In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Deborah Delisle. Deborah is the president and CEO of the Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed), a Washington, D.C.-based national policy practice and advocacy organization that promotes high school transformation to make it possible for every child to graduate prepared for postsecondary learning and success in life.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Quotes:
"We cannot go back to what was. When people say, ‘We have to go back to being normal,’ we weren't normal before. And many kids didn't succeed in a system like that.”
“We really need to just pause. We need to use this time and space. It's a limited opportunity to rethink the possibilities that can exist to engage more kids more robustly—for example, to utilize their talents and aspirations and redesign how schools work, including the incorporation of personalized learning.“
“Going back to rethinking education, we have to think of ourselves as co-facilitators of knowledge and content and learning processes—and as co-facilitators with our students in mind as well, because they have some ideas about how to access information in ways that perhaps we don't even think about.”
“I will often say to people, ‘If you can't buy into that, buy into the notion that these are the kids who will take care of you when you are senior citizens. I want people who care about other people. And that's how you offer kids hope every single day. Kids need hope for a brighter future. That's what they want.”
“Let's offer [kids] hope every day. Every student, every day.”
Connect with Deborah Delisle:
Alliance for Excellent Education
Deborah Delisle's LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
Free Case Study Guide
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook
In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Deborah Delisle. Deborah is the president and CEO of the Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed), a Washington, D.C.-based national policy practice and advocacy organization that promotes high school transformation to make it possible for every child to graduate prepared for postsecondary learning and success in life.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Quotes:
"We cannot go back to what was. When people say, ‘We have to go back to being normal,’ we weren't normal before. And many kids didn't succeed in a system like that.”
“We really need to just pause. We need to use this time and space. It's a limited opportunity to rethink the possibilities that can exist to engage more kids more robustly—for example, to utilize their talents and aspirations and redesign how schools work, including the incorporation of personalized learning.“
“Going back to rethinking education, we have to think of ourselves as co-facilitators of knowledge and content and learning processes—and as co-facilitators with our students in mind as well, because they have some ideas about how to access information in ways that perhaps we don't even think about.”
“I will often say to people, ‘If you can't buy into that, buy into the notion that these are the kids who will take care of you when you are senior citizens. I want people who care about other people. And that's how you offer kids hope every single day. Kids need hope for a brighter future. That's what they want.”
“Let's offer [kids] hope every day. Every student, every day.”
Connect with Deborah Delisle:
Alliance for Excellent Education
Deborah Delisle's LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
Free Case Study Guide
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook
Hello and welcome to build momentum where we help education organizations, blow past their competitors with strategies that make an impact. We think beyond traditional press releases and generic communication tactics, and seek out big, bold ideas to create meaningful results for our clients. I'm your host, Sarah Williamson. And I've spent more than 15 years in public relations for the education sector, where our team has learned what works, and what doesn't when it comes to PR from launching groundbreaking new industry awards to landing sought after panels at the most prestigious shows. We absolutely love this stuff. But the best part is, we have an opportunity to interview some of the smartest people we know who share their knowledge and strategies or success right here on the show. If you enjoy what you hear, we would so appreciate if you please take a moment to drop us a review on whatever platform you listen. And if you want to learn more about us, visit SWPR-group.com. Thanks so much for tuning in today. Let's dive into the show. On today's episode, we have Deborah Delisle, the President and CEO of the Alliance for Excellent Education with us. Welcome, Deborah. It's so lovely to have you on the show today.
Deborah Delisle:Oh, you're so kind. Thank you. It's really an honor to be here. I'm just so appreciative of you reaching out to me.
Sarah Williamson:Well, thank you, Deborah. So the Alliance for Excellent Education is the Washington DC based national policy practice and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, particularly those who are traditionally underserved, graduate from high school well prepared for success in college work and citizenship. So Deborah, I would love for you to start off by sharing just a little bit more about the Alliance, and kind of what your organization does to support the industry with research and other resources.
