Growing Agency for the Common Good

Growing Agency – 90 Minutes with Peter Block – “Bringing people together as partners is our major task as leaders.” – Peter Block. Leaders get things done through and with others.  Leadership is about building strong relationships, establishing connections, and working towards the common good. While we may have specific tasks assigned, how we get…

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Growing a culture of learning and love

An Interview with the 2023 Washington State Superintendent of the Year – Dr. Adam Swinyard, Superintendent, Spokane Public Schools (SPS). Congratulations, Adam, on being named Washington State 2023 Superintendent of the Year! WASA highlighted your work as a champion of equity in announcing your well-deserved recognition as superintendent of the year.   Q.  How do you…

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Chief Equity Advocate

1-minute summary; 6-minute read Core Question:  How do we touch hearts and minds for good? “Everything hangs on one’s thinking …” – Seneca “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford Core Idea: What we aim at … we eventually achieve.   Words matter. Values matter. Start by defining our north star…

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One District’s Equity Journey

Puyallup’s Equity Journey  An interview with Dr. John Polm, Superintendent of Puyallup (WA) Schools. The Journey Begins Over the last decade Puyallup’s demographic has shifted.  From 18% Free and Reduced Lunch to 40%.  From 20% diversity to 47%.  Equity work began in 2017, mostly in curriculum and professional development. Professional Learning Timeline Looking back, Puyallup’s…

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Advancing Equity in Times of COVID

Doing the Right Thing The time is always right to do what is right. – MLK Jr Just too crazy Yes, we are over the top with COVID right now and racial equity is a hot topic.  AND those two together remind us that our students of color have lost the most over our two…

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Resiliency, culture and belonging for hard times

Resiliency Books What have you learned since we last met? –Ralph Waldo Emerson Five years from now you will be the same as today but for the people you meet and the books you read.  –Stanley “Tremendous” Jones Lately, my reading keeps coming back to the themes of resiliency, culture, and belonging.  Here are a…

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We All Belong Here Campaign

Extending the Equity Table … from the school board to the community: Creating a culture where all stakeholders have a seat, a voice and a responsibility for change. By Dr. Wade Smith, Superintendent; and Dr. Julie Perrón, Director of Equity and Dual Programs How do we engage our community in positive ways to talk about…

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Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity

Review: Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity: The keys to successful equity implementation By Floyd Cobb and John Krownapple When students feel a sense of belonging they will achieve. – Brenda CampbellJones For … or against Being against racism … or achievement gaps … is a start.  But the real question, according to the authors…

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More Books on Belonging and Black History

grayscale photography of whiteboard

More Books – February 2021 More Books from: Recent Reads Belonging Black History Interested in other topics? Email me @ larry@larrynyland.com or text me @ 425-418-4398.   Current Reads: Experimentation Works: The Surprising Power of Business Experiments by Stefan H. Thomke  | Feb 18, 2020 Businesses run, collectively, more than one test for every person living in the…

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Creating a culture of belonging

yellow Voubelonghere LED lights

Creating a Culture of Belonging Belonging is essential to learning. And belonging comes before achievement.  So how do we go about creating it? During my term as superintendent of Seattle Schools we studied our outlier schools – schools that out-performed in helping each and every student succeed.  We discovered that the schools that did best…

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