Five things we learned about education in Indiana (and Evansville!)
Evansville’s Signature School was ranked the most challenging high school in the United States
On Friday, our MDLF Fellows were focused on a double theme of Evansville and education. They got to meet virtually with Signature School President Robert Koch II, Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett, and University of Southern Indiana President Dr. Ronald Rochon. We spent an afternoon with them, learning about the current state of education in Indiana and thinking about ways we could improve it.
After our discussion, our Fellows shared their top takeaways - the facts, trends, or insights they found most important. You can read a summary below:
Education reform is most successful as a partnership between educators, government, parents, and students. Servant leadership, transparency, and accountability help create the trust that’s needed to make partnerships work.
“If you’re not keeping score, you’re just practicing.” Or, as Jeb Bush said, “what’s measured is treasured.” Meaningful improvements can’t come without metrics to aim for.
“Charge the ground balls.” To solve really difficult problems, you have to attack the source of the issue and shouldn’t aim for incremental changes around the edges. And complicated issues with multiple problems have multiple causes to attack. This requires a thick skin, which is why it helps to remember that “dogs don’t bark at parked cars.”
Successful education efforts are an economic development tool and a talent attractor. We heard of several instances of individuals moving to Evansville to attend Signature School, for example. A consistent theme this year has been the interconnected nature of health, education, and economic development. Friday was no exception.
It’s better to make errors of commission rather than omission. Proactively trying to solve a problem and then failing is still a better outcome than ignoring a problem or letting it get worse. Default to action.
Our Fellows are already thinking about how they can incorporate what they learned into their project ideas. How can you put these findings to work in your own field?