Getting Smart Podcast

Today on the podcast, Tom is speaking with Diane Tavenner and Mira Browne from Summit Public Schools. With the backing of a group of parents, Diane Tavenner formed Summit Public Schools in 2003. Now, a network of secondary schools in the Bay Area in Washington State, the thirteen cohorts of Summit graduates have all graduated college-ready. As a mother, teacher, and network builder, Diane has lear...

Pavel Luksha is a leading education futurist. He's a Professor of Practice at Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, the Director and founder of Global Education Futures, and serves on the advisory board for Whittle School and Studios.   What drives Pavel forward is creating a world that works for everyone. He's a global thinker and change catalyst focused on creating the discipline of social ecosy...

This week, Tom is speaking with Ron Berger, the Chief Academic Officer at EL Education. Ron has been with EL Education since 2003 and is responsible for leading EL Education's vision of teaching and learning. Bringing with him 40 years of experience as a teacher and professional development designer, with 28 of those years teaching public school, Ron is highly regarded in the education space.   Go...

Today, the Getting Smart team is bringing you an interview with Benno Schmidt. Benno served as President of Yale University, the Dean of Columbia University Law School, and the CEO and Chairman of Edison Schools (now EdisonLearning). Currently, Benno serves as the Co-Chair of the Global Advisory Board at Whittle School and Studios. He also currently chairs the Board of Trustees of the City Univers...

Today the team is talking with Abby Falik, the founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year. Abby grew up with parents committed to traveling the world — and never the usual tourist traps. After high school, she wanted to get close to the issues that she really cared about but couldn't get into the Peace Corps without a college degree. Abby quickly realized there just wasn't a good option for high schoo...

Today the Getting Smart team is bringing you an episode with none other than Susan Patrick, the President and CEO of iNACOL. For the past 14 years, Susan has led the international advocacy organization known as iNACOL. At iNACOL, they seak the transformation of education systems and advocate for breakthrough policies and practices that ensure high-quality learning for all. Their fall symposium is...

Today's guest is Michael Hinojosa, the Superintendent of Schools in Dallas, Texas. Dallas, Texas is also where Michael grew up and went to school, the same town his own children went to school in, and also where he has taught and coached for many years. DISD is a rapidly growing school district with 150,000 students in 230 schools. Hinojosa has a thoughtful Board, a strong team, and is in his 10th...

In today's episode, Tom Vander Ark is speaking with Pamela Cantor, M.D., a leading expert on childhood development. Dr. Cantor has practiced child psychiatry for nearly two decades and originally studied the impact of trauma on childhood development at Cornell. After 9/11, New York City asked her to counsel children struggling in the aftermath. That effort became Turnaround for Children, a non-pro...

In today's episode, the team will be speaking with Don Wettrick, the founder and President of STARTedUP Foundation! Don's father was a teacher, and after attempting career #1, he decided to go back and follow in his father's footsteps and become a teacher too. Don found that he enjoyed growing things and becoming entrepreneurial. After watching Dan Pink's 2009 TED Talk entitled, 'The Puzzle of Mot...

Today's episode features a fascinating interview with Connie Yowell and Paul LeBlanc.   In the most interesting deal of 2018, Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), the leading online university, and LRNG, the leading out-of-school learning platform, merged. Connie Yowell, CEO of LRNG and EVP of SNHU, saw the merger as an opportunity to establish meaningful pathways to the middle class for yout...

Today the team is talking with Peter Janzow, the current Vice President of Business Development for Credly, and the co-founder of Winterlake Press.   Peter started his education career as a textbook salesman, 35 years ago. When it looked like the digital revolution would bring print to an end, Peter built an auto-grading platform and licensed it to publishers. He sold the company and then got laid...

Today, Tom Vander Ark is speaking with Richard Barth, CEO of KIPP and Chairman of the Board at Braven. Prior to these roles, he also worked with Teach for America from 1989-1996, was President of District Partnerships for Edison Schools for seven years, and served as a Member of the Board at General Assembly.   After helping Teach for America get off to a good start, Richard Barth married the foun...

