What Students Want: Recent Episodes
Andreas Marinopoulos
This podcast is an exploration of what students, young and old, are really looking for. Why do we learn avidly in some environments but are bored in others? What is an immersive learning experience and how do we generate more of them, for our children, our colleagues and ourselves? Learning science has many secrets that are very useful to unlock. As the world
Our guest today is Dr. Brenton White. Dr. White is the Superintendent/ CEO of A+ Charter Schools, INC. He has more than 23 years of experience in education, serving the last five years as a superintendent.
In this episode, Dr. White discusses the challenges of being a leader, the importance of education for underserved communities, how competition improves school performance and gives insight into teacher shortages.
Quotes:
- “When people say, “Oh, you can't color trees purple.” the ones that persist continue to be artists. The others acclimate to the norm.”
- “I think any leader must jump in and do what's needed to make things happen.”
- “We have a lot of students who graduate and become teachers. And in fact, we have five teachers right now who were students.”
- “Retention has a lot to do with culture and so we're trying to create the best culture possible.”
Where to learn more about Dr. White:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenton-white-ed-d-148b953b/
- A+ Charter Schools: https://www.apluscharterschools.org/301143_2
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Our website: www.enrollhand.com
Our guest today is Amit Patel. Amit is is a Managing Partner at Owl Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in the world's leading education technology companies such as Byju, dreambox, Newsela, Quizzlet, and more: https://owlvc.com/portfolio.html
In this episode, we talk about how the education technology infrastructure investments years ago create the conditions for the EdTech boom today, we talk about a new cohort of learning-science-based startups and much more.
Listen and take note of how one of the leading EdTech investors today thinks about education.
- Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- 2021 Education Outcomes Report - https://view.genial.ly/615f5ecf4ec4620d9a6b863c
- Amira Learning - https://www.amiralearning.com
- Quizlet - https://quizlet.com
- Where to learn more about [Name]:
- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitashwinpatel
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/amitashwinpatel
- Website - https://owlvc.com
- Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
- Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Deborah Quazzo, the cofounder and managing partner of GSV Ventures, one of the earliest and more prestigious venture funds investing in the entire spectrum of education from PreK to Gray including companies that we all use daily such as Coursera, Classdojo, Clever, Quizziz and many more. Deborah is also the cofounder of the annual annual ASU+GSV Summit which attracts over 5000 visitors each year, now 13 years in, and is where the major education trends are revealed each year.
In this episode, we look at EdTech trends post-pandemic, glean a couple of key takeaways from the latest ASU+GSV summit, speculate on the race to the first $100B EdTech company, and, most importantly, talk about Return on Education and what a ROE school would look like.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- Check out the GSV portfolio, you will know a lot of the names: https://gsv.ventures/portfolio/
- Why not attend the Summit next year? https://www.asugsvsummit.com/
- We referenced this prior podcast episode: https://blog.enrollhand.com/consumerization-k12-education/
Here are the key takeaways from the GSU+ASV summit:
- Fireside Chat with Eddie Glaude - https://www.asugsvsummit.com/video/stage-x-fireside-chat-with-eddie-glaude-and-josh-anderson
- Isabel Wilkerson on ASU+GSV: https://www.asugsvsummit.com/video/isabel-wilkerson-pulitzer-prize-winner-and-author-of-new-york-times-bestsellers-the-warmth-of-other-suns-and-caste-the-origins-of-our-discontent-discusses-truth-reconciliation
Where to learn more about Deborah:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/deborahquazzo
- Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_H._Quazzo
- Other - https://gsv.ventures/team/deborah-quazzo/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Daniel Pianko. Daniel is a Managing Director at Achieve and University Ventures. He has a long experience adviser and innovator in student finance, medical education, and postsecondary education.
In this episode, we talk about how people's focus is shifting from the inputs to the output of education, how personalization is a misplaced idea, and how to successfully invest in job-training for young people.
In our discussion, we cover:
- 02:06 - How people are increasingly focused on the outcome of education
- 04:22 - Why personalized learning is a misplaced idea, the holy grail that will never be achieved. Team work is a better strategy to enhance learning
- 10:34 - We describe an example of a charter school that transitioned successfully from a directive learning style to a more aspirational, student-led curriculum
- 17:21 - Why Zoom schooling has just exasperated the equity challenges
- 23:22 - How last-mile training may be the answer to pull things along
- 27:45 - The concept that schools do job-training in a vacuum is part of the problem. Companies should pay for job training instead
- 29:04 - The public school system should embrace last-mile job training to increase relevance and enrollment
Where to learn more about Daniel:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/danielpianko
- Website - https://www.achievepartners.com/team/daniel-pianko.html
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our guest today is Mercedes Bent, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mercedes is focused on education and consumer early stage investing. Previously she was working in VR and a General Manager at General Assembly.
In this episode, we explore how EdTech is shifting and giving more power to parents and students. We look at social learning and gaming, which together offer a lot of promise for the future of education.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion: (links)
- Mercedes' post about the Lightspeed EdTech Portfolio - https://mercedesbent.co/2021/02/24/lightspeeds-edtech-portfolio/
- Mercedes post about 3 trends that are here to stay - https://mercedesbent.co/2021/08/03/edtech-post-pandemic-3-trends-here-to-stay/
- Fiveable and StudyStream are some social learning startups mentioned by Mercedes - https://fiveable.me, https://www.studystream.live
- Mercedes on the Ventures Stories podcast - https://soundcloud.com/venturestories/the-state-and-future-of-edtech
Where to learn more about Mercedes:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/mercebent
- Personal Website - https://mercedesbent.co/
- Lightspeed Ventures - https://lsvp.com
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
- Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Rebecca Kaden. Rebecca is a Managing Partner at Union Square Ventures. She has a particular interest in education and an extremely deep understanding of the evolving EdTech landscape. Rebecca began her career as a journalist and prior to USV was a General Partner at Maveron, a consumer focused early stage fund.
In this episode, we talk about how new technology can decentralize many aspects of what school is today, so that the learning experience can really feel individual for each student.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- Our first episode with Sora Schools - https://blog.enrollhand.com/have-you-heard-of-sora-schools/
- Our second episode with Sora Schools - https://blog.enrollhand.com/roadmap-club/
- Venture Stories episode: Redesigning School for Students To Thrive with Rebecca Kaden of USV and Garrett Smiley of Sora Schools - https://soundcloud.com/venturestories/redesigning-school-for
- Our episode: 420 Learning Guides Coach Learners Towards Mastery, with Kelly Smith, CEO at Prenda - https://blog.enrollhand.com/420-learning-guides/
- Our pisode: Will the Consumerization of Education Continue, with Jennifer Carolan - https://blog.enrollhand.com/consumerization-k12-education/
- John Danner on Twitter about Web3 & Education - https://twitter.com/jwdanner/status/1442539746358530056
Where to learn more about Rebecca:
- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-kaden/
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/rebeccakaden
- Website - https://www.usv.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
- Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Benoit Wirz, a partner at Brighteye Ventures, the leading European EdTech venture firm.
In this episode, we talk about the evolving EdTech landscape in Europe as well as the unique attributes of rising European education companies.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- Citibank study citing the Edtech Opportunity Gap - https://www.citifirst.com.hk/home/upload/citi_research/eduAXO97.pdf
- YouSchool - http://youschool.fr
- Klassroom - https://klassroom.fr
- Brighteye Ventures open roles - https://www.brighteyevc.com/open-roles
Where to learn more about Benoit:
- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benoitwirz/
- Website - https://www.brighteyevc.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Jinal Jhaveri. Jinal is the co-founder and Chairman of Schoolmint, a venture partner at Runa Capital and also co-founder and CEO at enable.us.
In this episode, we talk about Jinal's lessons growing Schoolmint, how he channeled the tailwinds of the school choice movements, and what his experience can offer for schools today.
Listen and take note of Jinal's obsessive focus on the Customer, continuously trying to delight and really understand who you are serving.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion: (links)
- A previous podcast appearance Jinal made: https://www.fundraisingradio.com/acquired-by-bv-investment-partners-founder-of-schoolmint-jinal-jhaveri-shares-his-experience-of-getting-acquired/
- How to design a Portrait of A Graduate: https://portraitofagraduate.org
- A tweet Jinal wrote on how obsessed he is with customers
- https://twitter.com/jinal/status/1350180072511082496
- How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit - https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit
- Where to learn more about Jinal:
- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhaveri/
- Jinal's request for pre-K–12 ed-tech startups - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/request-pre-k12-ed-tech-startups-helping-distance-learning-jhaveri/
- Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
- Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Summary
Our guest today is Jennifer Carolan. Jennifer started her career as a classroom teacher in a Chicago district. She then moved to California to attend Stanford, and there got inspired to use her teaching experience in support od tech founders. So she joined NewSchools Venture Fund where she learned the craft of VC, while also co-creating and teaching a course at Stanford. After that, Jennifer co-founded Reach Capital, with a first fund in 2000, a second fund in 2018 and a third fund more recently.
In this episode, Jennifer and I talk about how student engagement is an outcome of strong pedagogy. We then describe a new generation of global education companies that are partnering with school districts and we caution policy makers that need to rise to the occasion in order to keep innovation from escaping the public school system. Finally we talk about different promising edtech categories and end up with the conclusion that parents are the stakeholders that still lack a lot of support in the ecosystem.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- A tweet by Jennifer encapsulating her belief in pedagogy-led edtech startups
- https://twitter.com/jencarolan/status/1402677758820438018
- Our conversation with Amir from Outschool - https://blog.enrollhand.com/learning-is-more-than-a-consumer-experience-with-amir-nathoo/
- Jennifer's hopeful piece on EdSurge serving as a call to action for policy makers - https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-08-23-teachers-drive-innovation-this-time-will-they-do-so-within-or-outside-the-system
- Jennifer's tweet highlighting the increased collaboration between school districts and startups
- https://twitter.com/jencarolan/status/1422648800192122886
- The Chart of the Century - https://twitter.com/Mark_J_Perry/status/1350826322642296835
- Reach Capital's companies, including the ones mentioned in our discussion - https://www.reachcapital.com/companies/
- Harari's book mentioned by Jennifer as a good depiction of the new age we need to prepare students for - https://www.ynharari.com/book/21-lessons-book/
- A particular mention of Guardians Collective, mentionned by Jennifer as an interesting model to support parents - https://www.aboutgc.com
Where to learn more about Jennifer:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/jencarolan
- Website - https://www.reachcapital.com
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our guest today is John Danner. John is an investor in Edtech and the Future of Work. During the last 3 years he has participated in investments that have impacted many learner lives, like Lambda School or Outschool. Before being an investor, John started Netgravity, an internet advertising firm that went public and was sold to Doubleclick now Google. Then he did a U-turn and became a teacher in a school district. After that, he built a school and started Rocketship Education, a charter school network that now has 13K students in 23 schools across. Finally he went on to start Zeal, an online real-time support math tutoring company which he later sold and became an investor.
In this episode, John and I think about trends in K-12 innovation, discuss the benefits of cohort-based courses in a K-12 environment versus adult education, dig into what really is core learning and what is not, dream about different learning experiences that could and should exist, distill what first principles you need to build a school today.
Listen and take note of how one of edtech's more respected investors today thinks about the future of education.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- Lambda School - https://lambdaschool.com
- Outschool - https://outschool.com
- Rocketship Education - https://www.rocketshipschools.org
- Maven - https://maven.com
- Prenda School - https://www.prenda.com
- GalileoXP - https://galileoxp.com
- Synthesis School - https://www.synthesis.is
- Ender - https://joinender.com
- Songbird - https://www.songbirdeducation.com
- Building a Second Brain - https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com
- Write of Passage - https://perell.com/write-of-passage/
- John Danner on Venture Stories - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/village-globals-venture-storie-591423/episodes/the-past-present-and-future-of-59632693
- John Danner on the Future of Learning and Work Podcast - https://anchor.fm/flw/episodes/1-John-Danner---EdTech-Investing--Trends--Opportunities-ep6k91
Where to learn more about John:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/jwdanner
- Dunce Deals - https://dunce.substack.com/people/3039585-john-danner
- Blog - https://johnwdanner.medium.com
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our guest today is Andrew Barry. Andrew started off at KPMG where he built out their training, then he created Curious Lion where he and his team help the likes of Pinterest and many other companies to create corporate training programs. I first met Andrew when we were both taking an online writing course called Write of Passage, and I have been eager to talk about learning online ever since.
In this episode, we learn how everyone can design online learning experiences to repeatably effect transformations in their students' lives. Then we try to sketch out a future of what happens when more and more teachers can generate these transformations, what a world that will be!
- I love Andrew's strong conviction that everyone has a course in them. It's not just an optimistic "You can also do this" type of message. He recognises that on the one hand, the online learning techniques he describes so clearly can effect student transformations in a repeatable and predictable way.
- But also, on the other hand, his new concept of teacher identity means that we'll all want to learn from different teachers not because the content is better but because we resonate more with one or the other. Learning is hard and very emotional.
- It feels like Andrew is working on a mathematical formula for course creation, something like: Student-centered content + Beginner's mind + Deliberate Practice + Accountability + Reflection = Student Transformation
- There's a craze around cohort-based courses and probably for good reason. Andrew neatly explains the "beauty of the cohort" in the safe environments they create.
- Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- K. Anders Ericsson, Deliberate Practice - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Anders_Ericsson
- Why You Need Two Kinds of Groups to Power Group Learning, Andrew Barry - https://curiouslionlearning.com/why-group-learning/
- David Perell - Write of Passage - https://perell.com/write-of-passage/
- Global Teacher Prize - https://www.globalteacherprize.org
- Ranjitsinh Disale 2020 - https://www.globalteacherprize.org/winners/ranjitsinh-disale-2020/
- Peter Tabichi 2019 - https://www.globalteacherprize.org/winners/peter-tabichi-2019/
- The Economics of Superstars, Sherwin Rosen - https://www.jstor.org/stable/1803469
- Where to learn more about Andrew:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/Bazzaruto
- Luma - https://lu.ma/bazzaruto
- Curious Lion - https://curiouslionlearning.com
- Course Creators Collective - https://www.coursecreatorscollective.com
- Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
- Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Indra Sofian, the cofounder fo Sora School, an online project-based-learning high school.
In this episode, we catch up after our first chat 2 years ago. Then the school was just starting, now there is an innovative yet mature high school operating entirely online. It is the first digital-native high school I have studied closely, so I wanted to dig into their entire operating system. We discussed how they motive learners, how they structure their academic standards, how students select the skills they need to master, the projects they design and complete. How the Sora team designs incentive mechanisms so that students navigate through a sea of skills and standards at an accelerating pace, a bit like a video game.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- Virtual School is the Future, by Garrett Smiley - https://soraschools.com/virtual-school-is-the-future/
- Redesigning School for Students To Thrive - https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/village-globals/redesigning-school-for-ij6_CO4w1z-/
- MTC Mastery Transcript® - https://mastery.org
Where to learn more about [Name]:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/indysofian
- Website - https://soraschools.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - http://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our guest today is Cam Stottler. He is the Executive Director of North Lakes Academy Charter School, a K-12 tuition free school located in Forest Lake, MN.
The school has been in operation for over 20 years, implementing an educational program that is challenging, developmentally appropriate, and catering to the needs and passions of their students. Given the small class sizes, each student receives personalized attention from teachers and the school feels like a big family.
