Redefining Student Success: Building a New Vision to Transform Leading, Teaching, and Learning

by Ken Kay, Suzie Boss

Overview

Be the leader of a fresh, bold, enduring vision of education for your district or school. 

The future of learning has arrived, and it requires bold educational leadership and a dramatic redefinition of what it means to be a successful student today. 

Redefining Student Success invites you to lead this transformation with audacity. It engages leaders with the concepts and actions needed to reimagine schools, address inequities, and help today’s students develop the skills they need for personal, economic, and civic success. This vital guide supports transformative leadership with 

• Concrete guidance on how to create a Portrait of a Graduate and Portrait of an Educator which will help ensure teachers have a unified vision for professional growth and student success.
• Reflection prompts that help you recognize your strengths, spark discussion among stakeholders, and identify next steps for inspired action.
• Compelling examples of students already engaged in creative, self-directed problem-solving around issues that matter to them and their communities, together with stories that illustrate how districts and schools have arrived at their own vision of what education must become. 
• Companion guides to 21st century learning for parents and students available online. 
  

The time is now to reset educational outcomes, sync schools with the demands of 21st century society, and meet the needs of every learner, in every community. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781071831328
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	07/23/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Ken Kay is one of the founders of the 21^st century education movement.  He served as Chief Executive Office of EdLeader21, a professional learning community for education leaders committed to 21^stcentury education. Prior to EdLeader21, he was the founding President of the Partnership for 21^stCentury Skills. He also served as Executive Director for the CEO Forum on Education and Technology. Along with Valerie Greenhill, Ken wrote A Leader’s Guide to 21^st Century Education: 7 Steps for Schools and Districts. For nearly a decade, Ken was a member of the board of PBLWorks (formerly the Buck Institute for Education).  He is a graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Denver College of Law. Active on social media (@kenkay21), he maintains a website at kenkay21.com where he explains his ongoing role as “education provocateur”.

Suzie Boss is a writer and educational consultant who focuses on the power of teaching and learning to improve lives and transform communities. She is the author of 10 popular books for educators, most recently Project Based Teaching: How to Create Rigorous and Engaging Learning Experiences and Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age, 3^rd Ed. She collaborated with award-winning teacher Stephen Ritz to tell his inspiring story about classroom innovation in The Power of a Plant. A regular contributor to Edutopia, PBLWorks National Faculty emeritus, and frequent conference presenter, she consults with schools and nonprofit organizations around the world interested in shifting to a more student-centered, innovative approach to teaching and learning. Active on social media (@suzieboss), she maintains a website at suzieboss.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Tony Wagner
Preface
Gratitudes
About the Authors
INTRODUCTION
Preparing for Challenges and Opportunities
How We Got Here
Redefining Student Success to Address Equity
The Time Is Now
PART I: EMBRACING YOUR VISION
CHAPTER 1: BE THE LEADER OF A BOLD VISION
To Construct a Bold Vision, Focus on the Readiness Gap
Adopting Your Portrait of a Graduate
Embrace a Broad and Bold Conversation
Focus on Equity
Resources for Your Equity Work
Final Reflections
Resources for Implementation
Action Steps
CHAPTER 2: BE THE LEADER OF A GREEN LIGHT CULTURE
Culture During Crisis
Know When to Reset Your Organization’s Culture
Final Reflections
Resources for Implementation
Action Steps
PART II: VISITING YOUR VISION
CHAPTER 3: BE THE LEADER OF CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVERS
Recognize Opportunities for Creative Problem Solving
Sustainability in Action
Innovation, Invention, and Entrepreneurship in Action
The Creativity, Innovation, Invention, and Entrepreneurship Challenge
Creative Problem Solving and Your POG
Final Reflections
Action Steps
CHAPTER 4: BE THE LEADER OF ENGAGED CITIZENS
Ending the Civics Slide
Get Your Community on Board
Commit to Tackling Society’s Biggest Challenges
Set a Bold Civics Challenge
Final Reflections
Resources for Implementation
Action Steps
CHAPTER 5: BE THE LEADER OF SELF-DIRECTED YOUNG PEOPLE
Take It Seriously
Take It Deep
Take It Wide
Students as Change Agents
Final Reflections
Resources for Implementation
Action Steps
PART III: BUILDING YOUR VISION
CHAPTER 6: BE THE LEADER OF BOLD LEARNING
Design Backward From Your POG
Set an Instructional Challenge
Focus on Assessment
Competency-Based Learning
Final Reflections
Resources for Implementation
Action Steps
CHAPTER 7: BE THE LEADER OF STRONG PARTNERSHIPS
Partner With Families
Enlist Business and Community Allies
Leverage Networks
Final Reflections
Resources for Implementation
Action Steps
CHAPTER 8: YOUR NEXT STEPS AS A BOLD LEADER
Focus on Your Students
Focus on Your Community
Focus on Your Green Light Culture
Your Six Next Steps as a Bold Leader
Momentum Is Growing
Final Reflections
Appendix A: Discussion Guide
Appendix B: Help Students Develop Their Competencies
Appendix C: Engage Parents as Partners
Appendix D: List of Interviewees
References

