Smart List | 60 People Shaping the Future of K-12 Education
Innovation in learning—we think it’s the most important stuff happening on the planet. As a result, we’ve updated our Smart List of the people doing the best work on the planet. Every month, we will publish Smart Lists celebrating people and organizations doing good work in specific areas of education.
Today, we are recognizing 60 thought leaders and change-makers shaping the future of K-12 education.
Nonprofit Thought Leaders Defining What’s Next in K-12:
- Russlynn Ali, XQ Institute
- Amy Anderson, Donnell Kay Foundation
- Matt Candler, 4.0 Schools
- Andy Calkins, Next Generation Learning Challenge
- Karen Cator, Digital Promise
- Stacey Childress, NewSchools Venture Fund
- See NewSchools report on innovative school models
- Barbara Chow, Hewlett Foundation
- See Barbara’s post on helping all kids succeed (and thanks to Barbara for her work at Hewlett)
- Nicholas Donohue, Nellie Mae Education Foundation
- Listen to the Smart Parents Podcast with Nicholas
- Jeff Edmondson, StriveTogether
- Ethan Gray, Education Cities
- Brian Greenberg, Silicon Schools
- Virgel Hammonds, KnowledgeWorks
- Bryan Hassel, Public Impact
- Alex Hernandez, Charter School Growth Fund
- Bob Hughes, Gates Foundation
- Neerav Kingsland, Arnold Foundation
- Robin Lake, CRPE
- Bob Lenz, Buck Institute for Education
- Jamie MacMillan, J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation
- Janet Mountain, Dell Foundation
- Susan Patrick, iNACOL
- See Susan’s trip report from New Zealand
- Mike Petrilli, Fordham Institute
- Jim Shelton, CZI (OK, it’s an impact org and not technically a nonprofit)
- See recap of Jim’s iNACOL keynote
- Andy Smarick, American Enterprise Institute
- LaVerne Evans Srinivasan, Carnegie Corporation of New York
- Marc Sternberg, Walton Family Foundation
- Tim Taylor, America Succeeds
- Beth Rabbitt, The Learning Accelerator
- Listen to Beth discuss talent development in this Getting Smart podcast
- Roger Weissberg, CASEL
- Gene Wilhoit & Linda Pittenger, Innovation Lab Network
- Check out their Assessment for Learning Projectc
- Connie Yowell, LRNG
Regional and rising nonprofit leaders:
- Chris Agnew, Teton Science Schools (Jackson WY)
- Rhonda Broussard, Beloved Community
- Derrell Bradford, NYCAN
- Kristin Ehrgood, Flamboyan Foundation
- John Fitzpatrick, Educate Texas
- Carrie Irvin, Charter Board Partners
- Teresa Poppen, One Stone (Boise ID)
- Amy Valentine, The Foundation for Blended and Online Learning
Lots of school district and network leaders belong on this list–stay tuned for upcoming Smart Lists!
More Relevant Than Ever in K-12
- John Bailey, experiencing the gig economy
- Sir Michael Barber, Pearson
- See our Smart Cities contribution from Barber on the Future of Education
- Cynthia Brown, Center for American Progress
- Tony Bryk, Carnegie Foundation
- Howard Fuller, Marquette University
- Linda Darling Hammond, Learning Policy Institute
- Michael Fullan, Canada’s gift to EdReform
- See reviews of Leadership: Key Competencies for Whole-System Change
- Scott Hartl, EL Education
- Katie Haycock, Education Trust
- Paul Herdman, Rodel Foundation of Delaware
- Rick Hess, AEI
- Michael Horn, Entangled Solutions
- Gisele Huff, Hume Foundation
- Alex Johnston, ConnCAN founder
- Suzanne Tacheny Kubach, PIE-Net
- Kim Smith, Pahara Institute
- Deborah McGriff, NewSchools Venture Fund
- Nina Rees, National Alliance of Public Charter Schools
- Andy Rotherham, Bellwether Education Partners
- Jon Schnur, New Leaders and America Achieves founder
- Tony Wagner, author of Most Likely to Succeed
- Check out the movie tour
Share your additions in the comments below, and on Twitter using #GSSmartList!
This Smart List is sponsored by Getting Smart Services, Getting Smart’s consulting division that helps schools, districts, networks and impact-oriented partners create, implement and amplify thought leadership campaigns, education initiatives, powerful learning experiences and forward-leaning strategies. Learn more about what they can do to support your education initiatives here.
Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update. This post includes mentions of a Getting Smart partner. For a full list of partners, affiliate organizations and all other disclosures, please see our Partner page.
Kristen McCarver
Thank you Getting Smart for this fantastic list! I'd like to propose the addition of Terry Ryan, Amanda Cox, and Brad Petersen of Bluum in Boise, ID. Terry is a wealth of experience and knowledge with over 20 years in the education sector; Brad and Amanda are professional educators working toward founding a brand-new, innovative school in the Boise community. I'm sure they'd love to connect with you!
Bridget Goldhahn
Please consider adding Jonathan Supovitz and Bobbi Newman of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania. Supovitz and Newman lead CPRE Knowledge Hub (CPRE hub)—the next groundbreaking initiative in Education. CPRE Hub is a unique platform specifically designed to unite research, policy, and practice through creating experiences that create new knowledge.
Theresa Carter
It would be wonderful if you'd consider Heather Staker, whose seminal research in blended learning led to the book Blended, with co-author Michael Horn. Her organization, Ready to Blend, trains people who want to faciltiate their own school transformation using the blended models. Her vision of empowering schools has the potential to deeply impact how schools best meet each student's needs.
Erik Day
We appreciated the recommendation to add Jonathan Supovitz and Bobbi Newman and their work at the innovative CPRE Knowledge Hub to this year's list.
Donate Books
Thank you for sharing this list of smart 60 People that can help in Shaping the Future of K-12 Education.