University of Kentucky College of Education
“The goal here is
systemic change.”
—Barbara Bellissimo,
executive director of The Fund
Ted Dintersmith, “Most Likely to Succeed” executive producer, talks with students and faculty
following a screening of the film in Taylor Auditorium.
MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED
Statewide Effort Seeks to Transform School Learning
The Fund for Transforming Education in Kentucky and
the University of Kentucky College of Education’s Next
Generation Leadership Academy are launching a statewide
effort to galvanize schools, businesses and communities to
quickly and effectively transform Kentucky’s public schools
into systems that promote deeper learning.
Most Kentucky students still experience public education as
it was originally designed over 120 years ago. Though changes
are occurring, they continue to be in isolated pockets of the
Commonwealth and are dependent upon the courage and
initiative of individual teachers and leaders rather than as
part of a cohesive, system-wide effort.
Together, these two organizations are heading up a
movement and calling upon educators from Paducah to
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Pikeville to transform the way they think about educating
their students.
“The goal here is systemic change,” said Barbara Bellissimo,
executive director of The Fund. “We’re creating a grassroots
movement to innovate our public education system to benefit
all students. This is a matter of equity — a moral imperative.”
“It’s about driving changes that promote real world,
meaningful learning experiences for our kids — experiences
that are just as intentional about those skills essential for
success like perseverance, problem solving, collaboration and
communication — as they are about content — and a very
personalized approach,” said UK College of Education faculty
member Carmen Coleman, who co-directs the college’s Next
Generation Leadership Academy.
The Call for Transformation was launched with a weeklong
visit from Ted Dintersmith, co-author and producer of the
documentary “Most Likely to Succeed.” After completing
a 50-state tour with the film, Dintersmith recently named
Kentucky one of five states showing the most potential to
make bold progress in the next two years and reset the way
America thinks about education.
Dintersmith will meet with various stakeholders utilizing
messages from the film to spark innovative ideas that can be
implemented in communities across the state.
In September the UK campus community was invited to a
screening of “Most Likely to Succeed” at the Taylor Education
Building. Dintersmith also addressed Kentucky school leaders
attending the UK College of Education’s Next Generation
Leadership Academy.
“The innovations Ted Dintersmith is promoting are exactly
what we help schools implement through the college’s Next
Gen Academy,” Coleman said. “And, just as we promote in the
Next Gen Academy, Ted suggests that our system of schooling
is obsolete in many, many ways and that we are far beyond the
need for incremental improvements. Instead, we believe, as
he does, that we need a transformation — a completely new
approach, and it’s a goal that we believe is within reach of our
schools. One transformative project is often an entry point to
systemic innovation.”
Launch week is only the first step in the movement. More
details will be released as communities define and begin
implementing their projects, but all materials and processes
will be shared in an online collaboration space.
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