Deborah Delisle:So thanks so much for that question. Yeah, the alliance will soon be calling ourselves offer Ed, as an abbreviated form, stands for really, it's an Alliance for Excellent Education, but it's also an alliance for equity, etc. So we really have focused in on our historically underserved students across the United States. And it was started about 20 years ago, and really focused in at that particular time for every student to be a high school graduate recognizing the importance of high school graduation. Obviously, with the graduation rate suddenly increasing, we have also turned our attention to both states and local practices and policies, in addition to absorbing a program called Future Ready schools. And the future ready schools really looks at how to use digital tools effectively, to meet the needs of students and to expand and deepen their learning experiences. So today, we have about 3500 school districts who have signed a pledge to be a future ready School. And in that capacity, we provide affinity groups, for example, librarians who connect together about their roles using technology and principals and superintendents, etc. And then because of that practice field, in addition to our policy field, we'd like to say that we're in work from the classroom to Congress, because we really rely on our practice field to inform policy. And so hence, we when we advocate for rules and regulations on the hill, or with the US Department of Education, for example, it's really based on what's happening in schools every single day throughout America.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, that's amazing. And I did see that what did you absorb future ready schools because I saw that recently.
Deborah Delisle:So that was part of the President Obama's administration started a program in expanding not only broadband across every school in every community, but also really placing a significant emphasis on the use of technology in schools as a learning resource and tool. And then when the Obama administration was ending, the former governor of West Virginia, Bob Wise, actually brought over that program into All4Ed and then redesign this future ready schools.
Sarah Williamson:Got it. Well, that's pretty exciting and present.
Deborah Delisle:And a lot of kudos to Governor Bob Wise, who also had served in Congress because his foresight in bringing this program over, really gave credence to the importance of blending both practice and policy together. And he was just really instrumental in that.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah. That's amazing. So, Deb, this is such an unusual time in education. Not a time that we've never seen before. So I'm curious, without your reemerging from the pandemic, and everyone is excited and celebrating, oh, wait, but then we put the brakes on that. So I'm curious, from a broader perspective, what you're seeing schools are doing to navigate this new continued pandemic and what we anticipate the school year will bring us Yeah,
Deborah Delisle:right. Right. Yeah. So one of the things I think you said it best it's just not an easy time to be an educator. You know, it's almost seeming like everybody knows what ought to happen in schools because either they bet into a school or they have a child and a school or whatever the case may be. But there are clearly several issues that are really surfacing up. Now, the obvious one is the primary issue and dealing with the health and safety of students and staff. So it's not just the physical impact of COVID, but also the emotional well being of students and the adults in the system. You know, these individuals have really dealt with isolation and remote work, etc. And many of their families have been impacted whether through a negative response to COVID, or whatever, people have lost colleagues along the way. And there's not a blueprint for these issues. And so in many ways, education leaders, superintendents and principals, they're trying to figure out these issues every single day. And unfortunately, many of them, including school boards are also caught in political battles, such as whether to mask or not to mask. So I want to reiterate, it's not an easy time to be an educator, I would say another issue is pretty clear. And it's how to accelerate the learning of all students, given what's occurred or even not occurred over the past 18 months, some virtual learning has been quite successful, as we have found out and in other cases, educators have faced a lack of connectivity and devices in their communities, there's higher rates of absence more than even pre pandemic. And there seemingly has been a lack of training for teachers who are asked literally overnight, to transition to remote learning. Most of them have done it really successful, despite all the odds. But I also want to point out that we shouldn't dismiss these past months as wasted moments in time, because kids did learn a lot time management, independent learning, etc. I also think their parents and family members learned how exhausting teaching can be. And the only other thing I'd say is, this is sort of a bias of mine. But I'm really resisting folks who talk about unfinished learning now, because it seems to be in really an absolute term to me, we always promote the notion that learning is lifelong. So the term unfinished learning, I think misrepresents the total educational experience is that for all of our kids, so I suggest that we now need to focus on the acceleration of learning for all kids, understanding where they are academically at this point in time and moving them forward, to gain the necessary skills to keep propelling them on their learning trajectory.
