evolve. That requires constant personal work on the part of leaders
to become more open to the change required of them in order to make that safe environment a
reality in their organizations.
Fundamentally, leaders must stop seeing themselves as the steward or defender of a particular
change, and start thinking of themselves as the coach of a team of adults who are being asked to
overcome their immunities to change. Only then will they begin to align their resources to maximize
support, and only then will they lead their teams to reach the outcomes they seek. Rather than
sorting adults into those who are for or against a preferred form of change, in an attempt to find the
right people for the job, leaders at all levels will be able to coach the teams of colleagues and constituents they
already have to overcome their immunity to change. The more leaders work on overcoming their own
immunity, the more skilled they will become in guiding others do the same, and the more successful
they will be in achieving goals with their organizations.
SUPPORT IS THE MOST POWERFUL CHANGE LEVER AVAILABLE
Regardless of what change is to come, the single most powerful course of action to prepare the next
generation for the changes of the 21st Century and beyond is to provide support to education leaders
at all levels of the sector, and at all stages of their careers. Leadership skills and a developmental
stance can be taught and learnedthey reflect the same evolving adaptive tools and mindsets that
are being integrated into the educational curriculum. It is more expensive to fund constant staff
turnover than to fund widespread, meaningful development for leaders and those they lead, and
theorists like Kegan and Lahey have already mapped out what it would take to create such support.
There are many valuable ideas for what the education sector should do to prepare students for the
21st Century and beyond; none is as important as how leaders go about doing it, and how those
leaders support their colleagues and constituents in how they do it. The attrition in schools reflects
the failure of this generation to mitigate the challenges of a changing society, workforce, and
23

education system. Educational leaders must find support for themselves and their organizations,
reaching out to others in similar roles, or finding executive coaches and mentors to guide them when
they feel like they are running from the tiger. They must create safe learning environments for
themselves and each other with attributes like those Kegan and Lahey describe, and keep track of
which attributes are most helpful in their specific contexts.
When a leader takes responsibility for finding the support she needs to take a developmental stance
with her colleagues and constituents, she creates a ripple effect throughout her sphere of influence,
potentially affecting the entire education system. She will model more and more supportive behavior
as she overcomes her immunity to change, and then the adults she leads will find that they have
greater capacity to change and support change as well. Her actions will radiate throughout the entire
education system and the outcomes of her work will improve. If all, or even a critical mass of,
educational leaders do the same thing, they will collectively create a supportive developmental
environment that will make it possible for the adults to stop running from the tiger long enough to
do their best work to teach students to do the exact same thing.

24

CONCLUSION
According to David Cohen and Jal Mehta, there are at least four characteristics of successful school
reforms that take national reach: 1) they offered solutions to problems that the people who worked
in or around schools knew that they had and wanted to solve; 2) they offered solutions that
illuminated a real problem that educators had not been aware of, or couldnt figure out how to solve,
but they embraced the reform once they saw that it would help; 3) they satisfied demands that arose
from schools political, economic or social circumstances, demands that were powerful enough to
move education or agencies that influenced education; and 4) they succeeded because there was
strong popular pressure on and/or in schools or governments, in our very decentralized scheme of
school government, to accomplish some educational purpose (Cohen and Mehta, 2014). The
authors go on to say successful reforms also either offered the educational tools, materials, and
practical guidance educators needed to put the reform into practice, or they helped educators to
capitalize on existing tools, materials, and guidance.
We see the many characteristics of what Cohen and Mehta highlight across the solutions proposed
in this book, but it is important to note the complexities. The education landscape is rife with the
pitfalls of large, seemingly immovable complexities and enormous bureaucracies, as is reflected in
most of our public school systems across the country. It demands thoughtful leadership that is
tailored to the needs of students and the educators who will make impact happen in this complex,
interconnected environment.
Whether we choose to adopt the strategies and interventions proposed in this book, inaction or
the homeostasis of the system as it currently is will continue to leave the fate of students up to
chance. If we do not take the risk to pursue another strategy or a different path or take the risk of
having a strategy at all then we leave undeterred the disequilibrium of our public school system. If
we do not act, we believe that public education will continue to produce unequal returns. We
humbly approach the work ahead in a learning posture, focused on the objective of providing a
high-quality education for every student.
Although we may get signals along the way that the action we are taking seems effective, we may not
be able to corroborate long-term effectiveness for a very long time. This is what makes our work
challenging: reforms, in general, tend to move at glacial speeds. We pursue them from a position of
urgency nonetheless, knowing that there is a great deal at stake. Learning is necessary to keep on
moving and to make the most of the investments we collectively have made into crafting these
theories of action. With so many ideas that seem worthwhile, the question becomes how we put
them together.
As passionate as the authors are about the theories of action they propose, none among them that
takes a dogmatic approach. Each author has expressed great willingness for ongoing feedback so
they can discover the blind spots that may be inherent in theories and work to address them. By the
very nature of these theories coming together, authors have been asked to place their bets on, at
least to some extent, theories for education reform that will be most effective in producing their
vision of change in the future. In education, we do not have the luxury of putting students or
schools aside so we can figure out what works; we cannot take the time to develop and test before
we launch especially as we as a cohort are fiercely guided by a sense of urgency that there are real
students whose lives matter every single day. It is on us to design instruction in a way that is

