EQT Corporation’s Post

🎓 A Film about Students & Educators Directed by Lee Hirsch (“Bully”), "The First Class” is a documentary about the journey of Crosstown High's founding class, following the students and teachers at this Memphis public high school from their first day of ninth grade to graduation. It highlights the school's mission to engage students in real-world projects, reflecting on the challenges and triumphs of implementing a student-led, creative teaching methodology. Crosstown High was designed by parents, teachers, students, and other community members in Memphis to take a different approach to education and to heal their city’s long history of racial segregation with a diverse-by-design system for recruiting students all over Memphis, making education more equitable for all. 💡 Why This Matters for Educators “The First Class” closely follows students and teachers alike. But what sets this film apart and makes it so important is that we see the whole story of a school–its design, learnings, and impact. The English and social studies teachers co-teach a project where students interview local refugees and then show their learnings in various presentations for the community to explore. The science teacher challenges her class to figure out ways to sustain life on Mars, and when students question their learning, she helps them discover their growth. Moreover, we witness the school’s evolution before and after the Covid pandemic’s shutdown. It’s heartening to see Crosstown High renew its spirit of innovation when educators need it most, and how much this learning style means to the students who thrive at Crosstown. "The First Class" is more than just a film; it's a mirror reflecting the potential of our high schools. It challenges us to rethink the boundaries of our classrooms and curricula, encouraging a learning environment where students are not just learners but creators, innovators, and problem solvers. https://lnkd.in/g-hCQJ26

I am really amazed this is free! Awesome lineup of speakers and topics from the Smithsonian Institution for educators!! For my #sustainability educators and #GreenSchools, check out the following sessions you can attend virtually for free: 💚Educating for sustainable development: a teacher’s perspective 💚Inclusivity in environmental education 💚Environmental justice: leaders through community 💚Stories of women in STEM 💚Youth as agents of change in their community 💚Cross-content approaches to youth climate action

I’ve had such an incredible crash course in the power, possibility and urgency of inclusive R and D for education. One of the most striking things I’ve learned since I joined Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) is that educators often find ourselves stuck between competing incentive structures. On one hand there is an incredible academic network whose ideas, research and knowledge is essential but whose incentives are often geared towards publication and knowledge generation. And on the other pole is tech enabled tools and companies - which often provide essential services but whose incentives are tied to scale and engagement. While these two are essential to the future of education they are also insufficient. The Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) is building a new incentive architecture in which incredible partners like Andres Bustamante, Kreshnik Begolli and their incredible team can find the time, space and support to ask different questions and find new ways to the answers. This is essential to the future of education and they are a headlight in the work of what doing things differently might look like.

For many high school students, summer learning is a critical time to get back on track to graduate. Some districts are reimagining the traditional credit recovery model by combining academics with enrichment activities to help students learn and grow. This new Summer Snapshot digs into how Manchester Public School District in Connecticut and Oakland Unified School District in California are doing just that and seeing results. Read our new snapshot to learn more: https://bit.ly/4fKDgPI

It has been one of the coolest projects I’ve been a part of this past year - taking hold of that “first movers advantage” and helping to pilot a cohort designed for infusing purpose into your daily work was not something I saw coming back in June. I have learned a lot from my colleagues through this process, and Joe Mankowski is nothing short of a maximizer. When it comes to being a connector, Joe is a PRO. #leadershipdevelopment #purposeinhighered #wholepersonformation

I’ve had such an incredible crash course in the power, possibility and urgency of inclusive R and D for education. One of the most striking things I’ve learned since I joined Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) is that educators often find ourselves stuck between competing incentive structures. On one hand there is an incredible academic network whose ideas, research and knowledge is essential but whose incentives are often geared towards publication and knowledge generation. And on the other pole is tech enabled tools and companies - which often provide essential services but whose incentives are tied to scale and engagement. While these two are essential to the future of education they are also insufficient. The Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) is building a new incentive architecture in which incredible partners like Andres Bustamante and Kreshnik Begolli and their incredible team can find the time, space and support to ask different questions and find new ways to the answers. This is essential to the future of education and they are a headlight in the work of what doing things differently might look like.

High-quality summer learning programs can improve academics, boost attendance, and raise graduation rates. This documentary short highlights how the Akron, Ohio and Woodward, Oklahoma school districts have created positive summer experiences for students: https://bit.ly/47Ai7Cp

What can your summer program do to combat these barriers?

6 years ago. I stood in this exact room. Eagerly awaiting for a great turnout. I was hosting one of my first public teaching events at the library in my hometown. Taking an AP computer science class in high school, I felt like I had learned so much. I wanted to share it. As a 15 year old, I thought there would be so much demand for my teaching event. I was worried about coordinating enough chairs in a large enough room with the librarians. I thought getting in front of an audience was as easy as posting two small black and white flyers on the library bulletin that I asked my dad to print the weekend before. Hint: probably by the time I left the library my flyer would have been covered up by another flyer. But, looking back, I have always been twiddling with the idea of sharing my knowledge with people going through similar experiences. I have just been trying to do it more consistently. On a larger scale. Hoping to have a deeper and more profound impact. So, when a high school student reached out to me to speak at a “Ted Talk” that they were hosting, I happily raised my hand. I made the one hour drive because I knew, that’s what I would have wanted. It was a full circle experience. I was so excited to see how courageous these high school students were to organize a speaking event and reach out to me and other students to put on the show. I also was able to reflect. On just how much things have changed. 6 years ago, I was bummed when the room was not filled. In fact, there was only one student. And, the boy’s father. At the start of the teach-in, I felt like I failed. Total embarrassment. Yet, I left that room feeling a sense of excitement. Even though I had only taught one student. Sure, maybe I didn’t get the reach that I wanted. But look, the excitement that boy felt writing the simple “Hello World” lines of code was more than enough for me. I walked out after that 2-hour session feeling energized. I walked out with the biggest take home. Starting off we need to do things that are not scalable. That don’t initially make sense. Fast forward 6 years, I have had the opportunity to speak in front of groups of hundreds of people older than me. Write on a daily basis to hundreds of thousands. Scale came by doing the small non-scalable things at the start. If there is one thing I wanted the students to take away from my talk… I was consistent. More consistent than my friends who came and went. Who told me I could or I couldn't. I just showed up longer, eager to make a difference. *** P.S. look at the focus of these guys, just awesome! DropoutEdu writes about finance and business mindset. Join our minute newsletter for quick insights dropoutedu.com/newsletter/

🗣 "There must be a holistic support system that addresses each student's unique needs and challenges." 👂 Listen to Winnie Zhang, Vice President of Media at Williams Senior Center Tech Tutoring and member of Chegg's Student Advisory Council, as she shares her thoughts on improving educational equity for students worldwide. 🤔 What strategies can we implement to enhance educational equity for students across the globe? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 👇 #EquityInEducation #AccessToEducation