Editorial Staff

Blended Learning Expert Heather Staker on Student-Centered Lessons During COVID-19

/in , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Gerard and Cara talk with Heather Staker, founder and president of Ready to Blend. They discuss her work with the late Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn on disruptive innovation and schooling, as well as her book, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, and her recent publication, Developing a student-centered workforce through micro-credentials. They review the K-12 American public education system’s response to students’ instructional needs before and during COVID-19, the benefits and challenges of digital schooling that have come to light as a result, and the dangers of returning to the pre-pandemic status quo. They talk about some lessons drawn from other countries on digital and blended learning for American policymakers and educators. Staker also explains the benefits of diverse approaches to content mastery, including one-on-one mentoring, and opportunities for students to work both independently and collaboratively.

Stories of the Week: Declines in science scores from the 2019 administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, especially pronounced among lower-performing students, could point to struggles with reading comprehension. In Illinois, Governor Pritzker is threatening to significantly reduce state tax incentives for donations to the ‘Invest in Kids’ tax credit scholarship program, which has helped 22,000 low-income children attend private schools.

The next episode will air on Wednesday, June 9th, 2021 at 12 pm ET with guest, Dr. Glenn Loury, the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Economics at Brown University.

Guest:

Heather Staker is the founder and president of Ready to Blend. She is co-author of the Amazon bestseller Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, as well as The Blended Workbook and the popular report How to Create Higher Performing, Happier Classrooms in Seven Moves: A Playbook for Teachers. Her latest publication is Developing a student-centered workforce through micro-credentials, published by the Christensen Institute. Heather has been a featured presenter in hundreds of radio, television, and live events worldwide and in legislative hearings in the United States as a spokesperson for student-centered learning. As the founder of Ready to Blend, Heather leads a team of 150 facilitators in the United States, Middle East, and South America who have been certified to deliver blended-learning workshops to their teachers. Prior to this role, Heather was a senior research fellow for the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation and a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Company. She served for one year as the student member of the California State Board of Education during Governor Pete Wilson’s administration, taught U.S. history as a teaching fellow at Harvard College, founded a co-op preschool, and marketed Oil of Olay for Proctor & Gamble. She holds a BA magna cum laude in government from Harvard University and an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School. She is the mother of five children and lives in Austin, Texas.

Tweet of the Week:

News Links:

NAEP Science Scores Down for Fourth-Graders, Flat for Older Students; Are Reading Challenges to Blame?

https://www.the74million.org/article/naep-science-scores-down-for-fourth-graders-flat-for-older-students-are-reading-challenges-to-blame/

IL school choice advocates push to keep tax credit scholarship program alive

https://www.wcia.com/illinois-capitol-news/school-choice-advocates-push-to-keep-tax-credit-scholarship-program-alive/

Get new episodes of The Learning Curve in your inbox!

Recent Episodes:

U-Pitt.’s Marcus Rediker on Amistad Slave Rebellion & Black History Month

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Alisha Searcy interview historian Marcus Rediker, Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh and author of The Amistad Rebellion. Prof. Rediker explores the 1839 slave revolt aboard the schooner La Amistad. He recounts the leadership of Sengbe Pieh (Joseph Cinqué) and the wider history and human toll of the transatlantic slave trade. 

Notre Dame Law Assoc. Dean Nicole Stelle Garnett on Catholic Schools & School Choice

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Alisha Searcy interview Nicole Stelle Garnett, Associate Dean and John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School, and a national expert in education law and school choice. Dean Garnett discusses the vital role Catholic education plays in fostering faith, community, and the pursuit of “the true, the good, and the beautiful.” She explores the challenges posed by the decline of Catholic schools in urban areas, as outlined in her book Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance in Urban America, and highlights policy solutions such as expanding educational choice options to support Catholic school families.

Alexandra Popoff on Vasily Grossman & Holocaust Remembrance

In this special Holocaust Remembrance Day episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and the Heritage Foundation's Jason Bedrick interview Alexandra Popoff, a former Moscow journalist and acclaimed biographer. Ms. Popoff delves into the life and legacy of Vasily Grossman, a 20th-century Jewish Soviet writer and journalist. She explores Grossman's transition from chemical engineering to writing, influenced by his Jewish heritage and the historical context of the time.

Stanford’s Lerone Martin on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & the Civil Rights Movement

In this special MLK Day episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Prof. Lerone Martin, Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professor at Stanford University and Director of the MLK Research and Education Institute. Dr. Martin offers deep insights into the life and legacy of Dr. King.

ExcelinEd’s Dr. Kymyona Burk on Mississippi, Early Literacy, & Reading Science

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dr. Kymyona Burk, Senior Policy Fellow at ExcelinEd and former state literacy director for Mississippi. Dr. Burk shares insights from her remarkable career in K-12 education reform. She discusses her journey from classroom teacher to leading transformative literacy initiatives in Mississippi that resulted in groundbreaking improvements in early literacy and NAEP reading scores.

Harvard’s Leo Damrosch on Alexis de Tocqueville & Democracy in America

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Leo Damrosch, the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature Emeritus at Harvard University and author of "Tocqueville’s Discovery of America". Prof. Damrosch delves into Alexis de Tocqueville’s historic nine-month journey through the United States in 1831–1832, which inspired his masterpiece, "Democracy in America".

UK’s John Suchet, OBE, on Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, & Ballets

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview distinguished British television journalist, author, and Classic FM presenter, John Suchet, OBE. Mr. Suchet explores the life and legacy of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, one of Russia's greatest composers. He shares insights into Tchaikovsky’s upbringing, his late start in composing, and the emotional challenges that shaped his career and music.

U-OK’s Dan Hamlin on Emerging School Models & Learning Loss

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dan Hamlin, an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Prof. Hamlin offers his insights on the state of K-12 education policy and reform. He shares how his academic experiences and research shaped his philosophy on education and informed his work with Harvard PEPG’s “Emerging School Models” conference.