25

appropriate to reach each and every student and to continue to learn from ourselves and each
other along the way in our attempts to do so.
SPARKS FLY
While each theory of action put forth in this book has its own unique take, none of them claim to be
the solution that takes on the entire landscape of challenges facing the American public education
sector. We thought it would be worthwhile to take a few of the sparks presented in volume to see
what the world may look like if several came to fruition together. We lay out a few scenarios in
which we describe how various theories may complement or build on each other, and we invite
readers to think through what may be missing or what more we be done to deliver on the objectives
set forth by the authors for transforming the public education sector.
Interpersonal and intrapersonal: a new way to see schooling
In Chapter 4, Figueroa makes the case that developing strong relationships is more important than
any other aspect of schooling, as the returns in learning and teaching can be maximized when they
are built upon a strong foundation of shared respect and support between adults and students. One
such vision that takes on the challenge of building and sustaining meaningful relationships to
improve teaching and learning appears in Chapter 12 by Donahue and McLean. Deep relationship
building could play a critical role in the Next Generation Schools that they propose and really may
be a key precondition for their success. In an increasingly diverse world, Next Generation Schools
rely as much on the embracing academic content skills beyond the traditional core to include
things like interpersonal skills and to do so contextualized in a socioeconomically integrated
setting. Changing one without the other, they argue, will not sufficiently address the education
challenges that the nation faces: What our children need now more than ever is not a
compartmentalized approach to education but an interrelated one, where they see and experience
the deep connections across people and disciplines (119).
For Donahue and McLeans vision to be sustainable, it requires education leaders who are adept and
open to engaging across diverse parties to meaningfully forge relationships; doing so requires a
radical look inward to transform leaders into change agents within themselves and within their
organizations. This is the hypothesis brought forward in Chapter 10 by Ramp, who argues
rethinking the role of systems-level leaders, including their training and development. Ramp claims,
Developing leaders is the most powerful change lever available. Taken in coordination with what
Figueroa, Donahue and McLean argue, the hard work of sustaining relationships to vastly benefit
learning and teaching places leaders in a central role.
Reforming teacher preparation through the power of social movements
In Creating a World Class Teacher Preparation System, Dutta and Herrmann articulate an
approach to recruiting, selecting, preparing, and evaluating teachers in a competency-based model
that emphasizes clinical experience. What might happen if these preparation programs explicitly
implemented a lean model approach to their own program iteration and intentionally fostered a
mindset shift in their novice teachers, as described by Ortiz and LaRosa in chapter fourteen?
One might claim that teacher preparation programs are slow-changing creatures that generate
incredible revenues for universities across the nation and that there is no indication or strong
enough internal incentive to radically transform themselves. Imagine a social movement founded on
equity and excellence for all students began to spark and demanded large-scale change in teacher
preparation programs, akin to what Magnuson proposes in Chapter 16, knowing that the quality of
26