Sarah Williamson:I love that I totally agree with you. I think if we focus on the future, rather than looking in the rearview, and how we failed, we're gonna get pretty depressed. In that mark and Meyer, right, we need to focus on what we can do for the future. I love that. That's amazing. Okay, so Deb, a lot of people are talking about reimagining education right now. What are your thoughts on this?
Deborah Delisle:Oh, yay, yay, right?
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, exactly.
Deborah Delisle:Oh, that like so make this such as a pandemic really is forcing us to this issue, right. Um, I totally agree that this is really one moment in time to rethink learning, the how and the where, and even the why of education. And I am a big supporter that we cannot go back to what was just when people say we have to go back to being normal, we weren't normal before. And many kids didn't succeed in a system like that. So especially historically underserved kids, we cannot go back to what was because it didn't work for everybody. So I think we really need to just pause, we need to use this time and space. And it's a limited opportunity for sure to rethink the possibilities that can exist to engage more kids more robustly, for example, to utilize their talents and aspirations and redesign how schools work, including the incorporation of personalized learning, rethinking time and space. You know, it's, it's so formulated on a calendar. So how are we thinking about? Do kids always need to be in their formalized structure from a certain period of time to the end of time nine to three, eight to four, whatever it is, I think we have to rethink the role of teachers and have them facilitators, if you will, of relevant learning experiences. And most importantly, I think we really have to think about how we utilize our financial and human resources to ensure equity of opportunities for kids, providing more to those who needed the most with beyond kids becoming what I always call expert page turners in their textbook, page one, page two, page three, right. And the memorizers have facts into deeper learning experiences that really propelled kids forward, you know, with the influx of the federal monies now coming into school districts, as well as just taking a pause, if you will, to learn what we did and didn't do well over the last 18 months, can really move us forward in rethinking education as a whole.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, I think it's pretty rare that you have an opportunity to sit back and think about, what have we done well, in education, What haven't we done? Well, I mean, this is such a unique time that we have to reflect. And I just hope we use it for good.
Deborah Delisle:Oh, I'm with you.
Sarah Williamson:I know to make that great positive change. Okay, so I'm curious about trends that you see in edtech, particularly, because clearly, obviously, there's been a massive increase in use. Are there any other trends that you're seeing like more you to college and career readiness are any anything that you can share?
Deborah Delisle:Yeah, I think what I'm seeing is kind of multi pronged, right, that there's no doubt that I think as a result of what has happened over the last 18 months, with this sudden switch to remote learning that districts and schools are actually able to step back now, and not think that tech anymore is just an add on, if we have time if we have money if we have whatever. And they're recognizing the potential and power of developing and providing even a hybrid model of learning for their kids. So people are now pondering the effective use of technology as a tool, from providing online classes or courses for credit to providing academic support and knowledge acquisition through the use of technology. And I think this really needs to be an area of priority for everybody across the country, we've worked really hard at the Alliance to help expand broadband into communities. We found out last year, the numbers of kids and families not connected was just staggering. And even more importantly, what we found is that kids didn't always have access to devices. So harnessing the power of edtech to accelerate and deepen learning for all students absolutely should be at the forefront, based on even what your prior question was about redesigning, Learning and Teaching and Learning, right? So what's clear is that the use of technology cannot be pushed without investing in professional learning, also, for educators, because too often we view them as being able to just pick up that tablet or their phone, right, and use it constructively with kids. And what the past 18 months has taught us is that this is not necessarily the case, they need time to develop skills, they need to be engaged with networks of peers across our country, whether by grade levels or content areas, and they need time to share promising practices across those networks, we can't expect people to be just absolutely perfect in utilizing edtech. Otherwise, it's merely going to just become you know, the old over, you're probably too young, but the old overhead transparencies or the Ditto sheets that I know that yeah, you know, I was still a time when I was like smelling the to say walked away from the machine. But you know, we cannot use technology, the way in which we used to use ditto sheets or worksheets or whatever, we have to use it in very meaningful ways. And in many times I say now, and many times, I'll say now to folks, I'll pick up my phone and just say, you know, content is here. It's a commodity. So we have to teach kids how to access that content, and then be able to define, is it accurate? Is it not accurate? What other kinds of materials? Do I need to make a decision, for example, about a specific question in science? That's what we need to be teaching kids in order to prepare them for their future and not for our present.