In this episode, we talk about how you can increase your expectations from students and keep standards high, while increasing their motivation at the same time.
Quotes: 05:11 - If a school leader sees potential in administrative colleagues or teacher leaders, then it's their number one job to invest in that potential, in those people. That is the greatest impact a leader can have on the school,
is those people. And then in turn, those people will turn around and invest in the teachers, and the teachers in the students and so on. So if a school leader feels that the potential's there, then they have to, they have to take the time to invest in it.
15:43 - We tell them we keep standards way up here because you deserve that from us. And if we did anything less than that, then we're failing you. And often students, the students that schools are labeled behavior problems or disruptors, they need to hear that .They need to hear that, no matter what, our expectations are not going to change because you're worth it.
And often that last part doesn't get added to it. It's just our expectations of this high, because that's who we are, but it's not about us. The expectations are high because that's what you need.
26:47 - We have such a negative connotation with failure that anyone who can work through that and can recognize that failure is part of the process. If you're not failing, you're not doing it right. Which is ironic but if you're not seeking failure, you're not growing, you're not receiving feedback, you're not understanding criticism. And those are such key facets as we all look around in our current jobs, right? The people who can't fail well are the ones you don't want to work with, the ones that ultimately aren't going to make a good partner or aren't going to grow the company or have the impact that you want them to have. And so I think it's, again, keeping the students in front of the idea that "yes, you can AND you're expected to, AND you're going to fail as a part of that and that's all okay and that's all going to be part of who you are.
Where to learn more about Cam Stottler and North Lakes Academy Charter School:
- http://www.northlakesacademy.org
- Cam Stottler | Executive Director | cstottler@northlakesacademy.org | 651-797-6266
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Our website: www.enrollhand.com
- Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
In this episode, we catch up on the last 2 years since our first podcast interview in August 2019. We talk about how Prenda uses a unique learning model with a mix of blended learning, PBL and inquiry-based learning to increase confidence and curiosity. We see how they enhance grit and perseverance, helping learners to stick with their problems longer, as Albert Einstein would say.
Some interesting highlights from our discussion:
The focus is on helping the child choose to be a learner. Nurturing their curiosity, setting goals, not quitting despite the tears, as per Albert Einstein, staying with their problems longer.
The learning model takes all the progressive learning research and packs into a simple, 3-part daily schedule. We compared it to how the Homebrew Computer Club tinkerers ended up with the Apple II - decades of trial and error packaged into a simple, beautiful box.
The learning guide does not teach or instruct. The role is flipped. They coach. With the simple, beautiful learning mode, kids are always on their learning frontier. They progress FAST, wizzing through grade levels.
Prenda is a growing, remote team, and is gradually making it's way from the South West to any state that welcomes them. Working with public and charter schools, the microschools are free.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- Previous episode: https://blog.enrollhand.com/launching-80-schools-in-8-months-with-kelly-smith/
- Quote: "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." - Albert Einstein
- Prenda Town Hall Intro video - https://youtu.be/cHrOWvEKSvQ?t=46
- Dan Meyer's Three-Act Math Tasks - https://blog.mrmeyer.com/category/3acts/
- Homebrew Computer Club - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_Computer_Club
- I, Woz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C2UUB9Q
Where to learn more about Prenda:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/prendalearn
- Website - https://www.prenda.com
- YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn6GcJFx_Yh1CpKzUUuzzQg
- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellysmith35/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our guest today is Felix Ohswald. He is the CEO of GoStudent, an online tutoring company that just raised 70 million euros and is growing like a rocketship in Europe. In this episode, we talk about the origin story of GoStudent, Felix's views on what makes a learning experience successful, his tips on operating a growing educational institutions, and his regional and global plans to consolidate the fragmented tutoring market.
- 05:24 - Felix and his team made a hard turn from a model that was very engaging for students but not financially viable to a business model that is both profitable and creates excellent learning outcomes.
- 09:26 - GoStudent is moving fast to be the first in Europe. A first-mover advantage is a key stragegy for them.
- 11:25 - Educating prospects in a consultative sale process is becoming more important. Talking to prospects, Felix saw that they were not really understanding the offer and even what solution they want to experience.
- 15:24 - You can think of managing students in a lifecycle like customers. They come asking for one thing, then you solve it and move to the next thing. Competency based or mastery based learning is the epitomy of a student lifecycle.
- 27:52 - At the end of the day, convenience and the best products will always win. When you have this extreme focus on these things, you can, you can make it everywhere. And that's, that's where we focus on.
- 33:48 - Analytics and metrics can inform the success of a learning experience significantly. Looking at KPIs, you find insights, you find bright spots and can double down on them.
- Wheree to learn more about GoStudent:
- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/gostudent-gmbh
- Website - https://www.gostudent.org/en
- Article - https://medium.com/emerge-edtech-insights/idea-to-series-a-gostudent-65068968b68d
- Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
- Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Summary
Our guest today is Victoria Ransom, the CEO at Prisma. Victoria is a serial entrepreneur from New Zealand, having sold her last company to Google and is currently living in the U S with her partner and co-founder Alain Chuard. We are going to talk about their newest venture Prisma, a full-time virtual program (with a physical component) for middle school learners. Prisma is a full-stack connected learning network that is rethinking school from first principles.
Listen and take note of what happens when you combine a stellar team, great technology and a state-of-the-art, progressive learning framework.
In our discussion, we cover:
Many education leaders integrate peer learning, but at Prisma they have thought deeply about how learning from & teaching another child is so beneficial.
Victoria seems an inflection point before middle school, where kids start racing after grades and tests. Prisma catches them before middle school starts to keep and kindle their sense of wonder.
A coach appears as the governor of Wisconsin, a task force is put on a major water problem. Is it a classroom or a Hollywood set? Kids get clues and reports. Curiosity and motivation kick in. They launch a PR campaign, a budget...oh, and hit all their learning goals as well.
Teachers still do so much grunt work, so much waste, so much multitasking that takes their focus off the learners. Prisma is using technology and learning science to strip away the noise and let their coaches focus on delivering a pure, seamless learning experience.
Zoom doesn't cut it for the kiddos. Victoria is bursting with ideas, both for sync & async learning that enrich and gamify the learning experience. One example: Expressing support in a virtual setting
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- The concept of Hard Fun by Seymour Papert - http://www.papert.org/articles/HardFun.html
- Prisma's Learning Framework - https://www.joinprisma.com/framework
- Prisma LIVE - https://www.joinprisma.com/prisma-live
Where to learn more about the guest:
- Prisma's Twitter account - https://twitter.com/joinprisma
- Victoria's Twitter account - https://twitter.com/victoria_ransom
- Alain's Twitter account - https://twitter.com/AlainChuard
- Website - https://www.joinprisma.com
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Summary
- Our guest today is Ryan Delk, the co-founder and CEO at Primer. Ryan spent the last decade building tech companies at Square, Gumroad and Omni. He has now co-founded Primer to free the next generation of kids to be more ambitious, more creative, and to think for themselves, starting with homeschool.
- In this episode, we discuss Ryan's ambitious plans for the future of Primer, how parents are equally important to kids in the learning equation, why observing the "user-experience" is so important, why not stratifying by age creates some sort of magic and much more.
- Listen and take note of how Primer creates ambitious, global communities of learners based first and foremost on children's interests.
Where to learn more about Primer:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/withprimer
- Website - https://withprimer.com
- Team - https://withprimer.com/team
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our guest today is Kelly from Galileo XP. Kelly and her co-founder Vlad redesigned school from scratch. Galileo a global online school soon to have access to physical spaces as well.
Listen and take note of how Kelly and the Galileo team transitions students into self-directed learning, inject learning experiences with passion and provide a 10-star experience for everyone that joins.
Quotes:
- 9:35 - We have students as young as eight and even some seven year olds that are actually facilitating this meeting and asking their peers. "Can you show me your schedule? What did you do yesterday? How is that science project?" And yeah. They can have this conversation together.
- 21:14 - A lot of online schools imagine "Oh, they can learn all the courses. It's all in asynchronous, it's self directed. You can do it by yourself", but if I want to learn something and really see progress, I need to be accountable to someone. Even for adults, they have these quiet focus groups where you can go and learn things and take breaks together. Putting this in for children as well and helping them. They're already meeting on zoom outside of their class time. So getting that peer to peer learning there.
- 22:00 - We see it as a human-centered operating system. We have all of the resources within and then the educators are there to help bring this collaboration together. We need to negotiate, we need to connect and we need to work on projects together. How can students be prepared to go out in the world if they're in the same class with the same age group from K-12? Giving them different opportunities, different cultures, a lot of exchanges happening between ideas and across the world.
- 31:20 - Everything we do is still an experiment. So whether or not the students are responding well to it, benefiting from it, learning from it, we're here for the students, listening to them, getting their input, also with the parents, and making sure that they are the focus of the growth here.
- 33:15 - We have a delight team. Every family that joins is assigned a delight officer and this person will see them in the transition period. So making sure that all their questions are asked, they have a point of contact. We know it takes more than one adult to help them there, making sure that this is a 10 star experience for everyone that joined.
- Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- The Galileo Daily Checkin https://galileoxp.com/check-in
- Galileo parent interviews https://galileoxp.com/parents
- Inside the Kernel podcast https://player.fm/series/inside-the-kernel-by-galileo
- Free Self-Directed Learning Course and Learning Network https://app.galileoxp.com/signup
- Where to learn more about Kelly:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/kelly_edtech?lang=en
- Website - https://galileoxp.com/
- Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
- Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Summary:
- Our guest today is Brian Tobal. Brian used to be a teacher at the Harlem Children's Zone, then worked as a researcher, and then he spent the last few years building lots of educational software, and curriculum for schools, universities and businesses. Now, Brian has started SchoolHouse with his co-founder, to have parents get together and create microschools or learning pods in their own homes or in flexible spaces.
- In this episode, Brian and I discuss what it takes for an educational program to find product-market fit. This means that the students are happy and engaged, they are succesfull in their learning goals, and the experience is amazing for everyone involved, so that they all keep coming back for more.
Listen and take note of how to find this magical fit in any learning experience you create.
In our discussion, we cover:
- 06:38 - "The founding principle is that the teacher's attention is the most valuable piece in the educational brew or ecosystem. If you really want to have a high quality educational experience, you'd increase the amount of teacher attention that each child is receiving."
- 09:21 - "The bet was that we could take outstanding teachers and give them high autonomy, and it would produce better educational outcomes. And that turns out to be true."
- 13:45 - "You're abstracting away whatever's unnecessary, you're matching the right teacher (with the right philosophy and experience) with the family and what they're looking for. And then a group is formed around that. So it's a bit like product-teacher-market fit. Market being the family. You're basically making sure that the right teacher and the right family are interacting ."
- 23:04 - "The most interesting thing to me is that when we removed all the prescriptive schedules and cells and bells, (I can't remember who said that, but I thought it was a good phrase), they move faster. That's interesting. Let's push on that. Let's use that."
- 27:37 - "Maybe the way of thinking about it: If you have an assembly line, attention doesn't matter. If you're a sculptor, attention is everything. And our teachers aren't on an assembly line anymore. They're working with the marble in front of them."
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- Can a School Have Product-Market Fit? by Brian Tobal
- What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach?
- Bloom's 2 sigma problem
- Live Q&A with SchoolHouse CEO Brian Tobal
Where to learn more about Brian:
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/briantobal
- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-tobal-a4946911
- Website - https://www.getschoolhouse.com/
- Email - brian@getschoolhouse.com
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
- Website - www.enrollhand.com
- Webinar - https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
- Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
It has become popular to sneer at our education system’s factory model.
We call for the death of schools in favor of Airbnb-like learning communities. Our SAT/ACT testing culture, our boring direct-instruction content-dumping, our mental health issues - these are easy targets.
But schools can thrive, and many are doing so. Only the job of the school, and the teacher, needs to change.
To accompany our recent interview, I wanted to write a short book review of Thrive: How Schools Will Win the Education Revolution by Grant Lichtman. Grant is a thought leader and author. He speaks, writes, and works with fellow educators to help them innovate. Educational leaders, as well as a wider array of pundits on education, need to internalize the ideas Grant lays out in his most recent book.
For example:
- How to ask your community what your value proposition should be
- How to learn from what the corporate world is doing
- How to make hard choices: “A strategy is choosing what not to do”
- How to accelerate movement by removing barriers. (Change is like a muscle)
- How to research, design, prototype, test, again and again, slowly then faster
- How to reveal what your new job is!
- How to take more risk
- How to increase the innovation DNA of your school (most schools lack innovation DNA)
At Enrollhand, we often meet school leaders who feel out of touch, whose schools are stagnating. We share with them many of the concepts below, but Grant has a silver tongue and does a way better job of telling it like it is!
Our guest today is Trevor McKendrick, Chief of Staff at Lambda School, where students graduate and get the job because they got the skills - and it’s free until they get a job paying over $50K. In this podcast, Trevor goes to the heart of “the customer experience” and details how everything they do is framed in light of reducing the risk and elevating the satisfaction of the customer - their students.
Education is transforming, whether we are ready or not. With a steady eye on mastery-based progression and competency-based learning, Lambda School is trail-blazing an education model that begins with the end in mind. As they design skills training, they start by determining available jobs and target their program to prepare qualified candidates. In contrast, the traditional university model offers a more static curriculum, without the same regard for whether or not it ultimately prepares students for the market they will enter.
Listen and consider how the student experience in your school could be improved by starting with an innovative outcome in mind.
Quotes:
2:48 “When we are thinking about how to design an experience for our students, it always comes from the point of view of - how can we eliminate that risk?”
6:55 “The point of school is not to get through it as fast as you can; the point is to actually learn the material that you wanted to learn.”
21:40 “We think about - what are the jobs that employers actually want (to fill)? And let’s start from there and design the programs and get the students who are interested in those things.“
28:27 “The idea is - if the student experience is as good as... if you had as much confidence in attending Lambda and getting the job as you did when you order on Amazon or got on Uber, then nothing else matters. ...that’s why it’s the main thing we focus on.”
Where to learn more about the guest:
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevormckendrick
Twitter - @TrevMcKendrick
Lambda School - https://lambdaschool.com/
Trevor’s newsletter - https://www.howitactuallyworks.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In education, the obvious place to cut your teeth is as a teacher. Joel Rose knows the classroom well. He began as a 5th-grade teacher in Houston before moving into a variety of leadership roles in education. Joel is a respected commentator on education through his published articles and as a speaker at conferences. He is currently spearheading the nonprofit “New Classrooms,” which reimagines classrooms through the creation of new and different learning models.
In our interview, Joel Rose cuts to the chase. The industrial model of one teacher in a classroom with 28 kids is not working to prepare students for the postmodern world. He joins us to consider how to begin changing that model within the confines of the present education system. Joel shares his ideas about the role of student choice in learning, keeping students challenged and in-flow, how to initiate innovative programs without overburdening teachers with logistics, the importance of data collection to tweak personalized learning, and the accountability that must be charged to model-providers that design and offer innovative learning models.
If you would like to know how to less painfully ease into personalized learning, listen to Joel and learn the success factors for launching a new model at your school.
