Stacey Wang ’11Journal #1
Two weeks into my summer fellowship and it feels like I’ve been fighting for education reform my whole life. Education Pioneers is rapidly becoming the most exciting and incredible journey I’ve ever been on. It has completely shifted my belief and perspective on the impact one person can have on the future of our children.
Week one, day one kicked off with the Education Pioneers’ Foundations, an orientation to everything Education Pioneers, and to my amazing cohort of 43 fellow graduate students from all walks of life and studies — ranging from law to business. Education Pioneers’ mission is, “To train, connect, and inspire a new generation of leaders dedicated to transforming our educational system so that all students receive a quality education.” All of us are in the Bay Area this summer, aspiring to ensure that urban education is equitable and of high-quality. While I enjoyed the speakers, networking sessions, and workshops, I was most touched by the mix of passion, excitement, and fear everyone felt as we left the safety net of Foundations. The honest emotions, especially the fear, were inspiring because they proved that we have some skin in the game, and that we will persevere and learn how to succeed in this challenge.
Work commenced the following day, and it has been a steep learning curve, with whirlwinds of research and getting up-to-speed on the Oakland education system and its stakeholders. My summer project is to work with the Oakland Unified School District’s Office of School Portfolio Management and the superintendent on a multi-pronged approach to better understand the site-based, decision-making needs of schools. This includes looking at research and practices in other districts, as well as engaging key leaders and stakeholders in Oakland, to understand how we can strike a balance in decision-making that can provide the most optimal conditions for individual schools to be successful. Our starting point of understanding is that children don’t learn the same, and as a result, each school has a unique set of needs and requires unique, supportive conditions. A one-size-fits-all model no longer works in urban education. The end goal of the project is to provide Oakland with a deeper understanding of its schools’ needs so that OUSD can develop scalable models and specific tools to better enable school success.
My goal for the remaining eight weeks is to live up to the expectations Education Pioneers has set for me in its mission and values: to have the courage and optimism to confront our nation's education crisis, to commit to collaboration as a way to solve problems, to believe that transformational change is possible, and to have the will to take action. It’s a daunting goal to accomplish, but I’m confident with the support of my cohort, and my team at OUSD, we will make strides towards closing the achievement gap and preventing another generation of children from falling through the gap.
Journal #2
Five weeks into the project and I’m realizing why education reform is so complex, and why there’s such a need to have laser-like focus on the end goal. The more interviews I engage in, the more I learn about the struggles the schools face. If I were in those situations — working with students from difficult backgrounds and all different proficiency levels, a constant stream of evolving teachers and staff, and little resources and time to understand how to operate my school — I don’t know how I would succeed. It is extremely difficult to turn a school around. At the same time, some schools are able to do it. What is it that causes a school to succeed or fail in providing a quality education for its students?
In addition to the on-the-ground challenges schools face, the level of innovation some schools harness — in designing curriculum and structure at the school, in order to empower and enable teachers and students to be successful — never ceases to amaze me. While it’s debatable whether schools should be thought of as small businesses, certain school leaders who take that approach seem to be achieving high API (test scores), and their students are truly learning to become citizens of the world. This is a new concept for me, yet one I can understand. As a small business owner, you are completely accountable and responsible for this business that is your passion and life. The principals of these schools see themselves as being completely dedicated to the success of their students and doing anything necessary to improve the education their students receive — whether it is learning how to manage a budget, adapting the curriculum to better help students catch up to grade level, or going to Congress to try to change policy. Their work is extremely admirable and inspiring.
The most interesting aspect of this summer was the growth in my abilities. I was the analyst preparing interview guides and crunching numbers, and the project partner engaging with clients and managing relationships. I’ve learned that in education, people run lean teams. As a result, you often end up juggling multiple hats. Pushing myself to learn to juggle multiple hats has been an exciting challenge, and I’m learning how to better prioritize my workload every day. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t eat, breathe, and sleep thinking about education — it’s just that I’m learning how to focus and the importance of keeping that focus.
Education Pioneers has been a game changer in my life. It’s amazing to have weekly intellectual discussions with such a diverse group of peers on why struggles exist in education. The most difficult and enlightening moment was the Parent Fish Bowl, where parents from our cohort spoke about their troubles looking for the right school for their kids. There’s such a dearth of information about schools out there, how do parents really know what’s going on? It’s insane that parents have a limited amount of school choice, but that even with school choice, they can only access so much information. I’m extremely thankful for my new education family.
Journal #3
What a week. I was down with the flu and had a fever, and no voice all of Monday and Tuesday — all the while working on finishing up slides for my final presentation to the superintendent later that week. Luckily, my voice came back, the slides were completed on time, and the meeting with the superintendent was a success. At the end of my project, I found that schools wanted to retain or increase the amount of flexibility around staffing, budget, curriculum/professional development, scheduling, and governance. Despite the nuances that existed at each school, 90 percent of schools wanted the same things; and that data is extremely powerful to move people along in achieving change.
In addition to an amazing project experience, I have had an amazing new work family; filled with strong, talented, and dedicated education reformers. After my presentation, my manager thanked me for the thoughtful analysis and cohesive presentation. He said he now felt accountable for living up to the recommendations in the presentation, and that he was also responsible to me to ensure this work gets done. It was a great feeling on both ends: that we started with a concept ten weeks ago and now, ten weeks later, we had a game plan and structure for how to go about creating new models and tools for schools. That kind of support and excitement for my work did not exist, to this extent, in my prior jobs, and I was grateful to have had such support for everything I did this summer. After work, my new Oakland Unified School District family threw me a goodbye BBQ. I was so touched that despite everyone being busy all week with the start of a new school year, they all took time out of their hectic week to help plan my goodbye party. The evening was filled with great food, ice cream, and a tough game of bocce ball. I was completely shocked when everyone presented me with a small gift, a token of appreciation for our experience and growth together over the summer. Working in education brought the idea of teamwork and friends to a whole new level for me, and I am grateful and humbled by the experience.
After ten weeks on this project, I am completely invested in seeing it through to implementation. I understand the positive impact this project could have on the kids and the adults involved in education. It is a critical piece missing in Oakland’s current education landscape, and could truly be a solution for so many struggling schools. I’m planning to continue to work on this project through the fall as a work-study project, and I know by the end of the year, we will be able to execute our strategy and truly build a new type of school that benefits the kids of Oakland today. It’s always an exciting day in education reform.
