Michael and Diane welcome Stacey Childress, Senior Education Advisor at McKinsey & Co., back to the show to discuss the world of education philanthropy. Stacey draws from her previous experience at New Schools Venture Fund and the Gates Foundation to analyze troubling trends in the sector. The three discuss what funders and operators can do to grow…

Michael and Diane welcome back Stacey Childress, Senior Education Advisor at McKinsey & Co., for the second episode of a two-part series on the challenges facing K-12 education and promising strategies for addressing them. In this episode, each of them makes the case for one high-impact reform to address the challenges laid out in the previous epis…

Michael and Diane welcome back Stacey Childress, Senior Education Advisor at McKinsey & Co., for the first of a two-part series on the challenges facing K-12 education and promising strategies for addressing them. In this episode, they outline the nine roles of K–12 education systems in the U.S. and the problems they face in playing each. They high…

Stacey Childress, Senior Advisor on Education at McKinsey, joins Michael and Diane for the second episode of a two-part series weighing in on Marc Andreseen and Ben Horowitz’s recent analysis of higher education. In this second episode, they react to the venture capitalists’ proposed solutions for higher education. They evaluate the investors’ reco…

Michael and Diane welcome Stacey Childress, Senior Advisor on Education at McKinsey, to the podcast for a two-part series weighing in on Marc Andreseen and Ben Horowitz’s recent analysis of higher education. In this first episode, they react to the venture capitalists’ diagnosis of the problems with higher education. They give their vote of where t…

Michael and Diane discuss why America’s approach to math class isn’t adding up. They analyze the outcomes produced under the status quo, consider the current system’s alignment with workforce needs, and propose a personalized approach to teaching each student the math that is meaningful for their path. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-e…

Michael and Diane sit down with Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, a cognitive scientist, researcher, professor, and author focused on intelligence, creativity, and human potential. They discuss the importance of placing all students – not just those that are in gifted or special education programs – at the center of their learning. They also apply nuance to…

Diane discusses Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) with Antonio Saunders, co-founder of Kriseles, a DEI and Business Innovation services provider. The two consider the growing opposition to DEI in American politics and media, Antonio’s innovative and unapologetically hopeful model for DEI, and their collaboration to leverage that model to drive…

Diane and Michael are joined by Ryan Craig, author of Apprentice Nation to discuss the earn-and-learn alternative to the traditional tuition-based higher education pathway. They address the current state of apprenticeship in the US, its role in an increasingly automated world, and how to incentivize the development and use of apprenticeship program…

Diane and Michael look back on the past three episodes of Class Disrupted’s fifth season through the lens of disruption. They discuss the future of AI education tools; consider the opportunities and challenges as the Carnegie Foundation embarks on creating innovative new assessments with ETS; and highlight how Americans’ ideas of a success are chan…

Timothy Knowles, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, joins Diane and Michael to discuss how this historic foundation looks to drive the future of American education. On K–12, they discuss why Carnegie has partnered with ETS and why they are seeking to assess a broader array of skills—not just focus on the standards…

AI expert and Minerva University senior Irhum Shafkat joins Michael and Diane to discuss where AI has been, where it’s going, and the rate at which it’s moving. We also discuss the many forms the technology takes, its implications for humanity, and, of course, its applications in education – as told by a student. https://archive.org/download/d63c46…

Todd Rose returns to share compelling findings about what Americans do and don’t want from their schools, institutions and lives. Spoiler alert! They are rejecting fame, fortune and higher ed as markers of success, and instead want community and financial security. Michael and Diane explore what this might mean for schools. https://archive.org/down…

Back for Season 5, Michael and Diane catch up on their summers and book reading, Diane’s new entrepreneurial venture, PointB, the season ahead—and then offer some hot takes on the reading wars and Lucy Caulkins, four-year college-for-all, and education jargon. https://archive.org/download/62331-future-of-education-class-disrupt-ep-1-v-2/62331_Futur…

In their last episode of the season, Diane and Michael delve into the role fear and anxiety may be playing behind the community outbursts that have bedeviled so many school leaders. And they suggest a path forward that doesn’t seek to show why one side is wrong, but instead starts with deep listening and empathy. https://archive.org/download/class-…

