FocusED Show Notes with Guest Amy Anderson Amy starts the conversation with the fact that we need outside partners to do the best work we can on the inside. Don’t miss what she says about the time that students spend beyond the school walls and the need to engage the community to support all learners. Dr. Anderson’s work is primarily with students who are typically marginalized by the system. Joe asks Amy to go into more detail about building the ecosystem of partnerships versus the competitiveness that can ensue when resources are scarce. She talks about a funding source called “LearningDollars,” which is an innovative approach for families to access money for learning providers that exist outside of the school system. We love the concept of “MoonShot” that she mentions--curating ideas to support learners in new and different ways. Amy believes that there are amazing educators who have the capacity to codesign new projects to do better for all students. She mentions a learning lab that’s doing some of that work now. All we need is to give our educators the time and space to innovate and they will. ~ Amy Anderson We talked a lot about how the education systems are not currently designed to support all learners so the need to go outside of the traditional spaces is critical. Joe mentions a project in his own district where students are working to rebuild their own community through the use of their trade knowledge and credentials that they earned in school. Amy explains some of her background during the onset of the charter school movement, which started with her involvement with housing efforts for refugee students. We don’t have to accept the system the way it is. ~ Amy Anderson Amy talks about what she reads and the people she follows to continue her own development. One book in particular is Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux. She follows Clay Christensen’s work regarding disruptive leadership. She mentions the work of Big Picture Learning. Check it out. Amy ends the conversation with work that’s needed at the policy level in states around the country. She talked about getting a nugget of an idea on a ballot but that this type of thing is a learning experience and that power can come from a small group of people. Call to Action: Look to adjacent organizations to be able to take the load off of schools and expand opportunities for all students.