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This podcast highlights developing trends in K-12 education, postsecondary and lifelong learning. Each week, Getting Smart team members interview students, leading authors, experts and practitioners in research, tech, entrepreneurship and leadership to bring listeners innovative and actionable strategies in education leadership.
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Steward Stories: Spotlight on Providence After School Alliance
What does it look like when a city becomes a learning campus? The Providence After School Alliance spent two decades answering that question, aligning schools, city agencies, and community organizations so young people could access high-quality learning far beyond the school day. This Steward Story traces PASA's evolution from a bold response to a local crisis into a nationally recognized model for ecosystem building, credit-bearing out-of-school learning, and the kind of coordination that outlasts leadership transitions. For education leaders navigating fragmented systems, PASA's journey is both a blueprint and a call to action.
Steward Stories: How Heart of Oregon Corps Turns Service into Careers
What does it look like when three community believers spend 25 years refusing to give up on young people? Heart of Oregon Corps has built a tri-county workforce and learning ecosystem that connects youth facing the greatest barriers to paid work, credentials, and real careers. This Steward Stories spotlight examines the trust, time, and relentless community-braiding that make HOC a model for ecosystem intermediaries everywhere. Education leaders will find transferable lessons in partnership design, sustainable funding, and what it means to build pathways that dignify rather than sort.
What Ecosystem Stewards Know That System Leaders Don’t — Yet
What does it actually take to steward a learning ecosystem, and how is that different from leading a system? Karen Pittman and Merita Irby spent a year inside four community intermediaries, including CommunityShare, the PAST Foundation, and Heart of Oregon Corps, and surfaced three prerequisites that change everything: trust, time, and idea translation. This post is essential reading for any leader working to connect education, youth development, and workforce systems into something greater than the sum of their parts.
What AI-Enabled Education Actually Looks Like When It’s Working for Workforce Students
How AI can make workforce pathways visible through competency records, labor market alignment, and clearer student-to-job outcomes.