Today the Getting Smart team is speaking with Elisa Villanueva Beard, Teach for America's CEO since 2015.   Imagine following one of the most recognizable CEOs in the world and taking on an organization that was shrinking and was facing financial and political pressure. Elisa did just that in 2013, following Wendy Kopp as CEO of Teach for America. She cut 40% from the central budget and rejuvenate...

Today on the Getting Smart Podcast, the team is speaking with Paul Johnson, the 17th President of the Colorado School of Mines. Paul is also a global leader in education and research in engineering and science. He's set out to solve the world's challenges related to earth, energy, and the environment!   Johnson began his career at Shell Development Company in Houston, working as a Senior Research...

In this week's episode, Tom Vander Ark is speaking with Greg Smith, a former Professor of Teacher Education at Lewis & Clark for 28 years.   Greg's background with teaching in a Quaker school in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains gave him a powerful sense of place — both in meaning and community. It drew students into mutual responsibility, social justice, peace, and environmental respon...

Today, the Getting Smart team is speaking with Dr. Scott McLeod, an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Colorado Denver. Scott has been in the ed-tech space and an advocate for many years and is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading experts on technology in learning. Most of his work with schools and leaders across the globe have been focused on transforma...

In this week's episode, Tom Vander Ark is speaking with Esther Wojcicki, an internationally-known educator, consultant, and speaker with a demonstrated history of working in the e-learning industry. She is the Chief Learning Officer at Planet3, the Founder of the Journalistic Learning Initiative in collaboration with the University of Oregon, an Advisory Board member at THNK, The Amsterdam School...

This week, your host Caroline Vander Ark is speaking with Dr. Robert Dillon about learning space design. Robert is an author, speaker, consultant, educator, and a lifelong learner. He has served as an educational leader throughout the Saint Louis area over the last twenty years as a teacher, principal, and Director of Innovation. Currently, he serves the students and community of the School Distri...

Today the team is talking with Vince Bertram, the President and CEO of Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nonprofit organization that provides transformative learning experiences for PK–12 students and teachers across the U.S.   Vince grew up in a small town east of Indianapolis, where his teachers inspired him to study education. After serving as a Principal in several schools, Bertram served as Supe...

Today, the Getting Smart team is speaking with Rebecca Midles, the Executive Director of Implementation of Mesa Valley County School District 51. She is an internationally recognized leader in designing systems that work for all learners. She has guided and led schools and districts to a Performance-Based Learning System as well as provided support and coaching to instructional leaders, site leade...

Today, Tom Vander Ark is speaking with Dr. Francisco Gaujardo! Francisco is a leading voice in bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural education and a noted expert in place-based education. Like Tom, Francisco is also an advisor to the Teton Science Schools. As a Professor of Education at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), Dr. Guajardo introduces young people to the history, anthropo...

Today, Tom Vander Ark has a conversation with Dr. Jal Mehta! Dr. Mehta grew up in Baltimore and is the son of a school administrator and a college professor. Now, as an Assistant Professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, Mehta is a leading advocate for deeper learning. Dr. Mehta appreciated that his mentor, Richard Elmore, was always a knowledgeable person in the room because he spent t...

Today, Tom is speaking with Jared Cooney Horvath, a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of Melbourne. Jared specializes in human thought, learning, and brain stimulation, and holds the position of Director at both LME Global and The Science of Learning Group. He also has a new book titled, Stop Talking , Start Influencing : 12 Insights from Brain Science to Make Your Message Stick , that...

This week, the Getting Smart team is bringing you an episode with Nick Donohue, the CEO and President of Nellie Mae Education Foundation.   Nick went from teacher to trainer to Deputy Commissioner, then to Commissioner in New Hampshire. A dozen years ago, Nick took over the Nellie Mae Education Foundation where he developed a strategy focused on student-centered learning. The team's focus on perso...

Today's episode is a little extra special — it is Getting Smart's TWO HUNDREDTH episode of the podcast!   This week, the team will be hearing from Tara C. Chklovski, the CEO and founder of Iridescent. Tara grew up in a small town outside Delhi India. Inspired by a tinkering father, Tara wanted to be an aerospace engineer. After a master's degree at Boston University, Tara launched into a Ph. D. at...