The Perkins Platform

School reform is often thought of in terms of school and district initiatives.  Our guest this month, Gene Thompson-Grove, will discuss how her career working with teachers and leaders to inact change at the classroom level in schools and district has made a difference.   She will also discuss the challenges to this work in the way schools are currently configured and operate. Gene Thompson-Grove’...

Our January 13 show features Dr. Kati Haycock, President of the Education Trust in Washington, DC.Kati Haycock is one of the nation's leading advocates in the field of education.  She currently serves as President of The Education Trust. Established in 1996, the Trust works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, pre-kindergarten through college.  The organization’s g...

Our December 2015 show features Dr. Seth Gershenson's research on how student-teacher demographic match effects teacher expectations. Seth Gershenson is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy in American University’s School of Public Affairs and a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA Bonn). His primary research interests are in the economics of education, specifically...

Join us for a special double feature broadcast.  On December 9, our special guests will be Dr. Gary Orfeld of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles and Ms. Abby Norman, Guest Writer for the Huffington Post and Public School Teacher.  During the first half hour, we will talk with Dr. Orfield about the status of the desegregation efforts as a matter of public policy i...

If you’re a black student or you’re poor, you’re far more likely to be punished than offered behavioral treatment when you misbehave. Electric!! - The word that comes to mind when you describe the show planned for you in November.  Our guest, Dr. David Ramey is going to discuss the findings of a recent study of more than 60,000 schools.  More details to be posted as we get closer to the broadcast...

Major media outlets have been dominated by the incident captured on cell phone videos at Spring Valley High School where a student was forcibly removed from a classroom.  Views on this incident has placed civil rights advocates, school and district leaders, student advocates, school officers and education experts at odds.  We have confirmed Dr. Jared Scherz and Mr. Curt Lavarello to participate wi...

*SPECIAL BROADCAST*It is greatly anticipated that around the date of this broadcast, we will have learned or expect any day the decision of the NY State Supreme Court on the matter Lederman v. King.  Dr. Carol C. Burris, former NY State principal and author, shares her opinion about VAM and the courts pending or expressed opinon. *Stay tuned for more details*Join us for what is guarranteed to be a...

Join us on October 14 (2pm EST), when our guest, Dr. Damon Jones, discusses the findings of a recently published study in the American Journal of Public Health. This study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation suggests that kindergarten students who are more inclined to exhibit “social competence” traits—such sharing, cooperating, or helping other kids—may be more likely to attain higher ed...

Our September show features, Dr. Jordan Shapiro from Temple University in Philadelphia. Jordan Shapiro, Ph. D teaches in the Intellectual Heritage Program at Temple University, where he's also the Associate Director for Digital Innovation for the College of Liberal Arts. He is a Forbes' leading columnist on global education, game-based learning, kids and culture. An internationally known...

Our guest in August is Dr. Camille Farrington - Senior Research Associate, Consortium on Chicago School Research, will discuss her research on urban high schools.  She will discuss the psychological and systematic barriers to success and the ways we might redesign these schools for greater success with adolescents.  Given that the model we currently use is more than 100 years old, she proposes som...

In today's show, Dr. Perkins will discuss his framework for improving school experiences around the globe.  Over the last 15 years, Dr. Perkins has traveled extensively discussing school climate and educational contexts.  He is a respected expert on educational design and innovation and has been a consultant in the Republic of South Africa, Brazil, China and Thailand.   Listen in today and he...

Our current series on school improvement initiatives has focused on a variety of strategies.  All of which have required buy-in and support from a range of stakeholders including but not limited to teachers, students, parents, community members and policy developers.  This broadcast solicits the input from those on the front line responsible for the leadership of these inititatives at the building...

In April, our guest is Dr. Warren Simmons, executive director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.  AISR is a national policy research and reform-support organization that works with urban districts and communities to improve the conditions and outcomes of schools, especially in urban communities and in those attended by traditionally underserved children. Their work focuses...

SPECIAL BROADCAST!This lively and illuminating conversation about New York City’s public schools will focus on NYC’s educational successes and failures, the Bloomberg agenda and its impact, the Common Core roll out, privatization, charters, assessment, teacher quality, and what future direction lies ahead for our schools. It will feature, Mr. Eric Nadelstern (former Deputy Chancellor) and Ms. Will...

In March, our guest is the legendary child psychiatrist, Dr. James Comer.  Dr. Comer is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center, and has been a Yale medical faculty member since 1968. During these years, he has concentrated his career on promoting a focus on child development as a way of improving schools. His efforts in su...

Our February show will feature Dr. Robert (Bob) Slavin, co-founder of Success For All.  Success for All grew out of a program of research and development that started with basic research on cooperative-learning strategies. By 1980, Bob's group at Johns Hopkins University had learned how to harness the power of kids working with kids by structuring methods in which groups could succeed only if...

Conceptualized in 1948, the International Baccalaureate Programme has become widely recognized for its rigorous curriculum and evaluation process for grades 3-12.  Schools all over the world have adopted the IB program with a recent surge in interest and participation among schools in urban communities throughout the United States.  Our guests in January will discuss IB and its benefit to schools...

Mental health in public schools is a major concern.  According to HHS, the figures usually indicated for diagnosable mental disorders suggest that between 12% and 22% of all youngsters under age 18 are in need of services for mental, emotional, or behavioral problems. The Center for Mental Health in Schools reports that the reality for many large urban schools is that well over 50% of their studen...

A number of recent studies have showed a significant correlation between quality early childhood education programming and success in high school and college.    Our guests on November 13 (2pm) will talk about what children need to know and be able to do for school success. Clarisse Mendoza is the Deputy Chief of Academic Affairs for the UNO Charter Network in Chicago, IL  Prior to her work at UNO...

There is a national debate currently underway among k-12 policymakers, leaders, teachers regarding the usefulness of the common core standards initiative. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort that established a single set of educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English language arts and mathematics that states voluntarily adopt. On October 16, we...

The September (9/18) broadcast features, Nancy Meador, President - National Association of Elementary School Principals. Nancy most recently served as principal for Madison Middle School in Nashville, Tennessee, has enjoyed a long career in education, serving in elementary and middle schools as a principal, assistant principal, classroom teacher, and as executive director for learning support serv...

On our 1-year anniversary, we have a special guest on Perkins Platform:  Dr. Henry Levin - William Heard Kilpatick Professor of Economics and Education at Teachers College Columbia University. He is also the David Jacks Professor Emeritus of Higher Education and Economics at Stanford University where he served from 1968-99.  Professor Levin is the director of the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in...

As the Perkins Platform wraps up its first year of programming, Dr. Perkins will spend the next installment reflecting on the year of events in education and its impact on leadership.  He will offer his critical perspective on policy and practice strategies for consideration by the education community.  Join us for a solutions-based expert opinion on improving education outcomes. Dr. Perkins is th...

Our June 19 (2pm EST) broadcast will feature a group of innovative leaders who have been at the forefront of designing and implementing new public and charter schools.  The leadership task for these new enterprises is an awesome responsibility.  Engaging communities and inspiring the instructional staff is only a small portion of what is necessary for success in these new schools.  Our panel have...

Our guest on May 15 is Dr. Elaine Weiss, National Coordinator-Broader, Bolder Approach (BBA) to Education Campaign at the Economic Policy Institute.  She is co-author of a ground-breaking report on the impact of test-based teacher evaluations in DC, NYC and Chicago. Some of the Key Findings:     - Test scores increased less, and achievement gaps grew more, in “reform” cities than in other urban di...