In this episode of Opportunity Thrives, Jason Mitchell sits down with Dr. Quintin Shepherd, a true visionary for the future of education, and the Superintendent at Victoria Independent School District in Victoria, Texas.  Throughout this fascinating conversation, Dr. Shepherd shares his views on education and the new approach that he's bringing to his district, including what he calls radical transparency and putting the public back in public education. He describes radical transparency as the direct connection between the communities we serve and providing unprecedented levels of accessibility to information and people - being transparent with absolutely everything.  But Dr. Shepherd's primary focus stems from his practice of compassionate leadership and expressing vulnerability, and he believes that's why radical transparency works. It's built on the foundation of compassion. He also shares his perspective of the terms complicated vs. complex and how his district is using crowdsourcing to foster open communication and identifying whether a challenge is complicated or complex.   He has also shares how he believes it's important to create a culture of innovation. One of the first steps he took to achieve this is by reducing the cost of failure to increase value. He believes that in too many education systems, failure is equated with blame. Innovation cannot or will not happen within in a culture of blame. He believes in embracing failure to foster a culture of innovation.  This is episode is filled with inspiration, hope and valuable insights about how we can transform the way we lead school districts by modifying our approach to some of the most basic leadership practices. 

Jean Sharp had another opportunity to speak with John Watson, the founder of Evergreen Education Group and the Digital Learning Annual Conference in this episode. They discuss the role of the Digital Learning Collaborative had in contributing to the Biden/Harris leadership transition, the role schools play in supporting students - beyond just academics, and the silver linings the pandemic has created for new learning options.  We discuss the Digital Learning Annual Conference: https://www.deelac.com/ Digital Learning Collaborative: https://www.digitallearningcollab.com/

In this episode, we reconnect with Debra Giacolone, the Director of Student Services for Sarasota County School District in Sarasota, Florida, and Dr. Crystal Ladwig the Director of Research and Development for Suite360, a social-emotional learning provider that partners with districts across the country. When Jean Sharp, Chief Academic Officer at Apex Learning, last spoke with Debra and Crystal in an Opportunity Thrives episode last fall, they raised concerns about the health and well-being of our students, particularly in these times of lockdowns and school closure. We revisit this conversation and they share the unfortunate reality that there has been a significant rise in mental health concerns as students grapple with isolation, anxiety, depression, and trauma.  We discuss opportunities to support students despite these challenges, how Sarasota County is addressing student and educator wellbeing, and what Crystal is seeing with other districts across the country. Regardless of the challenges, they share a message of hope for the future and practical guidance other district leaders should consider as they navigate how to best support the social and emotional needs of our students and educators.   

On the show today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Stepan Mekhitarian, the Interim Director for Innovation, Instruction, Assessment & Accountability at Glendale Unified School District in Glendale, California.  Stepan is passionate about supporting teachers in the blended and virtual learning environments. In fact, he's so passionate about this topic, that he wrote a book about it: The Essential Blended Learning PD Planner: Where Classroom Practice Meets Distance Learning.  In this episode, he shares how his district is guiding teachers and leaders on how to effectively use instructional technology to benefit students and educators. Stepan shares more about how his district is applying these practices to support teaching and learning within his district and how they have been able to navigate the transition to virtual learning. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic thrust students and teachers into virtual learning (literally overnight), existing digital inequities were quickly exposed. Matthew Hiefield, a teacher for Beaverton School District, and a member of their Digital Equity and Inclusion Team, shares how their district is addressing these challenges while also seeking out new opportunities to improve learning during the pandemic. Matthew Hiefield has 25 years of experience teaching high school Social Studies and is currently a Future Ready TOSA  focuses on digital divide issues and how they affect teaching and learning.   In this episode, Matthew shares the district's priorities in addressing connectivity issues, intentional outreach, how they are identifying opportunity gaps, and establishing consistency while still getting creative to ensure students continue to learn. 