teaching is incredibly variable from classroom to classroom within schools? In Chapter 8, Rhodes
and Warren consider the role and influence of teacher unions on reform efforts. It is worth pausing
to imagine what might emerge in such a social movement if national teachers unions, alongside
public and political will, drove reform.
Endless Combinations
If examined in tandem, Thigpen, Fisher, and Martins chapters string together hope for a cohesive
system that includes engaged stakeholders throughout preK-12, higher education, and the business
sector. In their vision, students would delve deeply into authentic, real-world learning experiences
that prepared them for success in the 21st-century. This trio of chapters challenges the inequity that
currently exists in our education system and engages community members beyond the walls of
schools to be part of creating a new equitable pipeline for all students and a new reality.
In Chapter 2, Nio shares possible scenarios of an English-Language Learner (ELL) named Juan,
one in California and one outside Boston, Massachusetts. But, what if Juan was living in rural
Maine? LaRocca claims that rural schools are prime venues for innovation and reform and argues
for crafting solutions locally to address local circumstances, like those of Jos. Simultaneously, Hay
asserts that teachers will use innovative technology to revolutionize current schooling practices.
Imagine rural teachers harnessing new innovations that incorporate a blended learning approach in
powerful ways to better serve ELLs.
In Chapter 4, Klonsky discusses how important it is for students to have expressive opportunities
that offer engaging and real-world learning. She references the state of the art music-recording lab
that the Juvenile Detention Center and Second Chance share. What if these students who are
currently being mis-served by the legal and education systems become, as Fadlallah describes in
Chapter 16, a new generation of media consumers (Fadlallah) who are active agents in promoting
democratic processes and civic engagement (Strasburger, 2009)? Similarly, what if the teachers
provided with robust professional development that Friday advocates for in Chapter 6, worked
alongside the high-caliber principals who embody and practicing the six dimensions of instructional
leadership that Olajide outlines in Chapter 9?
We invite the reader to consider what might happen if other sets of chapters were implemented
simultaneously. We are curious which elements might reinforce others and what the implications
would be for students across the country. We encourage the reader to play what if with us. What if
any two, three, or even four chapters were held together as a set of sparks? What light might they
provide?
In these scenarios, a certain spark is elicited, where embers from one solution cause a series of
reactions elsewhere. If we pay close enough attention to evidence along the way, we may be able to
find the spark that will blaze the next trail.
THE ACTION OF A SPARK
The recommendations within this book come out of the experiences and perspectives accumulated
in our over 200 years of cumulative experience in education. In addition, we tapped into many
experts in the sector who were generous to lend their insights, feedback, and wisdom. Each author
starts with a spark often something s/he had experienced firsthand that brings the imperative
for change to the forefront of her or his mind. These experiences have sparked us into action and

27

eventually led us to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with the idea that we can take these
sparks and make many more.
At the same time, even when we know what problems we are trying to solve and have a solution
that might work, we do not always have a firm enough grasp or control of the environment to
properly implement it. It is in that spirit that Cohen and Mehtas elements for change ring true:
sometimes the protagonists leading reform come up short on practical resources and tools to put
change into place, and even if they secure those materials, they generally cannot suffice in the
absence of enjoying popular pressure and satisfying the demands of the social, political, or economic
realities of the community (2014). We need to continuously grow our shared will, leadership
capacity, and a never-ending appetite for learning if we want to make significant change across the
sector.
We return to the 24 practitioners who are members of the fifth Ed.L.D. cohort. While one could
approach this book as scattershot theories of education reform, appreciating each chapter for its
own merits, we think that it is much more interesting and thought-provoking to consider how these
theories will intersect through the writers, the members of Cohort 5.
Each of us on our own, armed with our experiences and the knowledge that this doctoral program
provides, will no doubt make meaningful contributions in their schools, organizations, departments,
and companies. Together, however, we have potential far greater than the sum of our individual
contributions. Bound by this common experience, a spark that touches the cohort will inevitably
cause a chain reaction that extends beyond the reach of any single leader. In this respect, the
preceding chapters only introduce the elements how they come together and the precise solutions
that they will form are yet unknown. Meanwhile, the ideas contained herein will continue to shape
and evolve as we do as leaders.