Editorial Reviews

When two authorities on 21st century skills and project-based learning join forces, the whole can be greater than the parts—and that is the case with this book. Ken Kay and Suzie Boss bring their exceptional expertise together to offer a synthesized vision that can truly transform schooling. If you’re ready to embark on the journey toward ‘future proof’ learning, this book is for you!

Co-author, Understanding by Design® framework and Leading Modern Learning - Jay Mc Tighe

Fasten your seatbelt! This book brings clarity and insight to education priorities that prepare students for their futures, and pragmatic guidance for how schools can fulfill this promise. Grounded in decades of field expertise, the authors offer a powerful education North Star of immense value to educators, parents, and concerned citizens around the globe.

Founder, What School Could Be, Author, What School Could Be - Ted Dintersmith

Ken Kay and Suzie Boss are veteran edu-leaders in our march to transform K–12 learning. In Redefining Student Success, they give school leaders a powerful, detailed, and ready-to-use set of tools to move beyond the ‘why’ and on to the ‘how’ of school change. The book provides a cornucopia of examples from schools, leaders, and teams that are already well on the way.

Chief Provocateur, Author, Thrive - Grant Lichtman

Ken Kay and Suzie Boss have created a practical path that has the potential to transform American education. It includes an inspiring vision, vital components of change, and a realistic path forward. It is the long, overdue bridge from ideas to implementation. Redefining Student Success supports teachers and leaders in their journeys to create modern, personalized education for all students.

Superintendent, Humble ISD, Texas - Elizabeth Fagen

The vision of education needs to change and to make that happen, it must engage the community in a robust conversation about what our students really need for college, life, and career. Ken Kay and Suzie Boss’s book takes the premise that our new vision of education needs to be rooted in our communities and shows us what is possible as we build that vision and allow it to take root deeply in every phase of education. It turns out when the community is engaged in developing the vision, they become co-owners and help light the path for students to obtain the skills, mindsets, and dispositions they need to be successful.

Executive Director, Ford Next Generation Learning - Cheryl Carrier

Ken Kay has long been a significant thought leader and contributor to advancing 21st century education. In this new book, Kay and Suzie Boss offer powerful stories of school system leaders engaged in 21st century, deeper learning and how the changes made have positively impacted young people. Their amazing examples of real work in districts across the country are inspiring!

President and CEO, Battelle for Kids - Karen K. Garza

What if you could design schools where students were passionately invested in the learning process and in the meaningful outcomes of that process? The good news is you can. With powerful examples, reflection, and action tools, Ken Kay and Suzie Boss show us how to engage parents, teachers, students, and leaders in a critically important conversation about what learning must look like now and for our future.

Superintendent, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, Virginia - Aaron Spence

Ken Kay and Suzie Boss have both made so many helpful contributions to innovative learning and teaching. I love that they have teamed up. The strengths of this book are the specific strategies that help educators translate their visions for learning into concrete, actionable structures. The ‘field trip’ examples from schools across the country and the Portrait of a Graduate connections are fantastic!

Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Colorado, Denver, Founding Director, CASTLE - Scott Mc Leod

We must reconsider what we’re working towards in education and reorient towards a purpose that’s relevant for today’s world, with all its challenges and opportunities. Redefining Student Success is an incredible gift—it’s a roadmap for educators and other stakeholders seeking to develop a shared vision of the capabilities students (and educators) need to develop so they can shape a better future.