Sarah Williamson:Right. I love that. I also think I mean, when you think about professional learning for teachers, it needs to be supportive, and empowering, so that they feel like this is actually making their lives easier, and not one more thing they have to do.
Deborah Delisle:Yes, absolutely. I think that's such an important point. I'm glad you bring that up. Because too often will say we'll just do A, B and C. And people are like, Well, I'm already doing like H two c. So what do I take off my plate. So we have to be able to use technology, not just to be more effective as an instructor or facilitator of learning. But we also have to do it to make our lives more efficient as possible. Yeah, and I think that's a good lesson to to train our kids. So, you know, I have seen schools many times when they offer professional learning opportunities for educators in the use of edtech. I've also seen them where they bring students in to sit side by side with the adults in those classes, because they become co facilitators of the use of tech in space. So I think we have to be very proactive in the ways that we think about it, and allow teachers and principals etc. to experiment and to be okay, if something doesn't work as well step back. Why didn't my lesson, utilizing this particular app, for example, work, and what can be done better, and especially incorporating the ideas of kids at the secondary level, you know, high schoolers, they can come in and tell you why something didn't work. So I think we really going back again to rethinking education have to think of ourselves as co-facilitators of knowledge and content, and learning processes and co-facilitators with our students in mind as well, because they have some ideas about how to access information in ways that perhaps we don't even think about.
Sarah Williamson:I know, I completely agree. And I love that idea of bringing students in. I think that when we think about micro experimentation and applying an entrepreneurial mindset to what we're doing, as teachers, I think that we will foster a different and cultivate a different environment for learning. So I I love that. Okay, so I'm curious about just trends that you're seeing in terms of over the next, you know, are you seeing less kids go to college? Are you seeing more kids take gap years following COVID? What are you seeing in general with college and career readiness right now?
Deborah Delisle:So it is a fact that fewer students are applying for colleges, and this is somewhat dispiriting to me because I don't think we've lifted up this issue as broadly or as widely spread across our country through media etc as possible, but especially in specific groups. Students low income as well as black and Latino students. And there are a number of reasons as to why and it's a growing concern. We know that 80% of good paying jobs require some type of post secondary education. And about, I guess it's about 56% require at least a bachelor's degree. So if we have fewer students applying for post secondary opportunities, particularly at the collegiate level, we're going to almost, you know, just place them in a position of not being productive as adults are not finding great satisfaction because they're struggling financially or they're struggling without the skills to actually maneuver around a growing global economy. That we also know that the difference in earned income between a high school graduate and a college degree individual can actually reach more than $1 million over the lifetime. So when you think about this an economic standpoint, within our communities and our states in our country, you're talking about people who would then have more access for buying power, if you will, for paying taxes for contributing to housing markets, etc. So in terms of a productive wage, our economy and the lifestyle of our kids as future productive adults, post secondary education is absolutely vital. Some startling statistics, so was a 7% decline in college enrollment over the last year, FAFSA completion. And I know we all anyone who has ever addressed this FAFSA application knows that don't want to even deal with it. But it's down by 270,000 students, there have been significant declines in post secondary enrollment that have been caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. But the declines include a 7% overall in Fall Enrollment, which is four times greater than the pre pandemic decline. And the story for low income students and students of color is even more concerning. So when you look at high schools, for example, who have predominant populations of those students, it's as high as a 19% decrease for Native American students, a 15%. Decrease with high schools having a majority of black students and a 14% decrease from high schools with a majority of Latino students and 11% of the high poverty high schools. So we have to play this out not just about the well being of our students, and the fact that we ought to offer hope for them as adults, but also, you know, the economy of our countries depending on this. So I think we have to and it's come up quite routinely, we have to address the enormous cost of higher education. I do support free community college, because effectiveness,
Sarah Williamson:I'm sorry, totally interrupted. Do that. But the effectiveness of higher ed to me
Deborah Delisle:Oh, my gosh, yes. Right.