28

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank our professors Elizabeth City and Jal Mehta for their guidance and support
in this projectand for giving us this challenge in the first place. You urged us to pursue our
interests, tapped into your own networks to connect us with experts and resources in the field, and
never hesitated to look at drafts and offer feedback. Thank you for your unrelenting encouragement
and optimism. Were deeply grateful for your passion for teaching and your dedication to us; thank
you for letting your sparks ignite us.
Thank you to the Teaching Fellows for our course, Kristen Callisto and Jeff Carlson, for helping to
coordinate this effort and their continual support.
There were also many others who contributed their experiences and expertise to the book. We
would like to thank them for their time and willingness to engage with us.
With sincerest gratitude,
Cohort 5

29

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Watkins, B. (n.d.). Black scholar says toxic hip-hop is like feeding black kids cyanide for breakfast. Retrieved
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http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/

CHAPTER 17

CONCLUSION

Cohen, D. & Mehta, J. (2014). Leaping Towards Utopia... Sometimes. Working paper in progress, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI & Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

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ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

The authors of Sparks are members of the fifth cohort of the Harvard Graduate School of
Educations Doctor of Education Leadership program (Ed.L.D.). The Ed.L.D. program harnesses
the intellectual and professional resources of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the
Harvard Business School, and the Harvard Kennedy School. The cohort consists of 24 students
from diverse professional backgrounds who bring their passion for educational excellence and equity
along with a firsthand knowledge of learning and development, a firm grasp of public policy issues,
and the organizational management skills to translate visionary ideas into real-world success. The
Ed.L.D. program is designed to prepare system-level leaders for positions in national nonprofits and
philanthropies, state and federal departments of education, mission-driven for-profits, and school
systems.
____________________________________________________
Kerry Donahue began her career in education as high school social studies teacher in rural North
Carolina through Teach For America. During her time in the classroom, Kerry designed and
implemented a civics and economics curriculum which led to over 85% of her students to pass
statewide exams, the highest pass rate for non-selective social studies classes in the schools history.
Following her time with Teach For America, Kerry worked in a variety of education organizations in
Washington, D.C., including New Leaders and D.C. Public Schools. Kerry joined NewSchools
Venture Fund in 2011 where her work has focused on improving school quality in the charter sector
and supporting schools to take on growth. In her role as a Senior Analyst with NewSchools, Kerry
has led due diligence on over five separate charter school networks, unlocking over four million
dollars of philanthropic support and adding over 3,400 new high-quality seats to the D.C. charter
sector. Kerry comes to this work with a passion for social justice, and a belief that every child must
have access to a quality school in order for our country to continue to prosper and deliver on its
promises of freedom and equality.
Prateek Dutta experienced educational inequality first hand when he moved from Calcutta, India to
a failing school in Denver, Colorado. After being asked not to walk with his graduating high school
class because he did not meet basic requirements, Prateek grew determined to fight for educational
equity. In 2008, he joined Teach For America in New Orleans where he taught sixth grade and led
his students to the highest standardized test scores in the Recovery School District multiple years in
a row. Wanting to broaden his impact, Prateek transitioned into KIPP Through College and directed
college placement for the first group of graduating seniors in KIPP New Orleans. The lessons he
learned in New Orleans and from his own experiences as a struggling immigrant student drive him
to bring reform and excellence to other failing schools across the country.
Ali Fadlallah founded Personality Music after teaching 11th grade ELA as a Teach for America
Corps Member in Mississippi. Since 2011, Ali has managed his arts company with a mission to
advocate for equality in education through music, literature, and performing arts, and has traveled