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Denver Frederick Interview with Joel Rose - https://denver-frederick.com/2019/01/28/joel-rose-co-founder-and-ceo-of-new-classrooms-joins-denver-frederick/
The Iceberg Problem - https://www.newclassrooms.org/2019/10/07/the-iceberg-problem-event-highlights-op-eds-and-more/
Twitter Graph - https://twitter.com/SuperMugatu/status/1205870814509359105
Podcast with Bill Gates - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/bill-gates-on-advice-for-founders-mistakes-philanthropy/id1316769266?i=1000443225347
Big Picture Learning - https://www.bigpicture.org/
New Technology High School - https://www.newtechhigh.org/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Joel on Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/joel-rose-0779357
Joel on Twitter - https://twitter.com/NCJoelRose
Joel’s website - broadacademy.org/fellows/fellow.php?alumni_id=102&category_id=14
New Classrooms - https://www.newclassrooms.org/
Joel at The Atlantic - How to Break Free of Our 19th-Century Factory-Model Education System https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/how-to-break-free-of-our-19th-century-factory-model-education-system/256881/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our training on how to grow your school: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
From where do contemporary, resilient changes begin - from a top-down mandate, or from a bottom-up, tech-driven evolution? Today’s guest, Matt Greenfield, is an investor in entrepreneurial companies that drive transformative social outcomes through the power of using technology in education.
He sifts through fascinating trends and prophetic scenarios as we discuss everything from the Common Core to cloud-based platforms, bullying to virtual reality, and pedagogy to washing machines. If you are curious about how technology will continue to impact education, have a listen to the man who searches the horizon for innovation so that he can invest in change for the educational ecosystem.
Quotes:
12:39 “There is a whole range of needs that children have that have to be addressed one way or another if they are to have even the slightest chance of getting a decent education and carving out a place for themselves in the workforce of the 21st-century.”
28:28 “Unlocking the passions and the creativity of the students is the key; the first thing you have to do is to ask them what they are passionately interested in or curious about. Everything has to start with that.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Rethink - https://rethink.vc/
NoRedInk - https://www.noredink.com/
Bright Hive - https://brighthive.io/
Burning Glass Technologies - https://www.burning-glass.com/
Outschool - https://outschool.com/
Keith Rabois - https://podcastnotes.org/2019/03/05/rabois-5/
GoNoodle - https://www.gonoodle.com/
Most Likely to Succeed - https://teddintersmith.com/mltsfilm/
Naviance - https://www.naviance.com/services/professional-development
Where to learn more about the guest:
Matt at Rethink - https://rethink.vc/people/matt-greenfield/
Matt on Twitter - https://twitter.com/mattgreenfield
Matt on Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/matt-greenfield-07b96815
Matt at EdSurge - https://www.edsurge.com/writers/matt-greenfield
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our training on how to grow your school: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
If you had to pick your moniker, being called a 'guru' by Fortune Magazine and a 'maverick' by CNN would not be a bad place to start. Our guest today, Clark Aldrich, is on the frontline of the learning revolution. He is the author of five books and is known for award-winning projects building custom “Short Sims” using a methodology he has pioneered. Clark’s work pedigree uniquely positions him to take on the role of education technology thought leader, and it is from this position that he joins our podcast today.
If your school is interested in finding an entry-level place to join the conversation about how to make education more relevant, this podcast will inspire you and offer first-steps towards innovation.
Quotes:
05:35 “We are now at a time when interactive documents are as cheap (maybe cheaper) to produce as non-interactive documents - and that changes everything.”
38:22 “How do you find people’s raw talents, how do you find what they care most about, and how do you connect the two in a meaningful and sustaining way? When that becomes the shared vision of schools, then it is preparing them for a lot more different kinds of lives including the ones that we’re seeing students have to deal with now.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Clark’s Books:
Short Sims: A Game Changer - Preorder at Amazon for March 2020 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-Sims-Changer-Clark-Aldrich/dp/0367857421/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=clark+aldrich&qid=1575381554&sr=8-8
Unschooling Rules - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=unschooling+rules&hvadid=80127002599272&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0a9-21&ref=pd_sl_7zp4fmv3sj_e
Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Online-Simulations-Virtual-Worlds-ebook/dp/B002RMSZ4W/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=clark+aldrich&qid=1575381554&sr=8-5
Acton Academy - http://www.actonacademy.org/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Clark’s Personal Website - http://www.clarkaldrich.com/
Clark on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/clark_aldrich/
Short Sims - https://www.shortsims.com/clarkaldrich
Clark on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taFU4WfGkEc
BranchTrackAmericas - https://www.branchtrackamericas.com/our-perspective
Unschooling on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Unschooling/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
Summary:
Having connected her clients to over $200 million in grants through the work done by her company - EnvisionEdPlus, Michele Timmons is the right person to go to for an in-depth look at the funding panorama. She is passionate about helping schools support young people to thrive in school and beyond.
Today, she walks us through the “Three Buckets of Money” available, the trends in funding, how to think strategically about approaching funders, how to build partnerships in the community to improve the chances of scoring a grant, and MORE!
Listen and take notes on the best simple steps to enter the funding conversation.
Quotes:
10:25 “We really want to see schools and nonprofits think strategically about how these (grant) funds will give you the political capital to solve your problem, and (then) hold people accountable for that work to be successful.”
17:15 “A well-written grant proposal is actually a strategic plan for how you are going to do the work, and how you’re going to know if the work is successful.”
38:38 “(Strategic partnerships are) really about identifying your needs, and (finding) some mission overlaps that people are going to get excited about.”
42:50 “Think long-term and act short-term.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Ohio’s Straight A Fund Governing Board - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/straight-update-ohios-innovation-funds-michele-timmons/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Michele on Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/micheletimmons
EnvisionEdPlus website: www.envisionedplus.com
EnvisionEdPlus on Twitter: @envisionedplus
EnvisionEdPlus on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnvisionEdPlus
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Our website: www.enrollhand.com
Our training on how to grow your school: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
AVI CHAI has invested over $300 million to benefit Jewish education through a wide variety of programs. As Executive Director of the North Ameria branch of AVI CHAI, Yossi Prager brings to the table a wealth of insight into philanthropy and wide-ranging experience with education. A graduate of Yeshiva College and Yale Law School, Yossi serves on the boards of communal and public policy organizations. He is a noted speaker, writer, and editor.
Sharing with us how foundations view their role in social change, Yossi delves into the differences between funding for private schools and public schools, and the differences between private philanthropy and foundation philanthropy. Yossi shares four steps through which a school can begin to build relationships with foundations and seek to establish an interface that is more than “transactional.”
If you have considered philanthropic support for your school, but wondered how to start, this podcast gives you practical steps for initiating your journey.
Quotes:
07:37 “More and more big foundations are thinking of themselves as investors seeking a social return on investment.”
25:20 “What we have learned is that the world changes as you work. You are always flying a plane that you are also building. The world evolves, and the philanthropic community needs to evolve in turn.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Summit School - http://www.summitqueens.com/
Speedboats of change and the future of work - https://www.axios.com/seattle-high-school-future-of-work-88d89dbf-d958-4961-a396-b605d6971859.html
Where to learn more about the guest:
Yossi at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/yossi-prager-8b943911
Yossi at Avi Chai - https://avichai.org/person/yossi-prager/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Our website: www.enrollhand.com
Our training on how to grow your school: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
“All of that student-directed theory is great, but how does it play out in real life?” you might ask. What if we told you that a 12-year-old boy decided that his school needed a playground upgrade, polled the students and the community to determine needs, gathered support for his project, wrote a grant proposal, and scored a $180K grant from Great Outdoors Colorado?
This is the story that Sohne Van Selus, principal at North Arvada Middle School, shares with us as we explore the reality of what happens when the adults in education genuinely believe that their students can and must own their learning, have a voice in their process, develop critical thinking skills, self-direction, collaboration, communication competency, and personal responsibility.
Sohne and Andrew discuss the ways that a school can design and define it’s “brand,” and get the whole community in-sync and talking about it so that “cascading” results will follow. Join us to marvel at and applaud a clear-cut example of how the “rubber meets the road” when the steering wheel of ideology is put into action by a young man with a vision of where he wants to go. Adult backseat drivers are not welcome or needed here!
Quotes:
05:30 “As leaders, we have to decide what are our core values and what do we believe that learners in our building need (in order) to be ultimately successful in their lives.”
17:17 “When you actually get to witness students taking charge of their own learning and that cascading effect (in the community), it’s super powerful.”
18:30 “If we believe in our young people, give them a platform for their voice, and put tools in their hands, truly they can accomplish whatever they set their sites on.”
25:18 “I believe that wherever we put our thoughts and focus our thoughts is where our energy goes, and therefore, that is what will grow. If we focus our thoughts on the vision and believe in abundance, then that’s what’s going to grow. Start small. Have a bias towards action. Believe in the kids.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
School Retool - http://schoolretool.org/
Deeper Learning - https://deeperlearning4all.org/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Sohne at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/sohnevs
Sohne’s Website - edcsd.org
Sohne’s Blog - sohnespeak.blogspot.com/
Sohne on Twitter - SohneVS
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Our website: www.enrollhand.com
Our training on how to grow your school: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
Did you ever sit at your desk, engaged in a daytime fantasy in which all of the stakeholders in your school were cheering you on, passing along their positive experience to others, and looking for ways to more deeply engage with the education community centered around your school? It doesn’t have to be a dream…
Jethro Jones, a school principal for nine years, and host of the Transformative Principal Podcasts intends to impact 100 million kids by 2027 by improving their educational experiences. Through his podcasts and Leadership Summits, he is reaching thousands of people in the education community. Jethro holds the secrets of empowering your entire group of stakeholders with simple solutions to the complex problems you face every day - and he is sharing them with us today.
Listen as we explore principles of design applied to school, organizational leadership, the power of social media to tell your school’s story, more effective discipline in the school, feedback loops, and more.
Quotes:
09:00 “If you are in a school, and you hear complaints about something, you have got to go research that and figure out what the real issue is.”
14:55 “Start by experiencing what a family or student would experience the first time they come to your school. You will be able to see for yourself whether or not what you are doing will be effective for helping those people have a good experience.”
18:15 “There are things we are doing before anybody ever sets foot inside the door that say (to the parent), ‘You are not valued, and your opinion doesn’t matter,’ and we’ve got to change that.”
19:25 “Having an outside voice that is both critical and supportive... is a really powerful thing (for principals).”
27:15 “Think about the size of your school. If every single one of those families... thought that your school was the best school in the world, what could you do with that many fans? If you try to serve that core group of people, you’re going to get amazing results.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Seth Godin - https://www.sethgodin.com
Kevin Kelley - 1,000 True Fans - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlg3808gDic
Where to learn more about the guest:
Jethro’s Blog - http://www.jethrojones.com
http://mrjonesed.blogspot.com/
Transformative Principal - http://www.transformativeprincipal.org/
Transformative Principal Leadership Summit - http://transformativeleadershipsummit.com/
Survey of impact created - http://www.transformativeprincipal.org/impact
Jethro at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/jethrojones
Jethro at Twitter - https://twitter.com/jethrojones
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
Outschool is a community marketplace of live online classes for K-12. Today, we have the great pleasure of hearing from Amir Nathoo - one of the founding partners of Outschool. As an innovative learning platform that is social, interactive, and online, Outschool is uniquely positioned to meet the exploding need for learner-directed education. In fact, Outschool has currently reached nearly 40,000 families and 57,000 learners with 10,000 classes.
The endless possibilities for new partnerships in education between schools and online platforms are only starting to emerge, and Amir shares with us some of the intriguing cooperative pathways that glisten on the horizon. Schools that are looking for ways to tighten up, freshen up, and liven up their offering will benefit from hearing the discussion with Amir.
Listen and consider how Outschool might interface with your programs and curriculum - without ever leaving the comfort of the classroom.
Quotes:
02:00 “The quality of the first class experience that you have on Outschool is really, really important to us and is where we are focused in our current product cycle. With a new type of learning interaction, it’s really important that your first experience is good - and then, that drives growth with referrals.”
08:30 “The decision to enroll in a class is a shared decision between the parent and the learner.”
13:50 “Every kid is different, and they change with time. What that means is that it’s not possible with a single mode of education to satisfy all of any one kid’s needs or every kid. A network of services needs to exist in order to make the system more personalized, meet kids’ needs, and inspire them.”
18:50 “Part of the value of the interactive format is this idea that - there’s no single best math teacher in the world. If there were, we would just record them and broadcast them to everyone. Great teachers can come from a variety of different backgrounds and come in with a variety of different goals.”
26:38 “I think it’s really important to test changes and to iterate before rolling them out in a high-stakes environment. One of the benefits of technology...is that we’ve been able to create this fast iteration which reduces risk and creates better results. If Outschool can be a tool to enable that faster iteration for schools, we’d be absolutely delighted to talk with them about that.”
31:20 “We do believe that there’s a need and an opportunity to reinvent learning experiences outside of school. So much pressure is put on teachers and schools, and it’s unrealistic.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Amy Anderson at ReSchool Colorado - reschoolcolorado.org
Transcend - www.transcendeducation.org
Where to learn more about the guest:
Amir at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/amirnathoo
Amir at Outschool - outschool.com
amir@outschool.com
Amir’s Blog - amir.io
Amir on Twitter - amirnathoo
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
Change is daunting. Change to entrenched systems and institutions can feel impossible. Even thinking about where to begin can be exhausting. For schools that are interested in remaining healthy and relevant in the 21st-century, Transcend brings resources, experience, energy, optimism, and support to the design process. We are joined today by Sujata Bhatt and Anirban Bhattacharyya from Transcend - a national nonprofit dedicated to accelerating innovation in the core design of “school.” They have a vision for creating extraordinary, equitable learning environments.
Listen as our guests unpack the design process and share their belief that schools interested in innovative change are not alone, and are in fact, a part of a revolutionary movement that is accelerating in education.
Quotes:
12:00 “Another advantage of a holistic blueprint is that not only are the pieces sometimes going in different directions and suffer from each other, they’re often not even in the same place, and so you can’t even go and learn (from each other), and so, a lot of times, there are messy sub-systems where you can see that, manage that, and create a plan to get them in sync.” Sujata
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
How Edtech Can Help Build a Blueprint for Real Change in K-12 -https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-08-21-how-edtech-can-help-build-a-blueprint-for-real-change-in-k-12
KIPP Houston Public Schools https://kipphouston.org/
New Tech High School - https://www.newtechhigh.org/
Big Picture Learning - https://www.bigpicture.org/
Intrinsic Schools - https://intrinsicschools.org/
Van Ness Elementary School - https://www.vannesselementary.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2YwTbyJW34&=&feature=youtu.be
Ted Fujimoto at Landmark Consulting - consultlandmark.com
Where to learn more about the guest:
Transcend - www.transcendeducation.org
Transcend Blog - http://www.transcendeducation.org/blog-and-news#blog-news
Sujata at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/sujatabhatt
Sujata’s linked websites -
incubatorschoolplaybook.org/
sites.google.com/bostonpublicschools.org/innovate/home?authuser=0
Sujata at Twitter - SujataBhatt
Anirban’s at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/anirban-bhattacharyya-a785b667
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
You can always reach out by emailing hello@enrollhand.com
Nina Rees is the president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. After working for more than 20 years in Washington, D.C., including at Knowledge Universe, the U.S. Department of Education, and working as a deputy assistant for domestic policy to Vice President Dick Cheney, she needs no introduction in the education sector. She is passionate about the ultimate goal of charter schools to provide options for families who want an innovative public school education for their child.
Nina offers a forthright talk with us about the accomplishments of the charter school movement, the challenges it faces, and the future that it aspires to shape. Whether your school is public or private, there is much to be learned from what charter schools have done, where they are headed, and how they see their value proposition.
