Blog
Leading for Deeper Learning, A Series in Four Parts, Part 2: The Beauty of Naïvete and the Development of the Backpack
There is real beauty in being a little bit naïve. I had just accepted a position as the Chief Academic Officer for the 100,000-student Jefferson County Public Schools, and the newly appointed interim superintendent had no district-level administrative experience despite working and teaching in the district for more than 20 years. He had been principal of two different high schools–arguably one of the most difficult jobs in existence–but he had no experience leading an entire district, not to mention one of the largest districts in the country, complete with a powerful teacher’s union and a 7-member board.
How to Run a Zoom PD
If you’ve mastered the basics of Zoom, dig into this blog to learn how to set up an engaging, immersive virtual PD session. This practical guide features tips and tricks from the 2Rev team based on our work facilitating virtual professional learning with educators across the country.
Exploring a Bright Spot in Crisis Response: A VBCPS Case Study
Unlike other projects that are scrambling to pivot and shift as a result of COVID-19, the work in VBCPS has remained very much on track - in fact, in many ways, the work has accelerated in the midst of the pandemic. We’ve been reflecting quite a bit on what conditions are in place in VBCPS that have allowed the district to shift quickly to accommodate this new reality, while continuing to prioritize the work of our implementation networks during this time.
School in Uncertain Times
In response to the challenging time we are living through now, we at 2Revolutions feel that it might be helpful to share some thoughts on what schools might want to consider as they manage through the completion of the 2019-20 school year and consider operating next year. We hope that sharing our thoughts will be of some use to those of you facing this unprecedented challenge.
Public Education Cracked Open
Is this a watershed moment for public education in America that can positively shift a paradigm for teachers and learners? How do we keep our foot in the doorway of public education and leave open the possibility of real shift? Might this be a learning experience from which to do school differently for all learners, putting them more in charge of their learning, moving away from content coverage to content depth, appreciating the opportunity and necessity of training educators for “move on when ready”? Might this be an opportunity to shift from assessments happening to learners to assessments providing opportunities for coaching and support?
Creating a “New Normal”: Unpacking Lessons About Change During a Pandemic
Now that we are weeks into a global pandemic, the entire planet has been thrust into unprecedented waters and is frantically trying to adjust to current circumstances. While we are also in the process of figuring out a new path forward, it has become so clear how polycentricity is thriving as our system transforms to accommodate new ways of living, learning, teaching and working. While many are anxious for “things to go back to normal” (as quickly as possible), I am left wondering how we might instead pause and use this moment to interrogate the “normalcy” we left behind with a more critical eye, investigate the ways in which change is already transforming our systems, and find ways to harness this change for good in launching us into deeper transformation for the future.
Transforming Education: “You Can’t Wrestle a Cloud”
As we work with partners who want to transform their systems, schools, and capacity, one common denominator runs as the central challenge in all of our work: managing change. In each context, our partners want drastically different outcomes for students. While our desire for education innovation drives many school transformation efforts, we believe that in order to truly unlock system transformation, we must approach the challenge of change with a new understanding and from a different perspective.
Transforming Education Systems WITH (not just FOR) Students
Youth voices matter. Far too often, transformative education efforts, albeit with the best intentions in mind, happen in service of students, but fail to truly center youth voice within the work. What would happen if we not only included youth and students as central end users in our work, but intentionally amplified their voices to transform their own education system?
That’s precisely what happened in Denver over the past few months. Our partners at Turn Corps (in collaboration with RootEd and the Denver Scholarship Foundation), spearheaded a community-based outreach effort that intentionally amplified recent alumni and student voices in efforts to transform schools.
Sharing Our Story: Innovative & Integrative Community in Virginia Beach
How might we build an integrative, innovative community? What does it look like to actively dismantle fragmentation in a complex education system? Over the past two years, we have been working to answer these questions through our partnership with Virginia Beach City Public Schools, as a grantee in the Carnegie Corporation’s Integration Design Consortium.
