In Conversation With … features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate.
Lu Young is director of Next Generation Educational Partnerships for the
Next Generation Leadership Academy at the University of Kentucky. The former Kentucky Superintendent of the Year discussed the work of the Next Generation Leadership Academy and its plans for the future.
Q: What is the Next Generation Leadership Academy’s mission?
A. To engage schools in what we call “entry points” – project-based learning, internships and high levels of student agency and advocacy – and provide deeper learning for all kids. For decades, schools have engaged some kids in deeper learning. Our message is that those experiences should be for all.
Q. How long has the program been in place, and how many districts have participated?
A. We are finishing our seventh year as a professional development outreach program of the University of Kentucky College of Education. Our audience is any Kentucky school or district; to date, we have touched 60 school districts and over 100 schools in those districts. This past year, we had our highest attendance ever, at nearly 160 participants. Our goal is to be in all 173 districts over time.
Q. What is a good example of deeper learning?
A. Project-based learning is a big plank in our platform. When teachers get engaged in good project-based learning, they tell us, “This is why I went into teaching in the first place.” They didn’t want to teach to a test; they wanted to engage kids in important work that was stimulating and motivating.
Q. Who participates in the academy?
A. We target superintendents, principals, assistant principals and teacher leaders. We prefer teams from schools or districts.
Q. Describe a team.
A. Typically, a team is the superintendent or a principal and key teacher leaders, who we describe as teachers who could influence colleagues. They are the teachers who are well respected and likely to encourage and engage other teachers. Also, we say pick people who are ready for this conversation, who are predisposed to our message, which is that we are never going to close the achievement gaps until we change the experience of kids.
Q. You say that the Next Gen Academy has become known as Kentucky’s innovation network. How did it gain this reputation?
A. We’ve engaged hundreds of educators, and we stay in touch with them. When we first started, we would have to go out of state to show deeper learning models. Now, we have great examples in Kentucky, Next Gen participants who are replicating these programs. We have intentionally built this as an ongoing network, so that even if educators aren’t still in the academy, they are our go-to models and serve as examples for other school districts.
Q. Do school leaders participate more than once?
A. Yes, they almost always come back two, three and sometimes four years. We encourage them every year to start with one entry point but there are so many entry points that people keep coming back. Also, in some districts one or two school leaders come each year but bring different people.
Q. How is the program funded?
A. For the first five years, a grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation subsidized the program. The College of Education continues to subsidize us but we operate on a fee for services model.
Q. What is the cost for participants?
A. We have dropped it to $1,200 per person next year. This includes seven days – 42 hours – of professional learning over the year. We also provide consultative virtual or on-site support if a school is working on a project and needs technical assistance.
Q. Is there a charge for that assistance?
A. Sometimes. If it is something we can do virtually and provide support, we don’t charge, but if we need to be on site, say, for additional training, we would charge. Academy participants get our services at a reduced rate.
Q. Do you expect budget cuts to affect attendance in the coming year?
A. We expect to be a little down because professional development budgets are taking a hit. That will allow us to have a more intimate group and go deeper. We try to customize our academies to the needs of those who attend.
Q. Why is it beneficial for the academy to be rooted in the university?
A. We can bring the experience and research of the University of Kentucky to bear. I am going to a school board meeting later in the month to share the research based around the initiative that school district is working on. We can tell them, here’s what real Kentucky educators and students have to say about the work. We can also provide information about an issue on a national level.
Q. Is access to university experts another benefit?
A. Yes, we provide access not just to the College of Education and experts on every kind of initiative in education, but we have partners across the university, for example in engineering, public health, at the Gatton School of Business and Economics. We are the liaison between public schools and these resources. These connections often result in partnerships, grant writing and other tangible outcomes.
Q. The academy also promises engagement with world-class leaders.
A. Yes. These leaders come through the Innovation Lab Network (ILN), which is run by the Council of State Chief School Officers. Kentucky was one of the original 13 states in ILN and Next Gen was an original partner. Through the network, we’ve formed strong partnerships with folks doing deeper learning work around the country and even the world.
Q. Talk about the value of networking among Kentucky educators that happens through Next Gen.
A. It was informal in the past, but we are raising the visibility of networking to make it a more formal, intentional part of what we do. We have nurtured it through site visits among schools. For example, we bring people from all over to the STEAM Academy in Fayette County.
Q. Do mentoring relationships sometimes develop as well?
A. It has happened, in an informal way. For example, the principal of the STEAM Academy in Fayette County has been to Jefferson County to mentor a principal who is starting a STEAM academy for girls. That has become one of the most powerful outcomes of the academy, so we are looking at stepping it up in a more formal way.
Q. What are some lessons Next Gen’s leaders have learned?
A. That the leadership and drive of the principal and leadership team are the locus of change. We want to make sure we are supporting principals, new and experienced, with the background knowledge and the big vision for what Next Gen learning is all about.
Q. What about the involvement of the classroom teacher?
A. We do have teachers who participate on their own, and we believe deeper learning can happen in the unit of the classroom. But to impact large, school-level change, we need a critical mass with the leadership and influence to help people understand the big vision for what deeper learning for all kids could mean and the ability to influence large-scale reform.
Q. What are some stories that show Next Gen’s success?
A. I get many invitations to schools and districts around Kentucky to come to exhibition nights, and it is gratifying to see the work put into action.
Among districts, Trigg County is the model. Travis Hamby, the superintendent, and his principals started with entry points like project-based learning and exhibition nights. Then Travis took networking to the next level. He said, “I want to expose everybody in Trigg County to these world-class models,” so he made arrangements for his folks to visit the Institute for Personalized Learning in Wisconsin and for them to visit his schools. Trigg County has taken a comprehensive approach, adding planks to its deeper learning platform over time.
Q. Other examples?
A. There’s Buddy Berry, superintendent at Eminence, who attended the first Next Gen Academy with instructional supervisor Thom Coffee. They were inspired by the conversation about breaking away from standardized, test-based curriculum to highly motivated, engaging projects. That day they sketched out a model for their district on a napkin. That led to EdHub. Buddy has the napkin framed in his office.
Q. The Next Gen mission is expanding. Can you explain?
A. We are becoming the Center for Next Generation Leadership. We will broaden our reach but also customize our support more. Next Gen Academy is a cornerstone and will be one of many aspects under the umbrella. We will work with schools in new and different ways; at this point, we don’t know exactly what that will hold. We are asking our district partners what they will need in the future and how we can evolve to be more helpful. One change already is that we now run the School Financial Management Institute, which was overseen by the Gatton School for nearly 20 years.