104. Stop Thinking and Start Taking Action with Don Soifer and Ashley Campbell

“Think Tanks” became popular in the 1960s, and even more so in the 1980s as a way for experts to research and develop ideas for policy and change. But if we spend all our time thinking instead of taking action, what good are we doing?

 

This week on the podcast, Don Soifer and Ashley Campbell of Nevada Action for School Options are sharing how their Action Tank is actually doing the work.

 

What if we focused on meeting each individual students’ needs, instead of trying to fit kids into a prescribed system? Building partnerships is the way to do this affordably and Nevada Action has figured out how to do just that.

 

Everyone is working so hard to support families and kids, and it shouldn’t have to cost families financially to give their kids what they need. Listen in to hear how one organization is doing it right and finding ways to impact even more families.

 

About Don Soifer:

Don Soifer is President of Nevada Action for School Options, a nonpartisan “action tank” he founded in 2017 to support the growth of diverse choices of rich, high-quality and personalized educational opportunities for all students.

 

Prior to moving to Nevada, he served as Executive Vice President of the Lexington Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Arlington, VA that he cofounded in 1998. Soifer directed the institute’s education and other domestic-policy research programs. He also created and ran the Lexington Education Leadership Award Fellowship, the nation’s first national fellowship for school district leaders supporting personalized learning with technical partners Education Elements.

 

Soifer has built a record as one of the nation’s most accomplished charter school authorizers. He served an unprecedented three mayor-appointed, Council-confirmed terms on the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board beginning in 2008. He was widely regarded as a driving force transforming one of the nation’s most successful charter authorizers as it instituted systems for prioritizing quality for the 120+ schools overseen, via a new national model accountability framework, equity, transparency and responsible authorizing.  He subsequently served as a board member on the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority, appointed by the State Board of Education, from 2019-2021, during which time he played an instrumental role driving the agency’s focus on quality schools and equitable opportunity.

 

He has been a fellow with the Aspen-Pahara Institute Education Fellowship since 2018.

Soifer has also served as a strategy consultant for companies, including Fortune 100 companies, across multiple economic sectors.

Soifer’s research has been published and discussed in many of the nation’s most influential news publications and policy journals, and cited by policy decisionmakers at all levels of government, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

He has testified before the U.S. Congress on several occasions, in official hearings of various federal and state agencies and legislatures, and has appeared regularly on television and radio programs around the country.

About Ashley Campbell:

Ashley Campbell is Chief of Staff at Nevada Action for School Options. Before coming to Nevada Action for School Options, Ashley was the Assistant Director for The Pinecrest Foundation and the Community Coordinator for Pinecrest Academy, Horizon Campus. Ashley oversaw many initiatives, including teacher initiatives geared towards teacher retention and addressing the teacher shortage. In addition, Ashley worked in project development, raising funds for underserved students and student scholarships. As Community Coordinator, Ashley was responsible for implementing many programs at Pinecrest Horizon, such as annual block parties and family nights. She was instrumental in increasing enrollment by 7% in 2019.

 

Before joining Pinecrest, Ashley worked in the independent film market as both an actress and producer. Producing films gave Ashley experience in leading multiple teams, as well as overseeing projects with a variety of budgets. Working as an actress provided Ashley the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, such as Matt Damon and Elijah Wood.

 

Ashley is committed to improving education in Nevada, and firmly believes that the best way to do that is to ensure that educational opportunities not only exist, but thrive.

Jump in the Conversation: [1:36] - Being an action tank [3:08] - Making partnership micro-schooling work [6:26] - How it compares to public schools - how it looked different [9:16] - Goal of building strong ecosystems of independent micro-schools [11:10] - How funding works  [12:48] - The role of Nevada Action  [14:38] - Relationships between technical partner and host partner are important [15:30] - Be creative about getting dollars into education [17:57] - Employers can improve system - employer-sponsored partnership [18:31] - Teachers crave family buy-in and involvement [20:01] - Kids have given up on school - able to deal with sit? [20:57] - Fundamental shift  families were working so hard and struggling that they started rethinking relationships with institution [22:36] - There are people who want to help you [23:35] - Fundamental relationships really matter [25:15] - Turbo Time [28:29] - Biggest thing people need to know about student-driven learning [32:58] - Ashley’s Magic Wand [33:37] - Don’s Magic Wand [33:14] - Maureen’s Takeaways

 

Links & Resources  Nevada Action for Schools Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning by John Spencer and AJ Juliani A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream by Yuval Levin EdActive Summit Email Maureen Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools The Education Evolution Facebook: Follow Education Evolution Twitter: Follow Education Evolution LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution EdActive Collective Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids Micro-school feature on Good Morning America The Micro-School Coalition Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition LEADPrep