Bryan Joffe, Director of Education and Youth Development, AASA

/ SYRACUSE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Thought Leader Panel QuestionsSummer Summit – August 21, 2017

Bryan Joffe, Director of Education and Youth Development, AASA

Anthony Kim, Founder and CEO of Education Elements

Dr. David E. Kirkland, Executive Director of The NYU Metropolitan Center of Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools

Michelle Bowman King, Associate Director of Communities, Learning Forward

Pam Odom, Executive Director of Secondary Schools, SCSD

Question for Anthony Kim: How do you define Personalized Learning (PL)? What does a PL classroom look and feel like?

Question for David Kirkland: What is your definition of Culturally Responsive Education (CRE)? If you walked into a school, how would you know it was culturally responsive?

Question for Pam Odom: You were the principal of Grant Middle School here in Syracuse leading the work to create a more personalized experience for students. What changes did you see in students and teachers?

Question for Michelle Bowman King: How can districts and schools create conditions for continuous learning to truly impact educator practice and student outcomes?

Question for Bryan Joffe: You have a good perspective nationally on districts of all shapes and sizes. Are you seeing other districts embrace PL and/or CRE? Are they seeing results?

Question for Anthony Kim: If a teacher is looking to start creating a classroom that is more personal and leverages student’s cultures, where should they start?

Question for David Kirkland: What are the essential skills of a culturally responsive educator?

Question for Bryan Joffe: Shifting teaching and learning to align to either PL or CRE is not easy – and it is often asking teachers to do something they themselves haven’t experienced. What does professional development need to look like to change both mindsets and practices?

Question for Michelle Bowman King: In what ways has Learning Forward helped districts to use professional learning as a lever to reach the goals of personalized learning and culturally responsive education?

Question for Pam Odom: What types of obstacles did you see facing classroom teachers and schools in shifting to a more personalized, culturally relevant place for students?

Question for Anthony Kim: What would you recommend to a teacher, school, or district implementing PL to keep them from getting “stuck” at any phase of implementation?

Question for David Kirkland: Many of our teachers are teaching across difference. Talk about the dynamics of white teachers teaching majority minority students and the impact on equity.