Episode 1: How Do We Know Which Districts are ExtraOrdinary?
Anyone who wants to identify “extraordinary districts” has a daunting challenge: The United States has more than 14,000 school districts and they vary widely. Some school districts have hundreds of students; some have hundreds of thousands. And school districts have a dizzying array of demographics, assessments, and funding structures. How can you reasonably compare one district against another? In this episode, you’ll hear how one of the nation’s leading education researchers has solved that problem, and how his solution provides the basis for our podcast.
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Episode 2: Lexington, Massachusetts. At the Top of the Nation
Sitting in the top spot in the country is Lexington, Massachusetts, a school district that, 10 years ago, would not have occupied such a lofty position. In this episode, you will hear from some of the people who did the work to move Lexington forward.
Part 1: Secrets of a High-Performing District
Part 2: Where Do You Start? Everywhere!
Part 3: Building a Learning Community
Episode 3: Steubenville, Ohio. In the Heart of the Rustbelt
Once a thriving small city, Steubenville, Ohio has been devastated by the loss of manufacturing jobs. Many school districts in similar circumstances have seen academic achievement plummet. But in Steubenville’s school district, third and fourth graders are performing at levels toward the top of the country, making it the highest performing high-poverty district in the nation.
Part 1: Changing the Path of Poverty
Part 2: A Program in Service of a Vision
Part 3: Tackling the Secondary Drop-off
Episode 4: Chicago. The Work of a Generation
Which large urban school district “grows” its kids the most academically? Would you believe Chicago? That’s right: Chicago’s third graders now score way below national average, but its eighth graders score about at roughly the national average. That means that kids “grow” about 1.25 academic years every calendar year. No other large or even moderate-sized district can boast the same kind of academic advancement through the years. Not bad for a city that, 30 years ago, the then-U.S. Secretary of Education called the “worst” school district in the country. Listen to this episode to find out how Chicago made such a drastic improvement.
Part 1: Nowhere to Go But Up
Part 2: Stumbling Toward Some Answers
Part 3: On the Ground
Special Edition: ExtraOrdinary Districts Need Extraordinary School Leaders. How Do We Get More of Them?
One of the key lessons that emerged in Ed Trust’s podcast, “ExtraOrdinary Districts,” is that improvement requires leadership at the school level.
This, of course, has been well established in the research literature. But that just raises the next question: If principals are key to school and district improvement, then how do we ensure that principals are prepared to improve schools so that all children — no matter their background — learn and succeed?
That is the subject of a fascinating conversation among three leaders of principal preparation programs and the executive director of the University Council of Educational Administration, who discuss how to create more “extraordinary school leaders.”