Michael and Diane grapple with a concept that pushes their understandings of the test-and-learn approach in education innovation and see the beauty of embracing a child-like approach to learning and exploring boundaries to understand where new ideas work—and maybe more importantly, where they break. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-4-…

Michael and Diane talk about one of the biggest things to come out of the pandemic: the groundswell movement from parents and others to finally teach children how to read in line with the best evidence from the science of reading. And they express misgivings of whether a legislative approach that bans certain teaching approaches will ultimately hel…

In the aftermath of horrific school shootings across the country, schools have instituted a range of security measures. Diane and Michael argue that these steps likely have a cost in eroding mental health, which may further contribute to violence in schools and society. The point isn’t that schools shouldn’t “harden” per se, but that these steps ar…

With declining enrollment becoming a staple in American higher education and more students and families souring on the expense of a college education, Diane points out that this can an opportunity—and then puts Michael to the entrepreneurial test in designing what a college alternative might look like. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s…

As Diane Tavenner prepares to step down from 20 years of founding and leading Summit Public Schools, she shares some of her lessons from which educators, policymakers, and parents can all learn. Hint: It’s all about the students. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-4-e-13-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S4%20E13%20final.mp3 Episode transcript:…

All too often money is a taboo subject in schools—or at least any discussion that doesn’t talk about how schools need more of it. In this episode, Diane and Michael think through how that limits innovation on behalf of students and what could change the culture and actions of schools around this subject. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted…

Diane updates Michael on the latest progress on one of Summit’s pilots from this year and the two then delve into a discussion of how to bring the new innovation that’s working and scale it up inside the organization—and what to do about the old processes that are no longer needed. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-4-e-11-final/Class%2…

Back from their trips abroad, Michael and Diane reflect on what they saw in the countries and what that means for shaping educational opportunities for each and every child worldwide. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-4-e-10-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S4%20E10%20final.mp3 Episode transcript: class_disrupted_s4_e10Download…

Michael and Diane dig deep in analyzing the big acquisition of NWEA in the assessment market by Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt, one of the largest curriculum players in the United States. They conclude that we should be skeptical that the acquisition will improve teaching and learning for students or that it will pay off as much as HMH might like. https…

In this episode, Diane reflects around why failure in life and schools is hard—and she and Michael dissect why it’s nevertheless important. Diane shares how, after a set of tests don’t work as planned, her schools then chart a pivot to a new direction. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-4-e-8-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S4%20E8%20final.mp…

Diane and Michael break down the latest frenzy around artificial intelligence and education. They explore if and how ChatGPT could be an innovation in education, what would make it innovative (hint: it’s not the technology!), and how it could be a useful tool in creating better learning experiences. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-4-…

Arguably the scarcest resource in schools is people. And people are imperative for doing a pilot and innovating well. In this episode of Class Disrupted, Diane Tavenner and Michael Horn delve into how to best use people when innovating and what are the key roles that you must fill to do a pilot well. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-4…

Diane Tavenner shares with Michael Horn her excitement about a school visit she did recently in South Carolina to the Anderson Institute of Technology—which raises the question of why aren’t there more schools like what Diane saw? https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-4-e-5-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S4%20E5%20final.mp3 Episode transcript: …

Schools typically have long laundry lists of all the pilots and innovations they want to do—if only they had the time and resources. Or they have laundry lists of improvement projects that are in the works—but then the execution suffers on all of them. How should a school choose which innovations and improvements to invest in trying? In this episod…

Whether there’s a teacher shortage depends on who you ask and the definition of “shortage” it seems. In this episode, Diane and Michael welcome reporter Kevin Mahnken from The74 to provide up to date information on the data and storylines in the media. Then Diane details what her reality is on the ground in her schools — and Michael and Diane analy…

Diane and Michael reflect about how all too often educators tell them that they’re piloting something, but when they dig in, what they’re doing doesn’t actually sound like a pilot. To make this crystal clear, they put one of Summit’s current pilots under the microscope to start to break down just what is a pilot and how do you do it well. https://a…

Although classrooms are not disrupted as they were over the last three school years, Diane and Michael are back with the goal of finding a way to disrupt them. In their opening episode of Season 4, the two catch up on headlines from their summers and share a preview for how they plan to help educators innovate over the course of this season. https:…