Sarah Williamson:Right.
Deborah Delisle:Yes. And also, we have opportunities, but they're sporadic and inconsistent across the country. So colleges and universities are sometimes offering and redesigning how they offer their programs to reduce costs, getting away from empty for years on a campus, and this is what you do, because it's the whole experience. And while there's a lot of pointers to that is yes, that's true. Everybody cannot be on campus for four years, and perhaps going to school full time, without having access to their community needs or their family needs or, you know, offering more online classes, for example, what's particularly promising in this whole arena, though, is offering high school kids opportunities, such as dual enrollment and post secondary at options, so they can gain college credit while simultaneously earning high school credits. But we have to ensure that those opportunities are not just available for wealthier districts, they have to be available to all kids. It's an equity issue, right and create canoeing with opportunity gaps, it's just not understandable to me. So when you know, I was a superintendent of a urban district, primarily first generation college kids. And I do remember by providing an early college education experience for them and allowing them to see themselves on campus, for example, or interacting with a college professor, it could have been an intro to English class for that you would generally take first year of college. Well, the reality is, is those kids could then see themselves in a different setting with some supports without having to they could take a bus there. So they didn't have to move into a dorm for four years away from their families, while we gradually transition to them at our cost for them to get a college credit. That's absolutely critical to kids. Every kid is not born into a family that has great success in a four year college institution. I was a first generation college kid, I chose college for the wrong reasons. And it wasn't because my parents didn't care. They just didn't have the background or set of experiences themselves to figure out how do you choose a college? How do you apply for financial aid? All of those factors. So anyway, you can see I could go on and on. I'm just so inclined to provide you know, people always asked me, What's the role of a teacher? What's the role of an educator and I always answer the same thing I have for 42 years. It's to offer hope to kids. How do you offer hope to kids? You do that by building relationships with kids first, before feeding them information knowledge that you believe is important to their lives or to their future. So this building of relationships, the care of our children, the thinking of our youth as future citizens for us. And if nothing else matters, you know, I will often say to people, if you can't buy into that, buy into the notion that these are the kids who will take care of you, when you are senior citizens, right? I want people who care about other people. And that's how you offer kids hope every single day kids need hope for a brighter future. That's what they want.
Sarah Williamson:Oh, damn, that is such a powerful way to wrap this up. Thank you.
Deborah Delisle:You're welcome. It's hear me. Yeah, I'm hoping people also will go to our website office or alll4ed.org or work, connect with me or with any member of our team. Learn more about our policy and advocacy work, join our future ready Schools Network, the Alliance for Excellent Education. As I mentioned, we call All4Ed, we're available to support everybody as thought partners in the other way. So you know, what we offer to our kids tells them what it is that we value. So thanks so much for including me in this webinar and your work. And most especially to our viewers, thanks for your focus on helping every kid to receive the education and be provided with opportunities that we want for our own kids. Let's offer them hope every day, every student every day.
Sarah Williamson:That is a wonderful way to wrap this up. Thank you so much, Deb. It's so wonderful to have you. I look forward to staying in touch. And yeah,
Deborah Delisle:Please stay in touch. And thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate
Sarah Williamson:Thanks so much.
Deborah Delisle:Bye bye.
Sarah Williamson:Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the show, if you wouldn't mind leaving a review, we'd be so grateful. This helps other listeners find and learn about our show. And please reach out if you're interested in learning more about how we can elevate the leaders of your organization with our PR services. If you'd like to get even shoot me a direct email at Sarah sarah@swpr-group.com. I look forward to hearing from you and we will see you next time.