47

the U.S. to spark community dialogue and instigate progressive, grassroots change. In 2013, he
pressed pause on Personality Music to further develop his entrepreneurial vision in an MBA
program, where he also gained invaluable experience consulting social enterprises.
After spearheading the opening of 25 out-of-school time programs, Michael Figueroa worked to
promote service-learning as an instructional method. His service-learning program became a state
model and helped him view national service as a key strategy in public education. Over the last four
years at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Michael developed and led a statewide
AmeriCorps mentor program with 16 urban/rural school districts in California. Designed to combat
school push-out policies, the program connects mentors with students to provide social-emotional
supports. Through this, Michael discovered a new passion for school climate and restorative work
with a special emphasis on alternative education. Consequently, he earned his teaching credential
serving as a math teacher at a community school. With these experiences and having a daughter with
special needs, Michael is professionally and personally committed to creating inclusive school
environments for marginalized populations.
Experiencing racial and socioeconomic microaggressions in education sparked Annice Fishers
motivation to create social and educational change. Create environments where everyone has the
opportunity to actualize their full potential is Annices philosophy for designing inclusive,
empowering, and action-oriented spaces that transform lives, educational systems, and communities.
As a university administrator, Annice developed innovative leadership curricula, academic
interventions, retention approaches, and multicultural competence initiatives for students, faculty,
and staff. Recognizing how access programs shaped her success, Annice led community-based
educational programs for underserved preK-12 youth in Arizona and North Carolina. Annices
simultaneous engagement in higher education and the community allowed her to recognize systemic
weak links across the preK-16 pipeline. Most recently, Annice designed campus strategies for
improving transfer student transition, persistence, and graduation. Through coalitions, Annice wants
to build a stronger secondary to post-secondary educational pipeline, where regardless of
demography students are academically and socially prepared to reach their highest potential.
As a child of two educators, Ola Friday was raised with an appreciation for the power of education
to change lives. Initially drawn to the classroom, the urge to impact policy issues pulled her to
pursue work at the systems level. After receiving her Master of Public Policy and a brief stint in
private business consulting, Ola went to work in the early childhood education policy arena. Most
recently, she led New York States quality rating and improvement system that works to improve the
quality of the early childhood education programs by engaging providers in formal assessments and
providing targeted technical assistance, professional development and enhances to the learning
environment. Ola firmly believes that major education reform in the United States will only occur
with a focus and investment in the earliest years of a childs life. She also believes that the U.S. can
learn from other countries and is interested in exploring the work of other nations in this arena.
Finally, Ola is excited about the federal governments role in promoting early education policies and
she plans to pursue work at that level in the near future.

48

As a teacher, principal, school founder, and statewide leadership team member, David Hay has
been instrumental in leading the charge for transforming the educational delivery system to better
and more efficiently meet the needs of all students. David takes his work seriously, acknowledging
that the stakes are too high not to. He believes technology can be leveraged to truly transform
the system, however it is a means, not the end. Hay defines transformation as authentic, integrated,
and applied. Hay most recently served as principal of Tomah High School, serving several rural
communities in western Wisconsin. He previously taught at, and subsequently served as principal of,
Kettle Moraine High School in a suburban community west of Milwaukee. Hays major
accomplishments include leading the development of two innovative charter schools, one focused
on global leadership, one that uses the arts to integrate all core subjects.
Zachary Herrmann has served as a high school mathematics teacher for the past seven years. After
completing his teacher education program at Stanford University, Zachary taught for one year in
Sunnyvale, CA before moving back to Illinois. Zachary earned the Most Promising New Teacher
Award from the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Early Career Educator Award
of Excellence from the Illinois School Board of Education for his teaching at Evanston Township
High School. Beyond his work in the classroom, Zachary served as the head Girls Cross Country
coach and the Boys Distance Track coach, as well as choreographer for several dance shows and
musicals, and assisted with and directed several theatrical productions. Zachary also founded the
Complex Instruction Consortium, a network of educators and schools who collaborate to improve
instruction in mathematics classrooms. The Complex Instruction Consortium has held over 10 free
workshops to date, reaching hundreds of teachers and thousands of students. Zachary also serves on
the Nationwide Leadership Training Team for the American Cancer Society where he helps create
and deliver leadership training content for American Cancer Society staff and volunteers. Zachary
enjoys running, and has run six marathons, including Boston in 2014.
Amanda Klonsky has spent the past decade working in the nations largest juvenile detention
center in Chicago. Most recently, she served as Manager of Juvenile Justice Programs for Chicago
Public Schools, leading a team of social workers assisting youth making the transition back to public
school after detention or incarceration.
Prior to this role, she served as Program Director at Free Write Jail Arts and Literacy Program at the
Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. In 2004-2005, Klonsky worked in South Africa with the
Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. She earned a masters degree in social work at the University
of Chicago. She has received fellowships from the Chicago Foundation for Education, the
University of Chicagos Human Rights Program, and from the Chicago Community Trust, the last
of which allowed her to return to South Africa to study juvenile justice reform.
Wanting to give students the same powerful public school experiences that she had, Andrea
LaRocca started her career as a high school English teacher, first in Massachusetts and then in
England. Andrea was impressed and inspired by passionate educators both home and abroad,
though she was simultaneously struck by how overworked and under-supported they were. After
earning her masters degree, Andrea felt that the best way to ensure the quality public school
experience that drove her was to move into education reform and pursue her belief that the
development and support of educators improves all facets of education. As the Director of National
49

