In years past, summer school has been used as a way to punish kids who were falling behind, putting them into remedial classes where there was a lot of rote memorization and dry reading crammed into a short space. While those days aren’t fully over yet, many organizations and schools are working hard to create summer school programs that are engaging and allow students to succeed on their own terms.
Imagine Learning is one such organization. Through technology, teachers can personalize learning for students and try out new modalities in summer school. And students can grow leaps and bounds in smaller classes with teachers who are more focused on their needs.
This week on the podcast, Sari Factor of Imagine Learning is sharing more about the benefits of summer school, why we shouldn’t be afraid of technology, how we can use summer school as a way to address inequity in learning, and so much more.
If you’re an educator or parent who is wondering about the value of summer school, it’s time to listen in!
Sari is the Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer at Imaging Learning.
She began her career as a mathematics teacher but soon thought of much bigger ways to impact students. Recognizing that technology could greatly transform the way students learn, she made a career move into education technology and has been working to leverage technology to help students, teachers, schools, and districts ever since.
Sari joined Imagine Learning in 2011 and has held leadership positions at successful educational publishing and learning technology companies, including Kaplan, McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin, and Everyday Learning Corporation. “I knew that I could fulfill my vision to combine technology with research on learning to make education truly student-centered.”
[1:39] Where transforming education began for Sari
[2:42] - A tech upside to the pandemic
[3:59] - First response to tech is to feel threatened
[4:57] - You can’t separate school work from work at large
[5:25] - How Imagine Learning is maximizing student learning
[6:35] - In summer school in particular, you can personalize learning in a way you can’t during the regular school year
[8:26] - Teachers can focus better in summer school
[9:45] - Personalized intervention comes into play for mastery learning
[12:54] - The gift of mastery based learning
[14:40] - Making a positive impact on test scores
[17:50] - How administrators can address burnout of year round schooling and support teachers and students
[21:21] - Summer classes can address inequity in learning
[24:48] - What learners and educators can feel less daunted about summer school
[27:36] - Turbo Time
[32:48] - Sari’s Magic Wand
[34:00] - Maureen’s Takeaways
Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools
Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