In the final episode of season 3, Diane notes that many of the solutions to help make schools safer all focus around banning things: banning CRT, books, speakers, and more. Michael and Diane discuss what these ideas from both sides of the political spectrum share in common—and whether this instinct is actually the way to make our schools safer. htt…

In this episode, Michael brings Diane a puzzle. A reader recently pushed back on an assertion in his upcoming book, From Reopen to Reinvent, that “fixed grouping of children by perceived ability… narrows opportunities,” by suggesting that older students are in fact relatively fixed in their abilities. In turn, Diane unpacks what’s behind the statem…

As charter schools face challenges in the Beltway, Diane and Michael go back to first principles around the purpose of charter schools by revisiting the original 1992 California Act that created charter schools in the state and assess how they’ve done. They then do a deep dive into innovation theory to revisit the promise and potential of charter s…

Having returned from Germany, Diane shares what she learned about how Germany remembers the Holocaust and what it teaches its children about it so that it does not repeat its past. Michael and Diane reflect how the way Germany approaches the conversation could offer a new starting point to help America move past its polarizing conversations about t…

In their final episode exploring the themes of meritocracy and education, Diane and Michael describe the rethinking that has gone on in education around the college-for-all movement and suggest a path forward that learns from the past. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-16-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E16%20final.mp3…

Diane and Michael work to dispel the myths around selective college admissions, dissect whether they are in fact meritocratic, and architect what they see as a better path forward. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-15-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E15%20final.mp3By Diane Tavenner and Michael Horn

Diane and Michael dive into the fierce debate around selective exam schools as a case study to not only identify the problems in implementation that meritocracy-based ideas have created, but also to suggest solutions that retain and amplify the benefits of meritocracy. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-14-final/Class%20Disrupted%20…

In this episode, Diane details the discussion of the history, pluses, and minuses with meritocracy through the prism of three recent books on the topic. Michael and Diane then discuss how this intersects with our K–12 education system—and set up two episodes to come about exam schools and selective college admissions. https://archive.org/download/c…

There are two dominant narratives in education right now about teachers. On the one hand, many media stories and educators say loudly that teachers are leaving in droves, which is making it hard to manage schools. On the other hand, researchers are observing that the numbers of quits don’t appear much different from how it’s been in education for a…

Michael and Diane explore what’s driving parent—and educator—frustration with schools, and how misalignment between different groups may actually create a path toward a more personalized school system where grace and gratitude return. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-11-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E11%20final.mp3…

Michael asks Diane to explain what expectations are unrealistic for schools to fulfill. Diane discusses how the layering of requirements and regulations on schools have stretched them in unintended and burdensome ways that require a redesign—not a bolted-on approach. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-10-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3…

John Bailey, education policy expert and writer of the nightly COVID-19 Policy Update on Substack, joins Diane and Michael to talk about the current state of COVID and schools, Omicron, vaccinations, testing, and more. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-9-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E9%20final.mp3…

In this final episode of 2021, Diane and Michael share three wishes for schooling in the new year that focus on personalization, grace, and renewing ESSA. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-8-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E8%20final.mp3By Diane Tavenner and Michael Horn

Diane and Michael engage in a frank conversation about the challenges students and schools are experiencing this year. Headlines have noted an increase in physical altercations. The two discuss why this is and what solutions do or don’t exist. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-7-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E7%20final.mp3…

With large numbers of teachers resigning from schools, Diane and Michael dive into what exactly is happening right now in schools, explore how it’s different from past teacher shortages, and ask bigger questions about who is a teacher and the system of preparing and developing our teachers—and suggest a hopeful path that might emerge from the curre…

In this episode, Diane interviews Michael about exactly where students are learning formally this year, what’s driving the change in enrollment in public schools, and what will be the longer term impact. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-5-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E5%20final.mp3…

In this episode Michael interviews Diane about the difference between standards and curriculum, and why she’s in favor of a common core set of standards but not a common curriculum. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-4-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E4%20final.mp3By Diane Tavenner and Michael Horn

Diane and Michael break down who decides what gets taught and analyze the specific roles of everyone from the different arms of government to teachers, parents, textbook companies—and even committees and colleges. https://archive.org/download/class-disrupted-s-3-e-3-final/Class%20Disrupted%20S3%20E3%20final.mp3…