Initiatives for the past three years at NYC Leadership Academy, a non-profit that prepares
transformational school leaders, she worked directly with states, school districts, and organizations
on a range of school leadership development and support projects. Andrea hopes to continue to
address the undervalued role of the educator and thereby improve education for both students and
educators.
Michael LaRosa began his career in public education as a graduate of the Chicago Public Schools,
where his student experience sparked his desire to work in the service of improving equitable access
to superlative teachers and educational opportunities. As Chief Strategy Officer at Relay Graduate
School of Education, Mike oversees matters related to institutional planning, advisory, and
partnerships, and was part of the start-up team at an innovative higher education institution serving
P-12 educators. Prior to Relay, Mike was a strategy consultant at Diamond Management and
Technology Consultants, a technology consultant at Accenture, and a high school math teacher in
the New York City Department of Education.
Mike earned his B.E. in chemical engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of
Science and Art and his M.B.A. from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Nicole Magnuson is a brand and social change strategy consultant with nearly 20 years of strategic
planning, communications, and executive leadership experience with nonprofits, foundations, and
community collaborations. She has dedicated her career to improving lives and social conditions,
working to inspire others to give back to their communities through advocacy, investment, and
active engagement. Since 2006, Nicole has partnered with Helios Education Foundation, a $600
million philanthropic organization, helping to shape the foundations strategic direction as well as in
supporting key education reform partnerships. From 2008 thru 2011, she led the creation of Expect
More Arizona, an education advocacy organization, dedicated to creating a culture of high
expectations and shared commitment to excellence for all Arizona students from birth through
career. Long-term, Nicole seeks to lead within an advocacy or philanthropic organization to create
high expectation, education-first cultures and to drive education reform efforts that ensure all
students receive an excellent education.
As co-founder and School Director of Langston Hughes Academy, Mark Martin led the preK-8
charter school to six consecutive years of academic growth. He authored the proposal to build New
Orleans first post-Katrina school, a $32 million project. He is a founding Board Member of
THRIVE, Louisianas first urban residential school, which posted the highest academic gains in state
history. Investing over 10 years educating children of poverty, Mark began his career with Teach For
America in Atlantas Woodson Elementary, where he was honored as the Employee of the Year.
Marks passion for this work is summed up in Nelson Mandelas words, Education is the most
powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Mark is committed to expanding
educational options for families in under-resourced areas of our country, with a focus in the
Southeast. Mark graduated with a B.S. in Finance from the University of Alabama and earned an
MBA from the University of Georgia. Mark and his wife Tiffany recently welcomed daughter
Marilee to the family.

