ExtraOrdinary Districts

Latest Episodes:

Panel Discussion of “Exposing and Learning from Expertise” Dec 02, 2019

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Panel Discussion of “Exposing and Learning From Expertise” with reading researcher Timothy Shanahan, University of Illinois-Chicago’s Steve Tozer, and Todd Hughes of the Choctaw Nation.

Lane, OK: Exposing and Learning from Success Nov 25, 2019

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A small, kindergarten-through-8th-grade district in rural Oklahoma, Lane was identified by Sean Reardon, Professor of Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University, as one of the few districts in the country that “grow” its students almost six academic years in five calendar years (Chicago, profiled in Season 1, is another). Since he identified it, Lane has improved its absolute achievement considerably. […]

Live! With ExtraOrdinary Districts – A Discussion on District Improvement Nov 18, 2019

Show notes

To kick off Season 2 of ExtraOrdinary Districts, we brought together an all-star panel to discuss school district improvement. Janice Jackson, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Harvard University’s Ronald F. Ferguson, and University of Michigan’s Nell Duke. The panel, moderated by ExtraOrdinary District creator Karin Chenoweth, had a wide-ranging discussion that went from the need for carefully designed early reading […]

ExtraOrdinary Districts Season 2 is Coming! Oct 18, 2019

Show notes

We’re excited to announce season 2 of ExtraOrdinary Districts is coming in November 2019! Take a listen to this quick preview and then subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Haven’t listened to Season 1 yet? That’s ok. Download the full season and get to bingeing!

ExtraOrdinary Districts Special Edition: The Milford 11 May 17, 2019

Show notes

In the summer after the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Delaware’s first African American attorney, Louis L. Redding and local minister Reverend Fisher met with a group of families in Milford, Delaware. “They prepared us for what we felt was the opportunity to go to an all-white school,” said Orlando J. Camp, one of 11 […]

Special Edition: ExtraOrdinary Districts Need Extraordinary School Leaders. How Do We Get Them? Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

Education Trust’s podcast, “ExtraOrdinary Districts,” illustrated that: school leaders who believe in the capacity of all children, no matter what their background, are critical to improving schools; and school leadership is a potential lever for change at scale. But that just raises the next issue: How can we ensure that all schools have principals who believe in children and understand […]

ExtraOrdinary Districts: Chicago Part 3 – On the Ground Nov 13, 2017

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Chicago Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson states that Chicago’s principal-development strategy is directly correlated to its improving graduation rates and test scores. Here, we visit the high school that she opened as principal, George Westinghouse Academy on the west side of Chicago, and meet principal Patrick McGill, who says, “The landscape of school leaders has completely changed in CPS over […]

ExtraOrdinary Districts: Chicago Part 2 – Stumbling Toward Some Answers Nov 13, 2017

Show notes

How would Chicago school district know what worked and what didn’t? With foundation help, the University of Chicago launched the Consortium on School Research, where research superstars spent years studying what was going on in Chicago schools. At the same time, Chicago foundations, nonprofits organizations, and educators focused enormous attention on improving the teaching force. Little by little, they all […]

ExtraOrdinary Districts: Chicago Part 1 – Nowhere to Go But Up Nov 13, 2017

Show notes

In 1987, U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett flew into Chicago, declared it the “worst” school district in the country, and flew home, leaving Chicago residents stunned and angry. They had known things were bad, but being declared the worst helped galvanize support for the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act, which launched a generation’s worth of work to improve the […]

ExtraOrdinary Districts: Steubenville Part 3 – Tackling the Secondary Drop-off Nov 06, 2017

Show notes

Although Steubenville’s third and fourth graders perform toward the top of the country, achievement tails off in fifth grade heading into middle school. We hear from Steubenville’s educators what they’re doing to change that. Listen to the other episodes in our “ExtraOrdinary Districts” series:

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