Listen as Nina shares her vision of the future of the charter movement.
Quotes:
08:13 “Ultimately, what we’re trying to do in most places is to take low-income families and get them to and through college in order for them to move out of poverty.”
16:45 “I do think the future is going to be more personalized; our (charter) schools are well-equipped to fit into this future because we are nimble and we don’t have to coordinate with a centralized bureaucracy before we make a change.”
21:40 “I think it’s important for policymakers to bridge the gap and create ‘convenings’ where the two sectors (traditional system and charter system) have to sit down together.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
The B.A. Breakthrough by Richard Whitmire https://breakthrough.the74million.org/
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools - https://www.publiccharters.org/
Prenda Schools - https://prendaschool.com/
Valor Collegiate Academies - https://valorcollegiate.org
Summit Public Schools - https://summitps.org
New Tech High School - https://www.newtechhigh.org/
Big Picture Learning - https://www.bigpicture.org/
How The Other Half Learns: Equality, Excellence, and the Battle over School Choice by Robert Pondiscio
Tom Vander Ark - www.tomvanderark.com
Transcend - www.transcendeducation.org
KinderCare - https://www.kindercare.com
Where to learn more about the guest:
Nina at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/nina-rees-76911111
Nina on Twitter - Ninacharters
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
After a few years of incubating the idea inside the Denver-based Donnell-Kay Foundation, ReSchool launched as a non-profit in 2018. Their goal is to create an entirely new state public education system in Colorado. Working directly with parents and learners, they try to help families create learning experiences inside and outside of school. Amy Anderson is the Director of ReSchool Colorado. Today, she talks with us about the innovative ideas happening at ReSchool. You will enjoy hearing about how any school could partner with and leverage the local community to share in the enormous task of helping young people gain experiences that align with their aspirations, passions, and goals in life.
Amy likes to pose the question - School AND….? with a recognition that learning happens everywhere. She is quick to propose that the burden (and joy) of education is best shared throughout our communities, rather than saddled to the back of the school system alone. Our conversation with Amy is the very definition of “thinking beyond constraints.” Join us to consider what could happen within and beyond your school.
Quotes:
08:38 “What is realistic and the right thing for kids during the hours and the time of year that they’re in school that the system can handle and wants to engage in, and what are the kinds of things that we could look beyond school (for) in terms of assets that already exist?”
12:55 “This idea of having a system where every family had access to learner advocates who can provide in different contexts is a part of the Reschool vision. How do we catalyze that at a system level? How do we leverage organizations that already work with families in various contexts and equip them with the skills and tools and resources they need to meet the demands and needs of the families in their communities?”
15:40 “We raise a variety of private dollars at Reschool to help offset some of the costs of accessing learning that happens outside of school and for things like transportation.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Education Week - Tom Vander Ark / Amy Anderson: https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/on_innovation/2014/05/whats_next_in_education_a_new_education_system.html
Community Share - Josh Schachter - https://hundred.org/en/innovations/communityshare
Blueprint4summer - https://blueprint4.com/co/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Amy at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/amy-anderson-7b139a12
The Donnell-Kay Foundation - dkfoundation.org
ReSchool Colorado - reschoolcolorado.org
Twitter - ReSchool_CO
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
We typically highlight a few of the most interesting quotes from the podcast - by which we seek to tempt you to listen. Tony Wagner is the kind of guest who makes us want to dangle the entire transcript in front of our audience. Everything he says deserves to be a featured quote.
As one of the most cutting edge thinkers in innovation and leadership, and a globally recognized voice in education, Tony Wagner is a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute. He comes to us after twenty years at Harvard, and he worked as a high school teacher, principal, and university professor. He is the founding executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility, and has published six books: Most Likely To Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for The Innovation Era, co-authored by Ted Dintersmith; Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World; and The Global Achievement Gap.
In this podcast, he goes to the heart of the problem faced by schools and parents today and gently leads us forward with an understanding of the magnitude of change he is proposing, what it will take to make it happen, and the paradigm shift we will see if we can persist through the challenges.
Let’s listen...
Quotes:
02:27 “The world simply doesn’t care what our students know anymore, because Google knows everything. What the world cares about is what our students can do with what they know. We live in the innovation era now.”
04:21 “We are born curious, creative, imaginative; that’s the human DNA. The longer kids stay in school, the less curious they become.”
06:08 “The first starting point is to help adults in your school community - both parents and teachers - to understand the nature of a changing world. That’s the first job of a leader.”
09:09 “Too often, leaders feel pressured to provide the answers. (Instead, teachers) need to feel empowered to find better solutions.”
16:16 “In the world of innovation, it’s - fail early, fail often, fail fast, fail forward, fail cheap, but FAIL and learn from failure.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Tony’s books on Amazon - including his soon to be published memoir, Learning by Heart - https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Wagner/e/B001H6OMJ6%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
“The Finland Phenomenon” - http://www.tonywagner.com/the-finnish-phenomenon-inside-the-worlds-most-surprising-school-system-a-great-resource-now-available/
All Together Now by Suzi Boss - https://www.suzieboss.com/
The Hewlett Foundation - https://hewlett.org/
Mastery Transcript Consortium - https://mastery.org/
Measures of Effective Teaching Project, The Gates Foundation - https://www.gatesfoundation.org/media-center/press-releases/2013/01/measures-of-effective-teaching-project-releases-final-research-report
Where to learn more about the guest:
Website - http://www.tonywagner.com/
Tony at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/tony-wagner-9b53aa7
Twitter - DrTonyWagner
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar:
David Perell is a bright, curious mind, dancing around important concepts with a global tribe. We hope that a lot of our 21st-century students will turn out just like him. His weekly podcast offers interviews with some of the most interesting people in the world. His blog is the voice of our society’s pioneers, laboring to come to terms with the impact of technology on our ideas. And his writing course - Write of Passage, shows us a new way to share our thoughts. Teachers and students fuse into a two-way learning network online.
David joins us to saunter through the education landscape as we consider how we consume information, take risks, design childhood, stunt “genius,” and can cultivate serendipity as the vehicle to a rich life.
Join us to explore the diverse possibilities unfolding in education, and the ways that unexpected discoveries result from an innovation mindset.
Quotes:
7:54 “We need to define what we mean by ‘education’ because it no longer needs to be this one-way transfer of information; it can now be collaborative and dynamic in a way that was never possible before.”
20:18 “‘Genius’ is hitting targets that nobody can see. Rather than trying to incentivize crazy thinking and ideas that have a lower chance of success, but a huge outcome if they do succeed… we are trying to cut off all the risk in society... to make sure that nobody really suffers.”
28:00 “A lot of good parenting is letting things that might be difficult in the short-term, but good in the long-term - letting those things happen.”
30:25 “The problem with the college system isn’t that it’s ‘the college system.’ It’s that it’s the ONLY system that a lot of people feel like they can go through in order to be successful.”
38:10 “My issue with the school system is that there is only one way to do things in terms of how to be successful; its the lack of diversity in the number of paths you can take. That’s not sustainable.”
49:45 “We live lives that are far more interesting than we think they are; if we can recognize how interesting our lives are through a conversation and then build processes to write, we can spend less time actually writing and more time living an interesting life. And by sharing our best ideas, we can become a magnet for serendipity and people, ideas, and opportunities.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Monday Musings https://www.perell.com/join
North Star Podcast, Neil DeGrasse Tyson - https://www.perell.com/podcast/neil-degrasse-tyson
North Star Podcast, Seth Godin - https://www.perell.com/seth
North Star Podcast, Mason Hartman https://www.perell.com/podcast/mason-hartman
The Write of Passage https://www.writeofpassage.school/
Why Can't School Be Fun https://www.perell.com/blog/why-cant-school-be-fun
Tweetstorm on Netflix https://www.perell.com/tweetstorms/netflix
What The Hell Is Going On? https://www.perell.com/blog/what-the-hell-is-going-on
Timeless Learning book https://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Learning-Imagination-Observation-Zero-Based/dp/1119461693
Airbnb Experiences https://www.airbn
Conor Heaton guides expansion strategy for the Cristo Rey Network as their Director of School Growth. A former trial attorney in Chicago, Conor is an expert on the legal side of feasibility studies and what it takes to launch a school. It is his passion for helping young people, however, that speaks most clearly when he shares his experiences with us.
The Cristo Rey concept is based on a work/study program for high school students; they attend classes four days per week and work in a local business for one day per week. Conor shares that one key to success is positioning the work as an actual job - not as an internship. Performing a legitimate task for an appropriate level of pay leads to an appreciation by both the employer and the student for the value that they each receive from the work.
If you are curious about how a work/study program might work in your school, sharpen your pencil and turn up the volume. Conor’s practical considerations and enthusiasm will give you plenty to think about.
Quotes
05:12 “What’s so unique about (the work/study program) is it was conceived exclusively as a way of ‘keeping the lights on.’ After they implemented it, they realized how much the students were getting out of that work experience.”
16:52 “Communicating with community leaders and prospective families about whether Cristo Rey is something they want and would support is vital.”
20:00 “We don’t want to overpromise, but we want people to know who we are and who we are not, and who we can confidently serve and who we can’t.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Cristo Rey Network - https://www.cristoreynetwork.org/
Cristo Rey Jesuit Instagram - cristoreyjesuit.wufoo.com/forms/mc4tpjp0lqw00l
Twitter - twitter.com/CristoRey
Where to learn more about the guest:
Cristo Rey Network - https://www.cristoreynetwork.org/about/national-office-staff
Conor Heaton at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/conor-heaton-9674526/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode, Ted Fujimoto, President of Landmark Consulting Group, entrepreneur, and expert in leadership development and organizational redesign, leads us to understand how to scale a school design with “fidelity.” The goal is always to achieve world-class performance. He explains the ways that system replication is not the same thing as “cloning.”
Everything Ted does is built on the pillars of trust, respect, and responsibility, and whether you are launching a school, or redesigning an organization in the fields of entertainment, music, technology, or real estate, that’s not a bad way to start. Ted is the co-founder and co-chair of the Right to Succeed Foundation. They intend to transform at least 6,000 public schools into “American Dream Schools” within the next ten years using “replicable deeper learning whole-school designs.” The key - whether you are trying to replicate a system design, or maximize the performance of one student - is in the relationships that are built.
Ted always starts by creating a “power team culture.” If you would like to see a power team culture in your school or to transform your organization into a “dream school,” this is the man to talk to. Or, in this case - to listen to.
Quotes:
09:10 “Students - in a heartbeat - can detect when something is authentic or not, and whether they are safe or not. How do you create an environment that… ensures that no matter what is happening at home for a teacher, their first interaction with a student is in the right mindset?”
14:50 “Intrinisic motivation is what drives long-term, sustained performance and engagement by students and team members.”
19:30 “The common factor (in these school design success stories) is that you are unlocking the intrinsic motivation of a student who never had that, and was never able to tap that motivation in an environment that was safe to do so, and... that same environment is positive for the school team members, as well.”
22:11 “A program or a practice cannot exist in isolation. It could be the very best thing in the world, but what is most important is that you have the ecosystem around it to support it and sustain it, and not kill it.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
New Tech High School - https://www.newtechhigh.org/
Big Picture Learning - https://www.bigpicture.org/
Prenda Schools - https://prendaschool.com/
Acton Academy - http://www.actonacademy.org/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Ted Fujimoto at Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/tedfujimoto
Landmark Consulting - consultlandmark.com
Right to Succeed - righttosucceed.org
Go All Creative - https://www.goallcreative.com/
Twitter - tedfujimoto
Twitter - RightToSucceed
Twitter - USADreamSchools
Twitter - GoAllCreative
Instagram - tedfujimoto
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
When you want the box seat view of what’s happening across-the-board in American education, you ask Liz Willen, Editor-in-chief at the Hechinger Report. She takes the gloves off for our Enrollhand interview and punches education “jargon” in the jaw, throws a strong right hook at funding cuts in the arts, and gives a head-butt to “innovative” rollouts that fail to garner support or create optimism.
Join us as we listen to Hechinger's Liz Willen for a bare-knuckled round of educational enlightenment.
Quotes:
02:00 “I can’t just blame educators because lawyers do this (use jargon) as well, and business people have a lingo that they use that also leaves others behind.”
05:45 “I’m very leery if anyone tells me that they can close the achievement gap.”
11:02 “Arts education should be an enormous priority for our country, and yet, it’s often the first thing that gets cut.”
14:00 “I think you see pockets of rebellion and a lot of second-guessing of the testing culture throughout the school system.”
25:05 “An array of various discussions about what goes wrong (will result) when you try to do something that’s brand new and allegedly innovative, but if people don’t understand it or buy into it, change can be a very difficult and slow-moving process.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
On Writing Well - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090RVGW0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
iNACOL - https://www.inacol.org
Hechinger Report Articles - https://hechingerreport.org/anatomy-of-a-failure-how-an-xq-super-school-flopped/
https://hechingerreport.org/one-mississippi-community-copes-influx-hispanic-students/
https://hechingerreport.org/inside-maines-disastrous-roll-out-of-proficiency-based-learning/
https://hechingerreport.org/as-states-push-for-news-ways-of-learning-some-kids-and-parents-feel-left-behind/
The National Center for Fair and Open Testing - https://www.fairtest.org/Grammy Music Education Coalition - https://grammymusiced.org/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Liz at Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-willen-5671a38
Blog - hechingerreport.org/
Twitter - hechingerreport
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
What do you get when an MIT physics graduate volunteers at the public library computer lab to tinker with a few kids building cool games, websites, and apps? He suddenly decides - with no background in education - to start a school, and a neighborhood micro-school called “Prenda School” is born. Eight months later, Prenda Schools are spreading like wildfire across the US - with 80 launched so far.
Join us to learn about the explosion of an education vision based on the outrageous idea that school could be engaging and empowering to young people. Kelly Smith shares the humble beginnings of just wanting to help kids find their own love of learning and what it took for him to launch a micro-school movement. The story of Prenda Schools expansion contains seeds of insight for anyone seeking to expand their school.
While Prenda School students take on the daily math and English tasks, they have also “debated the merits of school box top fundraisers, discussed the relative intelligence of raccoons versus cats and dogs, estimated the number of balloons that would fit in (Kelly’s) minivan (including all the students), explored present-day Yucatan peninsula, and approximated the amount of fresh water on the planet.” Does this sound like any day EVER in your own memories of education?
Have a listen...
Quotes:
06:15 “I think it’s true right now, in 2019, that anyone could learn anything if they have an internet connection.”
27:06 “Empowering a learner is going to help all those (education or career) paths.”
