Class Disrupted

With large numbers of teachers resigning from schools, Diane and Michael dive into what exactly is happening right now in schools, explore how it’s different from past teacher shortages, and ask bigger questions about who is a teacher and the system of preparing and developing our teachers—and suggest a hopeful path that might emerge from the Continue reading "Season 3, Episode 6: Who a...

In this episode, Diane interviews Michael about exactly where students are learning formally this year, what’s driving the change in enrollment in public schools, and what will be the longer term impact.

In this episode Michael interviews Diane about the difference between standards and curriculum, and why she’s in favor of a common core set of standards but not a common curriculum.

Diane and Michael break down who decides what gets taught and analyze the specific roles of everyone from the different arms of government to teachers, parents, textbook companies—and even committees and colleges.

With conversations around Critical Race Theory and learning loss rampant, what schools teach is hot right now. Rather than tackle those specific debates, in this episode Diane and Michael wave their magic wand to offer a framework around what schools should teach — and how it’s different from what they do today.

As we enter a third year of schools being hugely impacted by COVID 19, Diane Tavenner and Michael Horn launch a third season of the Class Disrupted podcast, and for the first time record in person! In their unique twist on the tradition of back-to-school shopping they explore the top five wants, and realize they Continue reading "Season 3, Episode 1: What’s on a school leader’s back-to-schoo...

Diane and Michael welcome listeners back for a third season of Class Disrupted and reflect on how urgent it is to rethink the fundamental structures undergirding schools—and how this year might afford more opportunities for communities to implement some significant changes.

In the final episode of Season 2 of Class Disrupted, Diane and Michael talk through four recurrent themes on the podcast—and how each conversation would benefit from more nuance. The topics? Politics, testing, location of learning, and doing something with versus doing something to your community.

Students, parents and educators are all exhausted from the past year—and here comes summer! How should the time be used and how will it be used? Diane and Michael offer some takes—and dig into some new research around accelerating students versus offering them remediation.

Joel Rose, cofounder of Teach to One, joins Michael and Diane to talk about why now is the moment to lean into innovation—not back away from it—and how we need new learning models to advance the possibilities for all students, not just the third who get by in the current education system.

With an unprecedented cash infusion going to public schools from the federal government, Michael and Diane interview noted school finance expert Marguerite Roza to understand the contours of the new funding landscape and what are the opportunities – and risks – for schools and districts.

Since very early in the pandemic, education policy expert John Bailey has been in front of collecting key data and research about COVID and its impact on education and disseminating that research to leaders in education. Diane and Michael caught up with John to talk about the learnings from the pandemic thus far.

Diane and Michael dig deep into the importance of an inclusive design process to rethink schooling with the co-CEOs of Transcend Education, Aylon Samouha and Jeff Wetzler.

As the CDC once again revised its guidance around school reopening and the Department of Education drums up conversation around summer school, Diane and Michael dig into who is driving the narrative around the future of schooling and why that matters.

Diane and Michael plan with the end in mind and backward map the top 5 things schools must have in place before students start the school year in the fall.

In this episode, Michael jumped in the interviewer chair to ask Diane as an educator about how she’s treating the Biden administration’s announcement about requiring spring testing, how she thinks about the learning loss conversation, and why the school reopening question has become so fraught with emotion and tension.

The mainstream media seems to be noticing, at last, that learning pods are popping up to serve low-income learners. Diane and Michael discuss whether the community organizations behind these pods might help transform the schooling system beyond the pandemic. Plus, the two ponder what does it mean that serving on the education committee in Congress Continue reading "Season 2, Episode 12: Learning p...

In Chicago, the district and union have sparred over the question of reopening. Michael and Diane explore a better approach to reopening and dive into how parents can navigate these challenging times—as well as how educators can make sure struggling readers get the support they need.

Diane and Michael delve into the challenges that attempting to teach students in-person and remotely at the same time poses—and ponder if design thinking can help educators find a better way forward.

With the naming of Miguel Cardona as President-elect Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Education and the arrival of vaccines, Diane and Michael break down the potential for a broader reset in schools.

Diane and Michael wade into the hot-button topic of teachers’ unions for the first time in Class Disrupted. What role are they playing in school closures and reopenings—and how they can help or hinder innovation in schools?

Diane and Michael dig into the debate among educators around requiring students to turn on their video cameras during live classes, and ask whether policies that punish students for not having their cameras on miss a bigger set of opportunities. Speaking of opportunities, they discuss if we’re missing a big one by not encouraging mastery Continue reading "Season 2, Episode 7: Turn on your vi...

Diane and Michael tackle the question of who the next secretary of education might be by starting with what the US Department of Education actually does. And in the wake of California’s announcement that it will shorten its annual tests by half, they debate how–and whether–annual testing should take place this spring.

Diane talks through the considerations and challenges in reopening schools – and what that term even means – to help all stakeholders think through the central purpose of schooling and how we might measure success in this strange school year.

Michael and Diane tackle the thorny – and often emotional – question of sports and schools in this latest episode, as well as how to think about a change GreatSchools made recently to its school rating formula to try and decouple a school’s rating from the income level and racial makeup of its students.