Schools Out: Lessons Learned From Lindsay Unified School District

In the past two podcast episodes we’ve envisioned what the future of learning might look like with the authors of Education Reimagined’s new paper, ‘School’s Out’. We’ve spoken with Amy Anderson, Scott Van Beck, Nate McClennan, and Oscar Brinson on what a new model of learning might mean for families and communities.

We’ve also explored the notion that learning can take place anywhere at any time, and we’ve started unpacking how technology will continue to play a role in the future of learning and work.  In our final episode on this topic, Tom speaks with Tom Rooney Superintendent of Lindsay Unified School District. Listen in as they talk about lessons learned from Lindsay Unified School District and how the community can play an active role in the future of learning.

Key Takeaways:

[:14] About today’s episode.
[1:00] Tom welcomes Tom Rooney to the podcast.
[1:09] Tom explains the origin story of the student-centered, performance-based work he’s doing at Lindsay Unified School District.
[6:06] About Lindsay Unified’s vision of meeting learners at their level and how that guarantees success.
[8:36] How Lindsay Unified’s teachers seamlessly work together and the incredible benefits of that.
[11:06] Tom speaks about the support they’ve received from various organizations and how it has helped Lindsay Unified.
[13:52] The work that Tom and Lindsay Unified have accomplished with the help of Empower Learning.
[15:30] Tom and Tom dive into Tom’s paper: “School’s Out: Who Takes Responsibility for the Education of Young People?” Tom first speaks about the role professional educators might play if the current system was reimagined.
[19:33] Tom’s ideas (from his paper) on the two new roles of personal life coaches and opportunity creators.
[22:04] Barriers and opportunities to Tom’s vision for the future of learning in Lindsay.
[24:49] Will there be any transportation barriers in Tom’s vision?
[26:55] As Tom thinks about the School’s Out conversation, he offers some practical pieces of advice for those in education could work on this week.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Previous episode: Episode 174 — “School’s Out: Engaging Families and the Community”
Previous episode: Episode 175 —  “School’s Out: Anywhere, Anytime Learning, and the Role of Technology”
Education Reimagined
“School’s Out: What if Schools, As We Know Them, Didn’t Exist?”
“School’s Out: What if School Didn’t Exist?”
“School’s Out: Who Takes Responsibility for the Education of Young People?” (Tom’s paper)
Lindsay Unified Public Schools
Gates Foundation
iNACOL
Transcend Education
Columbia University
Empower Learning

For more, see:

• School’s Out: What If Schools, As We Know Them, Didn’t Exist?
• School’s Out: What if School Did Not Exist?
• School’s Out: Engaging Family and the Community
• School’s Out: Anywhere, Anytime Learning and the Role of Technology

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