27:55 “We are using academics to empower a learner who will then be able to do what they need to do in their lives.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Prenda Schools - https://prendaschool.com/
BASIS.ed - https://www.basised.com/
4.0 Schools - https://4pt0.org/
Y Combinator - https://www.ycombinator.com/
Design 39 - http://design39campus.com/
Sugata Mitra - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugata_Mitra
https://www.theschoolinthecloud.org/people/sugata-mitra/
Design Thinking with Joe Erpelding -
https://blog.enrollhand.com/design-thinking-creating-the-future-with-joe-erpelding/
John Danner - https://medium.com/@johnwdanner
Where to learn more about the guest:
Kelly on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellysmith35
Kelly’s blog - https://prendacodeclub.com/blog
Kelly at Medium - https://medium.com/@prendalearn/im-not-a-teacher-but-i-opened-a-school-278ddef1ca70
Kelly on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WA7srw9GTo
Code Club - http://azcodeclub.org
Prenda Schools - https://prendaschool.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Has the wild, wild west ever really been tamed? We consider this and other burning questions like: Is A/B Testing actually misleading? with our guest - Caylee Migliorini. Caylee has a rich career history in the education management industry. She joins us today to share her experience and expertise in marketing for school enrollment. She is currently the Senior Managing Director of Creative Services and Student Acquisition at BASIS.ed. Caylee offers valuable insights as we think about school marketing and the ways that it is likely to change in the near future. Whether you are a big school with a strong marketing presence or a small school with one toe in the swimming pool, today’s talk will leave you with plenty to think about, and immediate steps to take toward increasing your school’s enrollment. Let’s listen...
Quotes:
03:45 “That’s a really important place for anyone in enrollment to begin - understanding what the organization’s goals and objectives are.”
17:02 “Our job is not to sell something. Our job is to inform parents about the right characteristics - to give them an opportunity to make a decision that’s going to be the best decision for them.”
24:20 “We’re getting to a place where there might be systems that are trying to ‘do it all,’ and we might get into the danger zone of trying to over-automate contact. Sometimes a personal touch is more effective than 15 auto-generated emails.”
29:50 “Data integrity, security, and the safety of information is something to be very aware of when you’re choosing a system. People’s privacy is very important to them.”
31:07 “We are the wild, wild west right now in the US. The European countries have much stricter data privacy and information rules than we do, but we will get tighter.”
33:02 “Be true to who you are and what you offer.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
IDEA Public Schools - https://ideapublicschools.org/
KIPP Public Schools - https://www.kipp.org/
GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation - https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/14/what-is-general-data-protection-regulation/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Caylee on Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/caylee-migliorini-69349a26
BASIS.ed - https://www.basised.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Keara Mascarenaz joined us for an explosive jaunt through innovation in education. We visited destinations such as: personalized paths for students, differentiated teaching, strong relationships vs. screen time, student ownership and choice, self-management, competency-based education, collaboration, social-emotional learning, building trust, inclusion and the value of diverse voices, making clear decisions, the right “size” of change to target, and operating systems for schools. Yes - all of that within 25 minutes. So, buckle your seat belt and hold on. The top is down, the sun is shining, and we’re going to break the innovation speed limit with Keara Mascarenaz at the wheel.
Quotes:
06:45 “Strong schools are really clear on their ‘why’ - why are they bringing in a particular program or initiative?”
19:30 “There are 3 ways that change can happen in an organization: individual change, team change, and organization/eco-system change. We try to shift the focus to the individual and team levels to get some early wins that can catch like wildfire across the organization.”
23:35 “(Good leadership includes considering) how can you narrate for your team and connect the dots between past and current decisions?”
27:30 “In education, I am most excited about the current tremendous emphasis on empowering students to be agents of change.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
The New School Rules - https://www.newschoolrules.com/
The New Team Habits (Pre-publication contact) - https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/the-new-team-habits/book268366
Alexis Gonzales-Black, Holacracy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFY9ZtdtiS8
Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh - https://www.deliveringhappiness.com/
5 Ingredients to Create a Culture of Innovation in Your District - https://www.edelements.com/blog/5-ingredients-to-create-a-culture-of-innovation-in-your-district
Where to learn more about the guest:
Education Elements - https://www.edelements.com
Twitter - @kearamascarenaz
Blog - https://thekikibrief.wordpress.com/
Keara on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keara-m/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Many Pearce. She brings over two decades of fundraising experience to the conversation and generously shares her knowledge of the funding landscape.
Mandy knows how to simplify a complex topic, and offers a long-range view of the changes happening in the grant writing world. In this episode, her dynamic teaching style brings so much infectious enthusiasm to the discussion that every listener will feel empowered to go out and find a grant for their program - even if they never considered it before.
Quotes:
05:10 “Educate yourself on what is open and available; there are lots of great, free resources online.”
08:45 “You want to research the grants one year ahead of when you need the money.”
22:19 “Foundations today aren’t just making donations because they want the warm, fuzzy feeling of philanthropy. They’re doing it as an investment and they want to know what the return on their investment is going to be.”
Where to learn more about the guest:
Email - https://fundingforgood.org/aboutus/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/funding-for-good/
Blog - https://fundingforgood.org/blog-grid/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtBr657H4PvL1-r3652brPg
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Indra Sofian offered us an inside look at the founding and launch of a progressive, student-directed high school known as Sora Schools. He walked us through the launch process from inspiration through formulation and iteration and ended with a glance towards his dreams for the future.
As a co-founder at Elevate Media, an Atlanta-based content-driven digital agency that provides marketing strategy, consulting, and content production services for businesses, Indra might seem to be an unlikely candidate for starting a school, but that is quite possibly what makes him so compelling. He is unfettered by the constraints of traditional education models and seems intent on formulating a new way of educating young people.
Have a listen, and enjoy the energy and inspiration of someone determined to reinvent the wheel - as long as he ends up with a rocket.
Quotes:
13:00 “At every step of the way, we want student input because we really, really believe in giving the students agency.”
22:40 “Once a child gets to high school age, it becomes a bit more difficult for a parent to homeschool - regardless of the education level of the parent.”
26:30 “Most schools face the problem of oversight without context, so giving more power to the teachers - who are actually trying to make things work in the classroom - can be useful. Trust and support them to do their jobs.”
32:15 “I hope that the students who graduate from our program are entrepreneurial, thoughtful, independent, self-directed people.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
John Danner https://twitter.com/jwdanner
Keith Rabois https://twitter.com/rabois
Homeschooling https://twitter.com/rabois/status/1068167341949603841
Outschool https://outschool.com/
Workspace Education https://workspaceeducation.org/about/team/
One Stone https://onestone.org/
Where to learn more about the guest:
Personal website - indrasofian.com
Twitter - @indysofian@soraschools
Indra on Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/indrasofian
Indra’s newsletter - medium.com/@indrasofian/
Sora Schools - https://soraschools.com/
For Sora Schools updates, news, and events, scroll to the bottom of their page and subscribe to the school’s newsletter.
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Terry Ryan knows education from every angle. He is the CEO of BLUUM - a non-profit organization working to develop leaders and support innovative schools in Idaho. Terry has a lot to say about charter schools, philanthropic funding, how to create a community of practice, and the ways that charters and districts might put aside their differences and capitalize on the strengths of each arm of education.
He talks fast, but we wish we could hear even more of the wisdom that Terry has accumulated in his work in education. Have a listen, and take some notes on the lessons learned from a man who has opened 14 schools to date.
Quotes:
08:45 “I call it (the collaboration between private philanthropic dollars and federal funding) a private-public partnership, and so far, we think it’s starting to show powerful results.”
13:50 “In the states that are growing, saying, ‘Let’s create more charter schools,’ has a lot of merit.”
15:50 “Overall, charter school students outperform the traditional school students that they are matched against.”
22:55 “I get the most excited when you can take the charter school flexibility, freedoms, and innovation and… apply them to district schools.”
39:30 “We’re trying to develop a community of practice (among charter schools) and that might be the biggest legacy to come out of this work.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Bluum - https://www.bluum.org/our-team/
Building Hope - http://www.buildinghope.org
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute - https://fordhaminstitute.org/
How is Idaho Charter School Performance Like a Clint Eastwood Movie - https://www.idahoednews.org/voices/how-is-idaho-charter-school-performance-like-a-clint-eastwood-movie/
The J. A. and Katherine Albertson Family Foundation - https://www.jkaf.org/
CREDO - The Center for Research on Education Outcomes - https://credo.stanford.edu/
Acton Academy - http://www.actonacademy.org/
New Tech Network - https://newtechnetwork.org/
KIPP Public Charter Schools - https://www.kipp.org/
Where to learn more about Terry Ryan:
Email - tryan@bluum.org
Terry on Twitter - @IDTerryRyan
BLUUM on Twitter - @bluumorg
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Catherine Fraise is passionate about creating educational spaces and environments within which children can innovatively realize their potential. She has a vision for changing education and is making it happen at her 32,000 square foot facility in Connecticut.
As the Founder and Executive Director at Workspace, Catherine takes us down an exciting trail of discovery as we learn how families are choosing and creating education in a way that benefits their children. From online classes to Maker space, from micro-schools to edupreneur fusions, Catherine is facilitating a smorgasbord of choices in education.
Join us as we catch the wave of education’s future with Catherine Fraise.
Quotes:
05:40 “If you can organize a terrific birthday party, you can definitely do project-based learning.”
12:30 “The academics actually end up being the easiest part of this to deliver. Building the community is the most important part, so the children are spending their days in an inspiring community and having access to the tools of their generation for hands-on, high-quality projects.”
14:25 “I think everybody deserves to have an educational format that suits them.”
30:42 “We don’t need to take the lion’s share with this kind of education; we just need to be able to be a platform for people for whom (traditional education is) not working.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
“Courage to Grow” by Laura Sandefer
Gallery of the facility: https://workspaceeducation.org/galleries/state-of-the-art-facility/
Work Space Curriculum Options: https://workspaceeducation.org/academics/foundational-literacies/
International Association of Colearning Communities - https://www.iaclc.org
Outschool - https://outschool.com/
Where to learn more about Catherine Fraise:
Workspace - https://workspaceeducation.org/
Twitter - @Workspace_edu
Catherine on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-fraise-037361126/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Social-emotional learning is a hot topic. Today, Erick Roa shares with us about his contribution at Empatico and The Kind Foundation. Erick serves as Head of Partnerships at Empatico. He takes us through the grant application and award process as he has experienced it, and gives advice for schools that might be interested in the grant process. Erick shares with us about how students can develop social-emotional skills through the free Empatico software platform.
Listen and take note of how schools can learn to apply to foundations for grants and increase their chances of receiving an award. Empatico has set an ambitious goal to connect one million students worldwide by 2020, and your school can be a part of their success.
Quotes:
14:14 “My advice is - sometimes you have to take a risk (and ask for what your school needs); (be sure that you) know a little bit about what the organization’s values and mission are.”
20:13 “What we’re able to offer at Empatico are very discreet opportunities for children to build skills within the larger umbrella of social and emotional learning.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Empatico.org - https://empatico.org/
Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Talebhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Skin-Game-Hidden-Asymmetries-Daily/dp/0241247470
Empatico blog - https://blog.empatico.org/
https://blog.empatico.org/2019/01/six-steps-to-become-an-empatico-district-part-1/
Where to learn more about Erick Roa:
Twitter - @erick_g_roa
Erick on Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/erick-roa-278a25b3
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
John LaPerch is a funny guy with an in-depth knowledge of marketing. He is Director of Online Marketing & Social Media Content Creator. We didn’t have a set agenda for our conversation about school growth and marketing, but our casual discussion ended up covering everything from digital word-of-mouth to how schools should embrace authenticity. John takes us through the process of how he moves schools from a communication model to a marketing model, and from glossy, print magazines to email and Facebook videos. The discussion then turns from tactical to strategic.
Without divulging more, prepare to be entertained and informed.
Quotes:
14:15 “The numbers (of people reached) are not great on the print side, so you’ve got to hit people where they are.”
17:20 “Once you get that name and email address, it’s about building a relationship.”
23:30 “My toughest sell is (persuading schools against) promoting this catalog-worthy picture of a school like a Benetton ad - when authenticity is really what sells.”
28:45 “Schools will find success in marketing, but they won’t stick with it; what is marketing, but repetition and measurement, repetition and measurement?”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
David Perrell - Naked Brandshttps://www.perell.com/blog/naked-brands
In News Industry, a Stark Divide Between Haves and Have-Notshttps://www.wsj.com/graphics/local-newspapers-stark-divide/
Love, Mom & Dadhttps://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155235380487381
Where to learn more about the guest:
John on Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/johnlaperch
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Jim Tiffin. He infuses excitement into everything he does, and his enthusiasm will infect you in this podcast. Jim is the Director of Media/Maker Programs for Mount Vernon Presbyterian School in Atlanta, Georgia. He knows how to make learning personal and authentic, how to engage teachers in the process, and how to connect parents and kids with “possibility thinking.”
In this episode, Jim shares about Media/Maker Programs - what they are, how they reposition learning in schools, how to make them work, and why someone might care about getting started with small steps in this direction.
Listen and take note of how you could use the Maker philosophy as a catalyst for learning and a platform for growth in your school.
Quotes:
04:00 “Some of our philosophy is about not just growing what you know in the world, but growing what you know that you DON’T know - exposing (students) to possibilities.”
05:20 “Tinkering is the playful experience that innovators go through to discover what’s possible.”
19:05 “An expedition is like a field trip fueled by student curiosity to make learning personal and authentic.”
25:23 “Some of the parent engagement comes from making sure that Moms and Dads can better explore the same things that their kids are talking about.”
30:12 “Think in terms of small steps; how are you going to not just look at toolsets and skill sets, but rather, how are you going to shift mindsets?”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Mount Vernon Presbyterian School https://mountvernonschool.org/
Mount Vernon Institute for Innovation - http://www.mvifi.org/
Where to learn more about Jim Tiffin:
Personal Website - jamestiffinjr.com
Email - jtiffin@mountvernonschool.org
Blog - jamestiffinjr.com/blog/
Twitter - @JimTiffinJr
Jim on Linkedin https://linkedin.com/in/jamestiffinjr
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode, we dive deeper into the exploration of how school funding works. This is important for anyone looking to grow their school, but also matters if you are simply interested in the future of education, wonder how education will evolve, or would like to know how the funders are thinking. Our guest today is Jackie Coleman. She is Senior Education Investments Officer at Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
We talk about the different types of foundations, how to approach foundation program officers, how she sees her role, the growing importance of social-emotional learning, and more. Without further adieu, here’s Jackie!
Quotes:
04:20 “Find out who your local community foundation is...and be in dialogue with them about partners that they are working with.”
07:30 “It is not uncommon, and is often welcome for a potential partner, organization, or school district to call.”
15:20 “Because relationship is so important, even if you don’t have particular programs identified (that match the funding criteria of the foundation), there is nothing wrong with beginning a conversation.”
16:45 “Work moves at the speed of trust; it takes time to build relationships.”
33:35 “You might have heard the lottery slogan, ‘You can’t win if you don’t play,’ but it also holds true in funding. Don’t be afraid to ask.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving https://www.hfpg.org/
The Wallace Foundation UPPI https://ucapp.education.uconn.edu/about-the-wallace-uppi-project/
Where to learn more about Jackie Coleman:
Jackie at Hartford Foundation - jcoleman@hfpg.org
Jackie on Linkedin https:linkedin.com/in/jackiecolemanct
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Anthony Kim, Founder and CEO of Education Elements. Anthony built virtual schools before anyone had heard of such a thing. He has worked with over 1000 schools and school districts on projects ranging from the adoption of personalized learning to project management and leadership capacity. Anthony works with a focus on seeking to achieve better student outcomes, higher student engagement, and increased teacher satisfaction. He is the co-author of The New School Rules, and co-author of The New Team Habits: a Guide to The New School Rules.
In this episode, we talk about the patterns he sees after so many school visits, how educators can work better together, what changes he expects to see in education, and much more. This episode is jam-packed with tips from Anthony’s experience, so listen in. Here’s Anthony.
