The Tenth Annual NewSchools Summit, “Innovating Toward Excellence: Education Entrepreneurs and the Transformation of Public Education,” must have been a fascinating learning experience for the nearly 500 people who attended!
Since its founding in 1998, the NewSchools Venture Fund has been dedicated to improving public education. They have provided funding not only to many charter management organizations (including Mastery Charter High School in Philadelphia, Aspire Public Schools in California, the Noble Network of Charter Schools in Chicago, Green Dot Schools in Los Angeles, and KIPP DC), but also to organizations that are developing and providing talented professionals for district public schools (including New Leaders for New Schools, the New Teacher Project, and Teach for America).
The report on the Tenth Annual NewSchools Summit provides in-depth coverage of the day’s program, which included presentations by:
- Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, and Ted Mitchell, CEO, New Schools Venture Fund
- Ted Mitchell described how innovation is typically not a “cool stroke of genius” but rather occurs along a four-stage path, which includes clarifying the problem, generating ideas to tackle the problem, testing and refining the ideas in a “small space”, and continuously improving and sharing the ideas that work.
- David Kelley, Chairman of IDEO, a prominent and leading design firm, who delivered the Keynote Address.
- David Kelley’s remarks focused on “design thinking,” how design thinkers approach a problem, and the critical importance of “creative confidence” in design thinking.
- Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, who joined the Summit by videoconference.
- Secretary Duncan noted that he is working to bring an entrepreneurial culture to the U.S. Department of Education.
- He also shared information and responded to questions about the Race to the Top Fund.
The Summit also included a panel discussion on “Innovation as Driver for Reform” and break-out sessions on:
- “Turning around Failing Schools: Opportunity and Challenge”
- “Design Thinking Workshop: Cultures of Innovation and Systems Challenges”
- “EdTech Debate”
- “National Standards and 21st Century Assessments”
I found the report on this Summit very informative, inspiring, and thought-provoking. Now I am thinking about its relevance here in Minnesota.
Join the Conversation: Are you inspired by any of the ideas discussed in this report? Have you used design thinking in your work? Do you disagree with any of the ideas shared in this report?
- Cindy Moeller, MCF director of professional development and member services