50

As the first in her family to go to college, Sarah McLean has spent her professional career working
for all kids to have access to an excellent education. Over the last decade, Sarah has held a number
of executive roles in the public and non-profit sectors leading teams to achieve ambitious goals for
educational equity. Most recently, Sarah served as the Chief of Staff for Teach For Americas
Regional Operations team charged with the support and management of their 50+ regions, 1,300+
regional employees and a budget of $130M+. Prior to this, Sarah spent four years with the district
office of Baltimore City Public Schools, two-and-a-half as the Special Assistant to the
superintendent, Dr. Andrs Alonso. She led and managed special projects related to the districts
reform agenda, including the reorganization of the district office to better meet and serve the needs
of local communities. Sarah spent the first six years of her career as an elementary/middle school
educator in Baltimore and Guatemala City while also co-founding Math Works, a grassroots,
professional development organization whose mission focused on increasing student achievement in
mathematics through teacher-to-teacher professional development. The breadth of her experience in
the public education system drives Sarahs desire and conviction to lead and innovate at a systemlevel in the service of all kids and communities.
For the past 11 years, Derek J. Nio has served as a teacher of mathematics and the English
Language department chair for Corona High School in Corona, Ca. Qualified to teach the highest
levels of math and repeatedly encouraged to pursue administrative positions, Derek chose to stay in
the classroom and work with the most challenged students. Derek reflects, My passion is working
with English learners, underrepresented students, and underprivileged youth. Many of my kids and
their families are marginalized, disenfranchised. I felt that, by staying in the classroom, I could be
most effective. Now, I am inspired to better myself so that I, in turn, can work toward bettering the
educational experience for all. Dereks first goal is to effect positive change in educational policy as
it pertains to Hispanic student performance in the southwestern United States.
As a teacher, instructional leader, graduate lecturer, coach, curriculum designer and consultant,
Frances Olajide has already begun to make systems-level impact in New York City and Newark,
NJ as she has worked to improve the quality of education that low income and high needs students
receive. As a native Houstonian who was raised by a single mom in Third Ward, Frances became
acutely aware of how a childs zip code affects their destiny and has worked in schools or with
education programs that address inequity and closing the opportunity gap since 2004. Frances began
teaching full time in 2007 as a New York City Teaching Fellow in New York City. Following
NYCTF, Frances served as a sixth grade writing teacher at KIPP: Infinity Charter School in Harlem.
Frances earned a B.S. in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana and a M.S. in Teaching
English to Speakers of Other Languages from CUNY City College. Most recently, Frances served as
an Instructional Fellow at Relay Graduate School of Education where she taught, coached and
certified teachers in Newark, NJ and as an Education Consultant with Generation Ready where she
supported schools and leaders in New York Citys most troubled districts.
An MIT grad with two masters degrees, Christine Ortiz spent her high school years working on
the national, teen anti-smoking Truth Campaign and advising corporate executives on engaging
youths for social change. At the age of 18, she founded her first company, Allen Ortiz Consulting,
through which she developed youth empowerment curriculums, designed marketing and branding
51

strategies for social change initiatives, launched state and country-wide change campaigns, and spoke
in front of hundreds of thousands of youth and adults. Seven years ago she returned to Orlando and
opened a tutoring center, a stepping-stone to her most recent venture, an Innovation lab that is
rapidly prototyping solutions to education related issues which includes The Ampersand School, a
K-12 independent school, with mixed-age classrooms, an integrated and thematic curriculum design,
and a constant focus on individuality and Blank Schools, a radically different approach to new
school model development.
Madonna Ramp has led adults and students in six states and two countries, and has served in a
wide variety of innovative human development roles including crisis center training coordinator,
high school special education literacy teacher, new teacher mentor, and school district-level coach.
Simultaneously with this work as a practitioner, Madonna has impacted the system through U.S.
Education Department and America Achieves fellowships, a variety of consulting roles, and the
cofounding of a Political Action Committee to affect local school board elections. Most recently, she
served as a Social and Emotional Learning Specialist in Austin Independent School District,
cultivating transformational change by coaching principals and their leadership teams to improve
climate, attendance, and discipline in preK-12 schools. Madonna is driven by a moral imperative to
ensure that all students have access to transformational leaders like those who inspired her. She has
learned that no human being truly wants to fail, and that a supportive environment focused on
growth enables success in all members of the learning community. Ultimately her goal is to support
schools and districts in developing their human potential so that all students, and their leaders, are
enabled to succeed.
Dwight E. Rhodes most recently served as Chief Academic Officer and Chief Advocacy Officer of
ReNEW Schools, where he supported the organization in turning around the lowest performing
schools in New Orleans. As CAO, Dwight coached principals and deans of K-8 schools, facilitated
the implementation of differentiated instructional techniques, oversaw enrichment programs,
developed an alternative education program to minimize the number of expelled/suspended
students, and built strong parent/school partnerships through community engagement.
Dwights previous experience includes serving as Director of School Reform, where he was
responsible for launching a National Teacher Preparation Institute for the Thurgood Marshall
College Fund. Dwight has also served as an elementary school principal in San Francisco, CA. Other
educational experience includes being a middle school teacher for nearly 10 years in Atlanta, GA,
where he was named teacher of the Year because of his unwavering passion to do whats right for all
students.
Intently focused on innovative educational design, Tyler S. Thigpen is passionate about achieving
for preK-12 students and teachers a comprehensive transition to 21st-century teaching and learning,
and applying best practice from public, private, and charter schools to make our public school
districts the best in the world. He helped pioneer a transdisciplinary curriculum at an Atlanta
independent school where he served as head of upper school, integrated agriculture, arts, and the
environment in the elementary and middle charter school he co-founded, and taught high school
Spanish in Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia's largest district and winner of the Broad Prize
for Urban Education. Earlier, Tyler worked as a minister at a local Atlanta church and facilitated
52