Quotes:
3:10 “What is missing the most is (a consideration of) how anyone coming to visit the school experiences it within the first 5 - 10 minutes they are there.”
6:38 “In many of our day-to-day experiences, we expect a greater level of personalization, real-time interaction, and real-time feedback.”
17:20 “As you get more data, can you make course corrections that help you get to the goal?”
20:38 “We have to make the shift in the minds of the leaders of schools; if you want to become a learning organization, you have to embrace mistakes as a part of the process.”
34:50 “How we deliver content and engage students matters a lot, and part of our job is to draw in those students so that they want to learn; that’s where personalized learning can come in.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Design39Campus http://design39campus.com/
The Lean Startup by Eric Reis http://theleanstartup.com/
Timeless Learning: How Imagination, Observation, and Zero-Based Thinking Change Schools by Pam Moran https://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Learning-Imagination-Observation-Zero-Based/dp/1119461693
Farnam Street: My Interview with Adam Robinson https://fs.blog/adam-robinson-pt1/
Where to learn more about Anthony Kim:
Education Elements https://www.edelements.com/anthony-kim
Twitter - @EdElements or @anthonx
Anthony on Linkedin linkedin.com/in/anthonykim
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode we answer a question by Marisa from Tipton, IN: “Is texting a good method for connecting with prospective parents?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Joe Erpelding. Joe is the Principal at Design39 Campus where he has used his previous experience - he was the Principal and Vice Principal at the Unified San Diego School District - as well as his vision to transform the school into an active community of learners.
In this episode, Joe offers insight on how you could change the culture in your school to improve your growth. Moreover, Joe and Andreas discuss the different ways to navigate through the fear of change that may overwhelm the leaders of any school.
Listen and take note of Joe’s unique perception on the use of words to change the way others respond to what you are saying.
Quotes:
14:43 “I've been described as 85% visionary and 15% pissed off”
19:30 “The future's a place that WE create. With the focus on "we" create it, we don't wait for someone else to do it”
22:05 “We use language so freely in society - we all think we're talking about the same thing and we all have our own bias towards those words. Like rigor, I think of rigor - I think of rigor mortis”Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Scott Belsky: Making Ideas Happen (book) buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Ideas-Happen-Overcoming-Obstacles/dp/1591844118
Getting Smart Podcast: https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/05/leadership-for-school-progress-in-poway-unified/
Design39 webpage: http://design39campus.com/
Where to learn more about Joe:
Joe on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joeerpelding
Joe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/erpelding
Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-erpelding-35b52234/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Cordell Carter. We had a fascinating conversation about the funding landscape for K12 education. Cordell is an entrepreneurial leader, nationally recognized for cross-sector successes in philanthropy, education, and technology. He is currently leading the Aspen Institute Socrates Program, a global education forum for emerging leaders. He has previously held leadership roles with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Business Roundtable, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the IBM Corporation.
In this episode, Cordell takes us into the heart and soul of philanthropic funding and gives us a glimpse into the mindset of those who hold the purse-strings. He tells school leaders where to look, how to plan, and how to demonstrate results that will attract grants.
Listen and take note of how getting your “story” right might be the most important piece in positioning your school to receive philanthropic attention. If you have ever thought about grant funding for your school, or are even interested in the evolving strategy of foundations and others in education, Cordell has a deep understanding of what’s going on. So, here he is.
Quotes:
6:07 “People love winners. I’m going to fund people who don’t need me - meaning, you’re already figuring out a way to achieve in spite of a lack of resources.”
10:15 “The one thing you can’t replicate is time… you either make more use of it, or you can’t.”
15:14 “The big trend to watch for is this move toward an investment approach; foundations are changing to limited liability corporations.”
23:40 “I like to think of foundation funds as strategic funds (used) to expand a promising practice or to highlight something that’s unique.”
32:10 “The winners (those who get funded) are the people who can make an emotional connection to people who are driven by data. Get your story down.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Arnold Ventures https://www.arnoldventures.org/
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation https://www.gatesfoundation.org/
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative https://chanzuckerberg.com/
Teach for America https://www.teachforamerica.org/
Where to learn more about Cordell Carter:
At Aspen Institute - aspeninstitute.org/our-people/cordell-carter-ii/
Twitter - @cordellcarterii
Carter on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/cordellcarterii
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Patrick Bassett. You may know him as longtime NAIS President, or even as the founder of Heads Up Educational Consulting. You may have come across his thoughtful tweets about the future of education. What is sure is that Pat has a deep, strategic understanding and a strong point of view on the evolving nature of schools.
In this episode, Andreas and Patrick discuss a wide range of topics, from hiring millennials to change your school’s DNA, to how to trigger disruptive change through experimentation. Pat’s experience shines through.
Listen and take note of Patrick’s insights and suggestions on how you can change your school’s DNA.
Quotes:
11:31 “We have a saying in the independent school world, “Every child is known, loved and challenged”. If we deliver on that, if we stay true to this most essential mantra then children succeed in our schools and our schools succeed.”
13:55 “Teaching is relational, not transactional. Our schools, although they’re purchased because of transactional impulses, are transformational.”
17:02 “We have a saying that school is where creativity goes to die.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Information on Jim Collins: https://www.jimcollins.com/
Information on Lambda School: https://lambdaschool.com/
Where to learn more about Patrick
Patrick on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.bassett.1948
Patrick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/patbassett?lang=en
Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-bassett-aa24b743/
Heads Up Educational Consulting: https://headsuped.com/background-fees-2/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode we answer a question by Keenan from Potomac, MD: “How often do we need to redesign our school website?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Michael Soskil. He is a teacher, an author, an international keynote speaker an education consultant and an inspirational leader. Michael is the 2017-2018 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year, a recipient of the 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, and was honored as one of the top ten teachers in the world by the Global Teacher Prize in 2016.
In this episode, Al and Michael discuss the use of technology in the classroom. They point out how technology can create a lot of educational opportunities for students, but - if not used wisely - it can also hinder their emotional and educational growth.
Listen and take note of how you can use technology more effectively in the classroom.
Quotes:
12:31 “Our children right now are struggling to deal with actual reality and yet we're trying to give them virtual reality”
33:05 “I think what we should do is start with really incredible experiences that make kids wanna beat down the doors of our classroom to get in”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
You can find more information about the book “Teaching in the 4th Industrial Revolution” here: https://www.michaelsoskil.com/book.html
You can find the podcast “Education For A Better World” here: https://www.ed4betterworld.com/
Where to learn more about Michael:
Michael on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patoy2017/
Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/msoskil
Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msoskil/
Michael’s website: https://www.michaelsoskil.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode we answer a question by Britney from Stansbury Park, UT: “What else can we use to measure our website traffic apart from Google Analytics?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode we answer a question by Janah from Charlotte: “Should we run ads on Facebook if we have negative reviews there?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode we answer a question by Tracy from Portland, OR: “When should we use a landing page instead of our website, for our campaigns?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is John McLaughlin. He has an M.Ed in Psychological Studies, a BA in English, and is a PhD candidate in Philosophy. John began his journey in publications, but he has spent the better part of his career working in admissions and recruitment, taking on different roles in the field: Admissions Counselor, Associate Director of Admissions, Director of Admissions, and most recently, Dean of Enrollment at Bristol Community College.
In this episode, John describes the different aspects of his work in admissions over the years. He talks about the role that marketing plays in assisting him to reach his goals for enrollment. Moreover, he discusses how Bristol Community College makes strategic plans to overcome current challenges and make a difference for the whole community.
Listen and take note of the strategy used by Bristol Community College to overcome the challenges that they may be presented with by demographics, career opportunities, and a changing economy.
Quotes:
08:26 “It's not just managing the workload, but managing personalities - you need to be a listener more than anything else.”
25:45 “...how we sell the school: We look at accessibility, transferability, and affordability.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Bristol Community College Online Courses: http://www.bristolcc.edu/locations/elearning/
Where to learn more about John McLaughlin:
John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-mclaughlin-79a2674/
John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnnymack12
John at Bristol Community College: http://www.bristolcc.edu/bristolcommunity/facultystaff/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode, I am joined by Ted Dintersmith, one of America’s leading advocates for innovative education policies. He is the executive producer of the 'Most Likely To Succeed' documentary, watched by millions and screened at 1000 community events, and the author of an inspiring book, What School Could Be, that takes us through his journey to over 200 schools in all 50 states. We talk about Ted’s innovation playlist, his scalable, permission-based, trust-based strategy for taking small steps to change, public excibitions as a tool for school growth and more.
In this episode, Ted and Andrew discuss how change can be met with resistance and how to overcome it. They also talk about the value of involving the student in the learning process. Moreover, they point out how exhibitions can transform learning into a positive and fun experience.
Listen and take note of Ted’s unique perspective on the education system and how it can change for the better.
Quotes:
08:30 “Let the sprinters sprint, let the runners run and the joggers do a jog - and for those who want to stay in place all we say is just keep an open mind”
26:40 “Most of what kids do in school is like writing an essay on the sand on a windy beach...”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Innovation Playlist: https://teddintersmith.com/innovation-playlist/
Most Likely to Succeed Documentary https://teddintersmith.com/mltsfilm/
What School Could be: https://teddintersmith.com/what-school-could-be/
Where to learn more about Ted:
Ted on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dintersmith/
Ted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dintersmith
Ted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-dintersmith-0211985a/
Ted’s website: https://teddintersmith.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Stephen Ostendorff. He is the Director of Graduate Admissions at Bank Street College of Education in New York City. He has been working in higher education for the better part of two decades, holding positions in admissions, student affairs, and marketing, and previously served as the Director of Admissions and Marketing at Metropolitan College of New York, Director of Campus Life and Residence Life at Molloy College. Moreover, he worked for two different marketing agencies in New York, running higher education verticals for them.
In this episode, Stephen talks about how he combines his teaching and marketing experience to focus on what is really important: the students. He also talks about the challenges he has to face to balance the practical aspects of his job with his role as a counselor.
Listen and take note of how marketing and on-campus recruitment efforts can work hand-in-hand to add value to your school.
Quotes:
03:31 “There's just something about the feeling you get when you're working with a student, helping them figure out the direction they want to go, whether they're undergraduate or graduate, if they feel they've been listened to and that their journey is beginning because of a conversation they've had; there's something very fulfilling to that.”
05:41 “Marketing opens the door…”
11:00 “There has to be a value proposition in whatever we're doing.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
https://online.bankstreet.edu/
Where to learn more about Stephen Ostendorff:
Stephen on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Ostendorff
Bank Street College of Education - https://graduate.bankstreet.edu/about/staff/stephen-ostendorff/
Stephen on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ostendorff/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Brendan Schneider. He is the Director of Advancement at Sewickley Academy. Brendan specializes in independent school admission with a strong focus on inbound marketing, social media, and lead nurturing for schools. He is a guest lecturer on marketing at Columbia University.
In this episode, Brendan shares how using an inquiry or lead magnet can help to build trusting relationships with prospective parents so that they become direct contacts for the school rather than “stealth applicants” who are likely to be lost before the school’s message is effectively delivered. He gives specific strategies for schools to attract leads, connect with leads, and convert leads. Brendan talks about how the process of “filling the funnel” with potential applicants has changed, and how a school must understand their marketing strategy in order to correctly target their “right fit” prospects.
Listen and take note of how to build relationships with parents in order to move them toward the goal of a campus visit.
Quotes:
17:10 “Back in the day, schools tried to be all things to all people, and that just doesn't work in most markets.”
20:20 “Those emails (to prospective parents) have to include your core message, what you stand for, and what differentiates you.”
31:44 “We need to up our game so that we are consistent with what other brands are doing.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Brendan’s article: 11 Clever Ways to Repurpose Content and Boost Your School’s Reach- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/11-clever-ways-repurpose-content-boost-your-schools-reach-schneider/
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World, by Gary Vaynerchuk
Every Single One of you is a Media Company -https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/every-single-one-of-you-is-a-media-company/
Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is about Help, not Hype by Jay Baer
Pat Flynn - Smart Passive Income https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/
Chris C. Ducker - https://www.chrisducker.com/about/
Where to learn more about Brendan Schneider:
Email - brendan@schneiderb.com
Twitter - @schneiderb and @sewickley
Brendan on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanschneider
Sewickley Academy - sewickley.org
Schneider B Media - https://www.schneiderb.com/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode we answer a question by Tim from Hanover, PA: “Does marketing work for schools in an area where population is decreasing?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Justin Medved. He is the Director of Learning, Innovation, and Technology at The York School - a K to 12th-grade independent day school in Toronto, Canada. Justin leads the way in professional development for faculty to ensure that technology is integrated into the classroom, and 21st-century pedagogy is developed to enhance learning. The York School was the first school in Canada to implement a 1-1 laptop program, and thereby positioned itself as a tech innovator early in the game. Justin has spent more than 10 years expanding and improving the school’s tech offering. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator and a Google Certified Innovator.
In this episode, Justin articulates what it means to be a 21st-century learner/teacher/school.
He gives specific strategies for how to start from the “why” technology is needed in education to the “how” it can be implemented.
Listen and take note of how a school can improve its value proposition and increase enrollment by embracing technology as a non-negotiable basic skill needed for the future. If you want to learn about the role of tech in schools, this conversation is not to be missed.
Quotes:
5:52 “We as an institution needed to figure out where tech belonged within the tried and tested traditions of the past; new pedagogy needed to be crafted and woven into the way our school operated.”
11:30 “The broad awareness of just how many skills are required to exist in the world today goes well beyond what a traditional education can deliver.”
15:30 “People want confidence that the school knows where it’s going (with technology).”
23:35 “Schools are very complicated organisms. It’s so easy to come up with a change and aspire to have a change that ultimately contributes to your school’s value proposition in the market or increases enrollment, but realizing that change takes a lot of energy with a lot of stakeholders involved and its not as simple as a few Saturday PD days and some newsletters.”
25:34 “A brave school - or a school that really ends up implementing change well doesn’t lose sight of the long-term stewardship required on some of these big initiatives.”
30:50 “The mindset you (a teacher) have to adopt is one of continuous learning; the teacher has to come to the table with a growth mindset and a willingness to ask questions, seek help, and drive towards competency.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/
Dr. John Paul Kotter - the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School, and best-selling author - https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-for-leading-change/
Grant Lichtman, nationally recognized thought leader in education and author of, “Moving the Rock: Seven Levers WE Can Press to Transform Education” - http://www.grantlichtman.com/
Cohort 21 https://cohort21.com/
The Strategic Change Accelerator https://www.cais.ca/professional-development/strategicchangeaccelerator
The York School - https://www.yorkschool.com
Where to learn more about Justin Medved:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/jmedved
Blogs - http://medagogy.edublogs.org
Justin on Linkedin https://ca.linkedin.com/in/justinmedved
In this episode we answer a question by Cindy from San Pedro, CA: “Can a school do marketing successfully with stock photos?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Miles Latham. He is Managing Partner at Affixxius Films - an in-house bespoke commercial film company with an innovative and unique approach to providing breathtaking videos for public and private sector companies and organizations. In particular, the videos that Affixxius Films has produced for schools put a finger on the distinctive story that sets that school apart in the marketplace. In the research phase of their process, Affixxius is known for provoking schools to push them in surprising directions that “reveal what the school deems unquestionable.”
In this episode, Miles shares how schools owe it to their students to take a stand for their brand, and details how his company strives to tell a story for each client that will resonate with the deepest feelings that parents have about their children.