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that change is inevitable in every aspect of our lives. This couldn’t be more apparent than what we experienced in education and the evolution and mainstreaming of virtual learning this year. We put together a culmination of some of the most powerful conversations, insightful projections for the future, and what educators believe will stick moving forward now and well after the pandemic wanes. What opportunities are you discovering as a result of this unique time in life and in education? In this episode, we take a look back at all of the many leaders, students and educators who shared their insights, nuggets of wisdom and projections for the future of learning with us throughout the past year. We want to go back and consider what these leaders anticipate will stick with us long after the pandemic is over.  Lisa Rowbotham, the Secondary ELA Supervisor for Passaic Public Schools in New Jersey, Carl Hooker, Thomas Vacanti, the Online Learning Coordinator for the City School District of Albany, Kerrie Torres, Assistant Superintendent from Brea Olinda Unified School District, Kimberly Smith, the new executive director of the new Center for Inclusive Innovation from Digital Promise, Sean Slade, the Senior Director of Global Outreach at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), James Butler from Tucson Unified School District, and Nicola Peck an Apex Learning student, all share their insights and perspectives with us in this episode. 

On today’s episode, we have the opportunity to speak with district leaders from Tucson Unified School District who are navigating the challenges and opportunities that a district-wide shift to online learning can bring. James Butler, the senior director of instructional technology and online education, and Omar Sotelo, the program manager for academic standards in the Office of Curriculum and Professional Development join Jean Sharp for this conversation. They share their experiences and insights implementing a district wide virtual learning program across their district, including best practices they've adopted and their keys to success.  Tucson Unified School District, in Tucson, Arizona, serves approximately 42,000 students and has 86 campuses across 200 square miles. As a district, their focus has been on serving the diverse needs of their students throughout the community and continuing to provide a very rigorous, relevant, and engaging environment that encourages teaching and learning and drives student achievement - no matter how students are learning.

At the new Center for Inclusive Innovation, educators like Kimberly Smith are gathering creative ingenuity from communities across the country so it can more easily be shared among school leaders. They’re motivated by a radical commitment to equity in education for Black, Brown, and Indigenous students. Kimberly is the executive director of the League of Innovative Schools at Digital Promise, which founded the Center for Inclusive Innovation. She has decades of experience creating digital curriculum, supporting educators, and developing learning tools for PreK-12 schools. In this episode of Opportunity Thrives, Jean Sharp spoke with Kimberly about what educational leaders are focused on right now as they work to better support their students, parents, and staff. In addition to all things related to the pandemic, she’s hearing about the importance of sharing best practices, providing dependable technology, and acting on school leaders’ strong desire to deliver equity to all.

In this episode, we talk with Ariana Flewelling, an Education Strategist who provides collaboration and consulting on the use of Educational Technology and Transforming Education.  She specializes in pedagogy-first technology integration to enhance practice and student achievement. Her passion is inspiring others to share their stories and skills through technology. Throughout her work, Ariana works to ensure technology is implemented equitably to provide all students access and opportunity.   Throughout this conversation, Ariana shares her perspective on culturally responsive teaching and universal design for learning to benefit all students. We discuss integrating the way districts, schools, teacher work together and providing ongoing reinforcement and support structures in place to set students, teachers and district leadership on the path for success in 2021. 

In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Sean Slade, a global education leader, speaker, author, and policymaker with over 25 years of experience spanning five countries and four continents. He currently serves as the Senior Director of Global Outreach at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), focusing on promoting and expanding the Whole Child approach across the United States and globally.  This transformational initiative is a move from a focus of academic achievement to one that promotes the long-term development and success of all children is one that Sean speaks passionately about in this episode.  ASCD is a membership-based non-profit organization founded in 1943. It has more than 125,000 members from more than 128 countries, including superintendents, principals, teachers, professors of education, and other educators.  Learn more about ASCD: http://www.ascd.org/Default.aspx ASCD Whole Child Approach: http://www.ascd.org/whole-child.aspx