international development in Peru in areas of healthcare, education, poverty reduction,

infrastructure, and human rights. A husband and father of four, Tyler holds a Midcareer Master of
Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Master of Theological
Studies from Regent College of the University of British Columbia.
For twenty years, Sarah Warren has led education and community development programs serving
people affected by poverty and conflict. Sarahs work began with Save the Children in Kabul during
the Afghan civil war and rise of the Taliban. During this period, Sarah became energized by the
possibility that education could serve as an antidote to violence and povertyand that schools could
become a platform for community development. Since then, Sarah has served in leadership roles in
numerous non-profits, shaping strategy, building strong teams, and ensuring the delivery of quality
programs. During her tenure with Mercy Corps, an international non-governmental organization,
Sarah directed Global Citizen Corps, which trained, educated, and connected thousands of youth
leaders in the U.S. and ten other countries. This experience fueled Sarahs determination to help
build a U.S. education system that better prepares young people for global citizenship and the
realities of todays world.

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ABOUT THE EDITORS

Catherine Pozniak is co-founder and COO of New Schools for Baton Rouge (NSBR), which is
among an emerging group of non-profits across the country that are playing a harbormaster role
in city-based education reform efforts. Prior to NSBR, Catherine served as the executive director
and state agency head for the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), the
state policymaking board for K-12 education as well as authorizer and managing board for the
Recovery School District (RSD).
Catherine moved to Baton Rouge after seven winters in South Dakota, where she was a 2004 Teach
For America charter corps member on the Rosebud Lakota Sioux Reservation. Catherine taught
fourth through eighth grades in two-classroom elementary school on the prairie before transferring
to town (pop. 800) to pilot a special education inclusion program for her school district. Catherine
held a number of leadership positions as a teacher, including union representative and negotiator of
the teachers contract.
Following the classroom, Catherine led Teach For America * South Dakota as its executive director,
collaborating with her counterparts in New Mexico, Hawaii, and Oklahoma to launch the Native
Alliance Initiative (NAI), which seeks to increase the recruitment of Native teachers, promote
partnerships with Native organizations, and incorporate culturally responsive teaching methods in
Teach For Americas training program.


Jessica Rose first started teaching as a junior in high school, when she taught creative writing to
sixth and seventh graders, and subsequently attended Brown University to study education. While at
Brown she worked for The ArtsLiteracy Project, which further solidified her belief that quality arts
experiences should be an integral part of all schools. Jessica taught middle and high school English,
Ethics, and the Arts for five years, mostly at Boston Preparatory Charter Public School, where she
also became the English Department Chair. After earning her masters in Arts in Education from
the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she joined the Rhode Island Department of Education
(RIDE). At RIDE Jessica developed educator evaluation and support models, and assisted districts
in implementation through creating resources and leading training for school and district leaders
across the state. She has wide-reaching interests in U.S. preK-12 education, but is particularly
passionate about cultivating quality, reflective, common sense, synergistic school systems that
promote powerful teaching and learning.


Mary Wall spent the past five years shaping and developing federal education policy across the birth
through college and career pipeline in the Administration of President Barack Obama. Mary joined
the Administration in 2009 in the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs, and transitioned from
there to work in the Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. In
her first tenure at the Department, she focused on the Administrations efforts around college
access, affordability, and completion. Mary left the Department in 2011 to work across education
policy areas at the White House Domestic Policy Council, where her work entailed policy research,

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development, and strategy for all parts of the Presidents education agenda, including the
development and rollout of the Preschool for All proposal and legislative proposals and executive
actions as part of the Presidents college cost and affordability agenda. In late 2013, Mary returned to
the Department to serve as a Senior Policy Advisor for higher education, where her efforts have
been focused on the Administrations proposed postsecondary institution rating system, developing
the First in the World higher education innovation fund, and working closely on the Departments
higher education regulatory and rulemaking agenda and administration of Federal Student Aid
programs.

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