If you are thinking about what makes your school unique, this is a conversation that you should not miss.
Quotes:
6:25 “Independent schools are ‘high-brand’ propositions. We are dealing with huge amounts of money for the most emotionally important assets that a family has - and that is their children.”
7:00 “For us, that’s where film is at its best - it’s an emotional buy-in. We have to make people feel something.”
8:15 “As soon as we started to say less in a more emotionally powerful way, that’s when schools started to see results.”
9:50 “It’s the human qualities that make a school special.”
19:10 “Quite often, the creative process that we go through will fundamentally change the way a school markets itself or thinks about itself as a result of our research.”
23:40 “We are ultimately interested in telling interesting stories.”
25:35 “We are obliged to treat the marketing of these organizations incredibly seriously because of the level of trust that we are asking people to embed in the school.”
26:40 “I think a school’s marketing is fundamentally a 2-fold proposition: on one level, it is acutely emotional...and on the other side of the coin, it is acutely practical.”
28:00 “Schools are gold mines of storytelling about phenomenal young people who are doing phenomenal things.”
30:00 “The first thing I ask is: What does the school stand for?”
32:20 “The clarity and efficacy with which we tell these stories has never been more critical.”
37:05 “School marketing needs to react to what is going on around it and not be so insular and so microcosmic.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Christ School - a private, Episcopal college preparatory boarding and day school for boys in Asheville, N.C. - https://www.christschool.org
https://affixxius.com/academic/portfolio/5252/your-future-is-coming-for-you
Inter-Community School Zurich, Switzerland - a private, independent, international, co-ed day school - https://www.icsz.ch/
https://vimeo.com/292943705
Dan Carlin Hard Core History: the Wrath of the Khans https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/
Where to learn more about Miles Latham:
Email - films@affixxius.com
Twitter - https://twitter.com/milesaffixxius
Miles on Linkedin https://uk.linkedin.com/in/miles-latham-7531a427
Affixxius Films http://www.affixxius.com
In this episode we answer a question by Tara from Baltimore: “I moved the school to a larger location, how do I get the word out now that I have relocated?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Angelo Lambroschino. He is the Senior Admissions Officer at Caldwell University. Angelo has a strong focus on building student diversity, retention of current students, and student engagement. He works actively to keep the university promotion efforts fresh, honest, and relevant for prospective students.
In this episode, Angelo walks us through “Everything Admissions” - from persuasion to platforms, from data to division of responsibilities, and from time to tuition. He shares the ethics of recruitment and talks about the importance of helping students to find the right match rather than just getting as many enrollments as possible for the university.
Listen and take note of how he makes it a priority to engage with students in ways and on platforms that are familiar, personal, and less-pressured than traditional recruitment efforts.
Quotes:
4:00 “A challenge for today’s universities is to demystify the college admissions process, and the admissions counselor has an important role in translating everything the student finds out online into what it means for the student.”
7:25 “I’m the kind of guy who will introduce you to the right people; you need to meet students, professors, and community influencers to be able to share in their stories (when making a decision about a school).”
9:10 “Building trust with a student is important and if you’re using the same platforms that they are, they’ll feel more comfortable.”
20:50 “It’s important for top-level people at a university to have an open door policy.”
33:20 “It’s good to have a diverse team of people who are really connected to each other for the overall values of that institution to come alive.”
Where to learn more about the guest:
Email - angelo.lambroschino@gmail.com
Angelo on Twitter - @lambbro1
At Caldwell University - https://www.caldwell.edu/faculty-staff
Angelo on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelolambroschino/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Tom Vander Ark, an education advocate, and adviser for better learning. He is the author of “Getting Smart: How Personal Digital Learning is Changing the World”, “Better Together”, “Smart Parents” and “Smart Cities”. Tom is the Founder and Executive Editor of “Getting Smart” - a learning design firm helping education and learning-focused organizations increase their impact with strategy, design, growth, publication, and learner experience services. Tom has written more than 800 blog posts for Education Week and is a contributing author to Forbes Magazine. He is here with Enrollhand today to share some thoughts on the direction that innovation is going in education.
In this episode, Tom shares some ideas on how even small schools can begin to take steps to move towards personalized learning and competency-based learning, some of the challenges that they might face, and how to overcome those. He gives specific strategies for school leaders to consider as they enter a time of great innovation in education.
Listen and take note of how the entire model of education is changing from “course-based learning” towards “platform networks”, and what that might mean for schools as they plan their value proposition.
Quotes:
1:10 “A community conversation that leads to a few important goals is the way to start.”
3:00 “By starting small, iterating, and learning as you go, you can minimize your risk (as you adopt change).”
19:00 “We think that school visits are the way to go. You can watch a video or read about a school, but there is nothing short of visiting a place to see how it actually works.”
19:20 “Look for schools that stand for something and that focus on a few core ideas with a common intellectual mission that creates coherence for teachers and kids.”
25:35 “I’m bullish on platform networks as being super scalable.”
29:25 “Courses - as both the architecture of and the way we measure learning - have been a useful construct in education, but we’ve reached the limits (of their usefulness), and courses are now blocking innovation and integration, and are a lousy form of measurement.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Forbes Magazine article by Tom Vander Ark:
Organizing Your School as a List of Courses Doesn't Work for Learners
Malcolm Gladwell - “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”
Seth Godin podcast: How to get into a famous college
David Frank - Executive Director of the New York State Education Department Charter School Office and 2016 National Association of Charter School Authorizers Leader.
Shelley Kurth - School Director at Thrive Public Charter Schools in California
Smart List: The 100 middle and high schools worth visiting - https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/03/100-middle-high-schools-worth-visiting/
In this episode we answer a question by Doris from Austin, TX: “How do we overcome the perception that the area is bad?”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Tim Mains. He is the Superintendent at Pine Bush Central School District in Middletown, New York. Tim is an experienced educator who has worked in various capacities from teacher to principal in K-12 urban, suburban, and rural school districts. He has a strong commitment to improving educational outcomes by engaging families as partners with the school.
In this episode, Tim shares the “Dual Capacity Framework” and explains how viewing parents as partners can change the entire approach to education. He gives specific strategies for taking the first steps towards parent engagement - even for schools who have limited financial resources available to initiate the starting point.
Listen and take note of how Tim has used strategic planning to accomplish very different goals in very different school systems; it’s the plan that acts as the guidebook to success.
In our discussion, we cover:
3:10 Alexis asks Tim to describe a “typical” day for him.
8:45 Tim responds to the question: What do you wish that you had known on your first day on the job in education?
10:40 Tim begins to explain what it means to make parents the partners of the school in the process of educating young people.
14:14 Alexis offers two schools of thought about parent engagement, and asks for Tim’s thoughts about the different approaches.
17:20 Alexis asks Tim, “As a new principal, what actions would you prioritize in order to engage parents?”
20:30 Alexis and Tim discuss the ways that a school can take the first steps toward parent engagement even when the school has limited finances available to start.
25:20 Tim responds to Alexis’ question about whether he is using the same techniques and approaches to parent engagement that he had used in a different school system with different challenges.
27:30 Tim discusses the value of using instructional coaches to help teachers implement any changes that are initiated in schools.
31:20 Tim expands on how to use strategic planning to set and accomplish goals in a school.
34:00 Alexis asks Tim to contrast the ideas of communication from the top down vs. on-the-ground direct communication.
Quotes:
8:50 “Not everything has to be perfect, and ‘not perfect’ should not mask the understanding that I’m doing some things well. Don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good’.”
18:50 “Rather than blaming parents for the conditions that they are in and the way that their kids are coming to school, we need to see parents as partners.”
29:00 “We view the use of coaches (to be sure that professional learning is embedded in teachers’ day-to-day practice) as a more valuable approach than a stand-alone staff development program.”
37:40 “One of the reasons I’m in schools all the time is that there is a lot of informal communication that occurs because I’m in the classroom.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Dr. Karen Mapp - The Dual Capacity Framework https://swopeparentengagement.weebly.com/dual-capacity-framework.html
Where to learn more about Tim Mains:
School Contact - https://www.pinebushschools.org/contact-us/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/TimOMains
Tim on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-mains-67390b26/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: https://www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our guest today is Don Wettrick. He is the Innovation Coordinator for Noblesville High School, the founder and President of The STARTedUP Foundation, and the author of "Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level." The STARTedUP Foundation empowers student entrepreneurs and innovators with collaborative, immersive experiences, accelerator programs, and seed funding for students under 20 years old. As a public speaker, Don specializes in educational development with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. He also helps groups understand and utilize blogging and collaboration in social media integration.
In this episode, Don delivers a strong message about the prospects facing today’s students in tomorrow’s heavily automated employment market and urges schools to take a stand now for creating an innovative, entrepreneurship culture. He details the mindset, strategies, and key players needed to make change happen in the education community.
Listen and take note of how schools can step-up to the challenge of preparing students for a market that we cannot yet even imagine from the chairs that we occupy today.
In our discussion, we cover:
3:10 Don offers the insight that up until about 10 years ago, traditional education had a pretty good track record for success, but that has dramatically changed.
7:20 Andrew asks if Don has any advice for school leaders who are seeing competition pop up in their immediate area.
9:35 Don responds to Andrew’s question about whether parents seem to be willing to consider a future job market where 50% of jobs will be freelance.
11:50 Andrew asks Don to help school leaders visualize the beginning stages of the shift toward implementing innovative opportunities in schools.
16:10 Don talks about the necessary mindset change in schools from chasing grades to creating a culture of innovation.
18:30 Don responds to Andrew’s question about whether school leaders should brand their product and sell.
21:00 Andrew asks Don if every school is becoming a media school.
21:50 Don talks about what his foundation is doing to help create innovation.
24:30 Don responds to Andrew’s question about what will happen if colleges begin to change their admissions requirements.
26:45 Andrew and Don discuss the ways that innovation can happen very quickly when the market responds to change.
Quotes:
1:50 “The future is looking very automated.”
5:10 “Social media is a windfall opportunity for students if they treat it professionally.”
7:30 “The hardest part is getting a school to see that doing well on the SAT is not preparing kids for the future.”
17:10 “Cool idea; now, what do you do with it?”
17:50 “We’re entering this new economy where new ideas are worth something.”
19:28 “Everybody is stealing great ideas, and that’s awesome.”
26:45 “Forbes tells us that by next year, half the nation’s jobs will be freelance.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/
Gary Vaynerchuk at VaynerX - www.garyvaynerchuk.com/Do we want to mention him since this is an advertising agency?
Where to learn more about Don Wettrick:
Don’s Foundation - https://startedupfoundation.org/
Email - dwettrick@startedupfoundation.org
Twitter - https://twitter.com/DonWettrick
Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/donwettrick/
Our guest today is Ryan Schaaf, instructional designer, professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, and author of 5 books. Ryan thinks and writes about using digital tools and game-like learning experience in the classroom to engage today's learners in new ways. His new book explores learning in the age of disruption. How is this related to school growth you might ask? Well, listen and you will find out. Watch out for when a young student in the future runs a digital project with a scientist in Antartica. The short answer is that parents know and feel the age of disruption is upon us. If you can create a learning experience that will excite young students, word of mouth will spread.
In our discussion, we cover:How the Dune Book Series and the Lord of the Rings are like instructional video games.
How to Ryan uses video games to create exciting and multifaceted learning experiences with his sons.
Why learning by making mistakes is easier with game-based learning.
The explosion of energy that you can tap into if you utilize digital tools that students are used to in the classroom, provided you use them in the right way.
The similarities between game-based learning and project-based or inquiry-based learning.
Why games are a great tool to break through the industrial-age forces that are keeping your school back.
How to use game-like learning experiences to grow your school.
Quotes:
3:50 “Gone are the days where you just memorize content and facts; now education is about story lines and seeing relationships.”
4:50 “They (video games) are probably the best medium for learning-growth mindset - where you learn from your mistakes and by trying new strategies.”
6:10 “Students want to demonstrate what they’ve learned, and they become ‘prosumers’ - they consume information from the video games, and then they produce their own content and share with their gaming community.”
7:30 “Game-based learning is the incubator of the next generation skills that we want our workforce to have.”
12:10 “Learning must be relevant, fun, and useful for the learners or you won’t have engagement.”
15:15 “We have to question systems because they have a way of becoming rigid over time.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P42WP7K
The Oregon Trail Game - http://www.gameloft.com/en/game/the-oregon-trail-american-settler
Where to learn more about Ryan Shaaf:
Web - infosavvy21.com
Twitter - https://twitter.com/RyanLSchaaf
A Brief History of the Future of Education: Learning in the Age of Disruption - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MW8DZJ2
Game On: Using Digital Games to Transform Teaching, Learning, and Assessment - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M28RHLT
Making School a Game Worth Playing - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C6MV6LG
Using Digital Games as Assessment and Instruction Tools - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XDN5EIO
Reinventing Learning for the Always On Generation - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0113KZGH2
Our guest today is Jennie Winton. She is the co-founder of Mission Minded - a branding firm established in 2002 to work exclusively with nonprofit organizations. Mission Minded helps nonprofit organizations to discover the “big, bold idea” that distinguishes them from everything else that is out there, in order to attract more people to their work. Jennie shares her branding and marketing expertise in lectures and with clients throughout the nation.
Today in our podcast, Jennie turns her branding genius towards the topic of school growth and takes us through the steps that any school can use to establish their own unique brand.
Listen and take note of how “brand” is different from “benefits and features”, and think about how to apply the 6 Steps to Branding Your School.
In our discussion, we cover:
5:30 Jennie responds to Andrew’s observation that most schools have the exact same working on their homepage about what they offer.
6:12 Jennie defines “brand” as “your reputation” and distinguishes between a school’s “mission” and their “brand”.
7:30 Jennie responds to Andrew’s question about how a school can change its reputation.
10:00 Andrew asks Jennie to expand on the idea of “right fit families”.
14:00 Andrew asks Jennie to give examples of schools that stand out as having an exceptionally strong, unique message.
19:50 Jennie shares the 6 Steps to Branding Your School.
24:50 Andrew asks what a school should do when they find competitive schools popping up with the same message that they are offering.
30:48 Jennie expands on the notion of signaling the community through the message that is going out from inside the school: staff, teachers, and families.
32:00 Jennie shares a lovely story of a client who wondered when or if he would know that the branding exercise had been effective.
38:15 Jennie gives closing advice on not becoming so overwhelmed with the idea of ‘branding’ that you fail to take action.
Quotes:
6:12 “Your brand is your reputation; the question is - is this the reputation that our school will need in the future to achieve all of our goals?”
11:20 “Focusing on the families who fit with your culture is strengthening to your school over time; they will choose you for the right reasons.”
26:20 “You do not build your brand on features (Montessori, project-based learning, Christian, etc.) because anybody can copy a feature; your brand is a bigger, higher-order ideal.”
30:48 “When you have a strong brand, your parents and students will be so proud to affiliate with it; they will become evangelists for you.”
37:00 “A school will not succeed in rebranding if the promise is not authentically something that the school is delivering.”
Where to learn more about Jennie Winton:
Email: amplify@mission-minded.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JennieWinton
Mission Minded: https://mission-minded.com
Jennie on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennie-winton-08b4444/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this episode, Andrew shares a delightful summary of the recent road trip across Texas, where he and Alexis visited 20 schools in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin to get a closer look at what schools are doing “on the ground.” He provides a richly detailed analysis of the trends they observed in the marketplace and connects them directly to marketing for school growth. Andrew offers specific strategies that schools are using to enrich their value proposition in an increasingly competitive and crowded education market.