CEO & Co-founder, Teach For All, Founder, Teach For America - Wendy Kopp

Ken Kay and Suzie Boss bring home the point that leadership matters in promoting transformational change in school organizations. I love the ‘ask yourself’ sections of this book! They pose critical questions for reflection on the myriad ways in which education practitioners
have worked to implement change in our nation’s schools.

Superintendent, Akron Public Schools, Ohio - David W. James

The global pandemic has created a cultural tipping point. Forced isolation has shone a spotlight on the critical need to accelerate our quest to improve the skills, knowledge, behaviors, and dispositions that will shape and prepare students for jobs, home, and societal responsibilities. With the imperative decisions school systems are making, Ken Kay and Suzie Boss provide a treasure trove of tools on behalf of district leaders who are working diligently to create bold, equity-focused, and futuristic initiatives in order to meet the growing demands of today’s public education landscape. All children, no matter their zip codes, deserve every opportunity to turn their dreams into reality. Redefining Student Success can serve as a ‘go-to’ resource to help ensure that education for all learners becomes equitable, engaging, and authentic.

Executive Director, AASA, The School Superintendents Association - Daniel A. Domenech

Redefining Student Success makes the case for why every student deserves equal access to 21st century learning experiences and provides leaders with a set of tools and strategies to make this vision a reality.

Superintendent, Sunnyside Unified School District, Arizona - Steven Holmes

With the demands of the workplace never greater, and the need for effective citizenship never more urgent, the world demands a new generation of self-directed creative problem solvers. Redefining Student Success is the guide every leader needs to build an education system worthy of the students they serve.

Daniel H. Pink

Redefining Student Success is an inspirational reminder that education is only limited by our vision, and teaching is first and foremost an act of leadership.

Senior Director for Strategy, National Education Association - John Wright

As we emerge from a global pandemic, we have the opportunity to ‘reopen the schools of the future.’ Ken Kay and Suzie Boss provide a clear path forward for educators to solidify the best we’ve learned about 21st century education. Brilliantly written and easy to navigate, let this book be your GPS for true educational transformation.

Superintendent, Val Verde Unified School District, California - Michael R. Mc Cormick

For 20 years, Ken Kay has been the leading advocate for 21st century skills. Two decades into the century, Kay and Suzie Boss offer a timely update on what young people need to know and be able to do to thrive with a focus on creative problem solving and the addition of self-direction and civic engagement. This bold vision is a must read for any school or system reconsidering learning goals. We appreciate how the authors have incorporated sustainability, innovation, and entrepreneurship into a call for community-connected project-based learning.

CEO, Getting Smart, Author, Difference-Making at the Heart of Learning - Tom Vander Ark

Let's face it: most people know our schools can be better but they are not sure where to start. Redefining Student Success brings the steps for school transformation to life with sound advice, practical strategies, and rich stories sharing the whys and hows.

Executive Editor, Edutopia, San Rafael, CA - Cindy Johanson

Ken Kay and Suzie Boss have both made so many helpful contributions to innovative learning and teaching. I love that they have teamed up. The strengths of this book are the specific strategies that help educators translate their visions for learning into concrete, actionable structures. The ‘field trip’ examples from schools across the country and the Portrait of a Graduate connections are fantastic!

Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Colorado, Denver, Founding Director, CASTLE - Scott McLeod

When two authorities on 21st century skills and project-based learning join forces, the whole can be greater than the parts—and that is the case with this book. Ken Kay and Suzie Boss bring their exceptional expertise together to offer a synthesized vision that can truly transform schooling. If you’re ready to embark on the journey toward ‘future proof’ learning, this book is for you!

Co-author, Understanding by Design® framework and Leading Modern Learning - Jay McTighe

As we emerge from a global pandemic, we have the opportunity to ‘reopen the schools of the future.’ Ken Kay and Suzie Boss provide a clear path forward for educators to solidify the best we’ve learned about 21st century education. Brilliantly written and easy to navigate, let this book be your GPS for true educational transformation.

Superintendent, Val Verde Unified School District, California - Michael R. McCormick