Listen and take note of the many ways that schools are re-thinking their identity, their product, and their outcomes.
Quotes:
3:33 “Someone (among the teaching staff) needs to understand things like artificial intelligence because these are skills that kids are going to need in the world that they are going to be living in.”
4:48 “‘Selling’ and ‘marketing’ are not ‘bad’ words - if it’s done right.”
10:00 “Selling is not shouting; you don’t need to shout to get the word out.”
16:50 “Schools have to come to stakeholders with a plan that creates their own value proposition.”
20:00 “What is certain is that you need to design your value proposition through competition; you can’t just sit on your laurels”
25:20 “You have to find ways to be embedded in the community - to be a pillar that goes beyond being considered an education factory.”
28:50 “If the community is safer, the school is safer.”
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Scott Allenby. He is the Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives at Proctor Academy. Scott is passionate about developing and implementing strategies to help build the school because he cares deeply about the community that his work serves. He launched an inbound marketing initiative that boosted applications to Proctor Academy by more than 40% during the first year. Scott helped to lead a web redesign and strategic planning process for admissions, communications, and advancement teams. He has written hundreds of blog posts for Proctor Academy as a part of his effort to get the word out about the great things that are happening there.
In this episode, Scott shares an imaginary marketing start-up plan for a school that is beginning from ground zero and wants to increase enrollment. He shares simple, specific, “doable” steps to take when considering how to start building an effective marketing strategy that can be expanded as the school accomplishes goals and grows toward success.
Listen and take note of how a school can identify their value proposition, engage their internal and external audiences, and decide which tools and data will best help them to begin the adventure of sharing the “product” of which they are so proud - the school itself!
Quotes:
5:00 “Schools can’t just wait for the phone to ring.”
24:00 “Families want to get past the admin office and see what teachers are doing and who students are talking to.”
27:19 “From day 1, focus on building a network of parent ambassadors.”
35:20 “Parent-to-parent conversations are so good; you couldn’t script it any better.”
37:10 “If tuition continues to climb faster than household income climbs, we’re sabotaging our own industry.”
44:40 “I try to remember that the most important piece of my day is building relationships with families.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/
Where to learn more about Scott Allenby:
Proctor Academy - https://www.proctoracademy.org/page
Email - AllenbySc@proctoracademy.org
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ScottEAllenby
Scott on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-allenby-89261b13/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Summary
Our guest today is Shelli Kurth. She is the School Director at Thrive Public Schools in San Diego, California - award-winning K-12 charter schools. Thrive Schools are reimagining education with a hands-on, project-based curriculum bound together by an emphasis on social-emotional learning. And it’s working!
In this episode, Shelli shares the path of Thrive from vision to inception, and now onward to successful school expansion. She gives strategies for honoring the voice of every person in the education community - from students to parents, and from teachers to supporters.
Listen and take note of how the school is founded on building deep, trusting relationships with everyone in the education family, but also places a strong importance on the value of scientifically grounded data to connect all the parts of the education method.
Quotes:
17:06 “First, and foremost, kids need to be learning, and it’s our job to collect data to see if we are hitting our targets.”
19:40 “The heart of storytelling is building bridges to each other.”
19:56 “(With storytelling) ...when something hard happens, you’re not just seeing the hard part; you’re seeing the whole person.”
25:50 “Once you have established a close relationship (with parents or students) you can solve some of the heavier problems because you’ve gained a new perspective.”
28:52 “Compiling and understanding your data is important work because otherwise, all those other parts aren’t going to be connected.”
31:27 “We must all help each other and really shout from the mountain tops. There are lots of things we are measuring that are giving us important information about education. Being innovative looks different from schools that are made to measure well on state standardized tests.”
33:07 “Part of our mission is not just moving the needle for each student, but moving the needle on education across the country and even in the world.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Tom Vander Ark @tvanderark
Where to learn more about Shelli Kurth:
Email: info@thriveps.org
Thrive Public Schools on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThriveSchools/
Thrive Public Schools on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Thriveps
Thrive Public Schools on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ThrivePublicSchools
Shelli on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelli-kurth-57b53948/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Chantelle Zakariasen. She is a conversion copywriter who specializes in using quizzes to gather information from prospects.
In this episode, Chanti walks us through the buyer’s journey and explains how a school can go deeper than just telling prospects about the advantageous features of the school. She explains that people are overwhelmed with the “noise” of information they get in a day. Effective school marketing must find a way to identify and target the emotional needs of parents that would be a good fit for their product. Chanti fully reveals the process that a parent might go through - going from “unaware” through the steps that eventually lead to action.
Listen and take note of how to create a cohesive message for your school by using descriptive language.
Quotes:
7:53 “A client must typically have 7 contacts with your brand before they take action.”
13:01 “The more specific - the more visceral you can get - the more likely you are to hook someone’s attention.”
29:00 “The reason ‘segmentation’ is so powerful is that it allows you to get specific with your message and to sell to specific people.”
39:01 “The more niche, the better. Don’t be afraid to be different.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Email and marketing automation - Active Campaign https://www.activecampaign.com/
ConvertKit - https://convertkit.com
Constant Contact - https://www.constantcontact.com
Design and market custom merchandise
Makeship - https://makeship.com/
Where to learn more about Chanti:
Web Site - chantizak.com
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Our website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Bill Diskin. He is Director of Admission and Financial Aid at Cannon School. Bill specializes in serving students through helping independent schools with enrollment management, admissions, and financial aid for families.
In this episode, Bill shares the path of increasing enrollment through defining the school’s mission, refining their focus, and how they put relationships and trust ahead of statistical considerations, but they also use data to target their search for prospects. He gives specific strategies for dynamically broadening the reach of a marketing plan by engaging parents as ambassadors for the school.
Listen and take note of how the school uses available data to focus on and reach families who are already a good fit with their values by engaging the word-of-mouth resource of “ambassador parents”.
Quotes:
5:00 “Schools can’t just wait for the phone to ring.”
24:00 “Families want to get past the admin office and see what teachers are doing and who students are talking to.”27:19 “From day 1, focus on building a network of parent ambassadors.”
35:20 “Parent-to-parent conversations are so good; you couldn’t script it any better.”
37:10 “If tuition continues to climb faster than household income climbs, we’re sabotaging our own industry.”
44:40 “I try to remember that the most important piece of my day is building relationships with families.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Peter Drucker’s “5 Most Important Questions” - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Important-Questions-Institute-Drucker-Foundation/dp/0470227567
Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/
Where to learn more about Bill Diskin:
Email - wdiskin@cannonschool.org
Twitter - @billdiskin
Blog - wilddayssite.wordpress.com
Bill on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/billdiskin/
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Our website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Our guest today is Laura Elizabeth. She is the creator of designacademy.io - which helps developers conquer their fear of design through a practical, hands-on, step-by-step process. Laura also developed client-portal.io - a WordPress plugin for organizing projects.
In this episode, Laura takes the listener through very specific ways to approach website design. Whether starting from a blank page or considering how to improve a website, Laura explores the basics of producing an attractive product that tells your story and prompts the prospect to take action.
Listen and take note on how to identify your target market so that everything in the design flows from that central focus.
Quotes:
8:55 “Who is your target audience? Pinpoint that. You won’t alienate everyone else by going for the niche that fits your product.”
30:11 “Homepage content should focus on the most important job of your website. Is that new students? Current students? Navigation can deal with the other audiences.”
32:20 “In design, less is definitely more - even though it sounds cliche.”
40:12 “Good design doesn't have to be original. It just has to be appropriate for your prospect.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
Fiverr - https://www.fiverr.com/
Dropmark - https://www.dropmark.com/
ColorPick Eyedropper https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/colorpick-eyedropper/ohcpnigalekghcmgcdcenkpelffpdolg
Museo sans rounded font - https://www.fonts.com/font/exljbris/museo-sans-rounded/family
Open sans font - https://www.opensans.com/
Chaparral pro font - https://www.wfonts.com/font/chaparral-pro
Squarespace website builder - https://www.wfonts.com/font/chaparral-pro
Wix website builder - https://www.wix.com/
Reliable PSD - https://www.reliablepsd.com/
Where to learn more about Laura Elizabet:
Laura’s Design Course - https://designacademy.io
Laura’s Cient Portal Project Organizer - https://client-portal.io/
Dribbble - https://dri
Our guest today is Joshua Wittman. He is the Director of Ninos del Sol - an Eco-School in Costa Rica.
In this episode, Joshua talks about the roles of serendipity and diversity in his position as a teacher, an administrator, and a founder of the school. He relates the story of how he came to focus on bringing the classroom outside into nature in order to teach sustainability and ecology in a natural environment. Joshua has a strong marketing mindset and shares his ideas on growing the school through connecting with the community.
Listen and take notes on how to use technology in the daily life of the school - including social media - to engage existing and potential supporters.
In our discussion, we cover:
1:00 Joshua shares the path that led him to start a school - Ninos del Sol in Costa Rica.
9:32 He tells about connecting learning to project-based experiences rather than getting stuck on meeting curriculum standards in a linear way.
17:48 Andrew asks, “You are in Costa Rica with the ocean in view. How can schools in the US accomplish project-based learning wherever they are located?”
21:47 Joshua tells that schools must use community engagement as a marketing strategy to communicate about what is happening at the school and to invite the community to participate actively in the life of the school.
27:52 Bringing all of his life experiences and passions together in a coherent whole, Joshua talks about how to create a value proposition for a school.
37:14 Joshua develops the idea of serendipity and diversity in school growth.
40:35 He shares advice for schools on how to bring diversity to their local community.
46:50 Expanding on the idea of serendipity, Joshua relates that it becomes a way of viewing even seemingly negative experiences.
50:40 Joshua walks-through the many positive uses of technology to engage the internal audience (parents) and the external audience (the community at large) and to remind them of what you are doing so that they become a part of the school story.
58:10 He shares marketing goals for the next year, including goals to engage businesses and entities with money available to be shared with causes they might support - like the interface of technology in the classroom.
Quotes:
10:38 “We have to move at nature’s pace.”
27:10 “Everything is connected. Being able to reinforce those connections has time and time again created the synergy that makes us grow.”
36:00 “If you are not sure that you are on the right track, reassess your community and expand it to include people who are going to inspire you.”
40:52 “Create diversity in your community.”
49:14 “If you don’t have time for marketing, you have to hire somebody who does.”
Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:
- “Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era” by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Likely-Succeed-Preparing-Innovation/dp/1501104314 - “Dance Equations” by Miranda Abbott https://danceequations.com/
Miranda Abbott email - danceequations@gmail.com - Farmbot - https://farm.bot/
“The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Tail-Endless-Creating-Unlimited/dp/1844138518
Where to learn more about Joshua Wittman:Ninos del Sol Eco-School https://www.ninosdelsolcr.com/
Ninos del Sol Eco-School ninosdelsolcr@gmail.com
Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/jpwteaching
Our guest today is Steve Dekany. He is an education marketing expert for close to 15 years, both as a 7-12th-grade administrator and primarily the Chief Marketing Officer for one of the largest site-based charter school operations in California. He is in charge with enrolling over 800 new students each year. Also, his skills represent close to 30 years in marketing execution for international and domestic companies--from school boards to parents. Steve has a unique 360 degree tactical perspective on school growth and long-term stability.
In this episode, Steve and Al (Enrollhand’s Enrollment Growth Manager) deep dive into the basics of site-level marketing, presentation, and events and analyze how those activities can help your prospective parents and their children perceive your school as their best choice and enroll in your school.
Listen and take note of the insightful and actionable information you need to jumpstart marketing at your school.
Quotes:
“When the parents or the students get to the school, is it consistent with those initial messages that they receive from the outward marketing that was going on? You have to look at all the messaging and all the things that were said and make sure that it's consistent when the parents arrive with their students, what is being said and portrayed is consistent with that initial response that they received when they are viewing and ingesting all the marketing materials.”
“I had meetings at my school year around 50 weeks out of the year. So that gave me the opportunity to touch base with as many people as possible as often as possible, in those initial meetings. While the interest is high. And while you know, for example, your marketing campaign is at full swing, that's when you could actually measure how things are working with your marketing strategies.”
Connect with Steve
- Inquiry form
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Like here: https://blog.enrollhand.com/what-800-enrollments-per-year-will-teach-you/
My guest today is David Garden. He is an expert service marketer with 20+ years’ experience. David has an MBA in Marketing with interest in strategy, service design, and conversion rate optimization. Currently, he serves as Group Marketing Manager for Australian Christian College, a group of nine schools located in five states around Australia.
We talk about the difference between the corporate world and the school marketing world. He also shares great tips that you need to know as a school marketer.
Listen to this episode and take note of the insightful and actionable information you need to jumpstart marketing your school.
Timestamps
05:06 – What works and does not work when putting into practice your school marketing strategy
7:52 – David explained why schools must be in a "Selling Education" and “Selling the Invisible” mindset
14:10 – How writing helps create impact within the community
15:28 – We talk about creating short seasonal campaigns versus keeping marketing always on. David is doing the former but is tending towards the later.
17:20 – David and Andrew agreed on one crucial factor before deciding which school to choose for your children
19:47 – We talk about distinct influences that play a role in the final decision-making process of choosing a school
22:13 – Why the school culture is an element that parents should take into consideration
23:20 – How you should do tactical and strategic school marketing
26: 32 – Three practical steps on how you can elevate your school marketing strategy
27:39 – David shared the importance of bundle benefits and having a strong value proposition
31:16 – Andrew ask about what changes that David wants to see in the school marketing world
36:15 – David and Andrew discussed the practical way of communication between school stakeholders and parents Quotes:
6:56-“School marketing is more like a relational product. So invite people to visit your school and start to form a relationship of trust and ask what they expected or observe what they wanted to experience.”
9:19 - “The idea of giving parents the opportunity to see a classroom in action helps to give them an insight into the type of school and the way that you (teachers) deliver your learning in the classroom, and they (parents) can look into the operations of the school.”
26: 32 - “In (school) marketing, take smaller risks over time and keep tracking, monitoring, and then revising your strategy as you go.”
38:15 - “Give everyone an insight into what next year is going to be, use always on marketing at the moment, identify what works and discard things that you do not need, and allocate budget for marketing.” Resources:
- Selling the Invisible
- Getting Smart Podcast
- Containers Vs Streams
Connect with David
- David on Medium
- David on LinkedIn
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
In this interview, we are joined by Grant Lichtman, an internationally recognized thought leader in the drive to transform K-12 education.
In our discussion, we cover:
- How market forces are shaping the K-12 school landscape.
- Why schools now need a value proposition.
- How schools can find more time to differentiate and innovate?
- Examples of how a school can grow by crafting engaging learning experiences.
- What is a school operating system.
- Practical ways to make your school more attractive: an affordable makerspace, a learning commons, flexible classrooms.
- And, finally, where a school should start?
Where to learn more about Grant:
Website: http://www.grantlichtman.com
Twitter: @GrantLichtman
Grant's Books:
Moving the Rock: Seven Levers WE Can Press to Transform Education: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/111940441X/,
Edjourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118898583/, and
The Falconer: Seven Levers WE Can Press to Transform Education: https://www.amazon.com/Falconer-What-Wish-Learned-School/dp/1450231268
Where to learn more about Enrollhand:
Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
