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# What Does Educational Success Look Like? Depends on Who’s Doing the Looking

July 30, 2014 by Kurt Bauer 0 Comments

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An executive in my office has a favorite mantra, one that has become so familiar to everybody in our company that at meetings, celebrations, conferences—really, any gathering of two or more employees—all he needs to do is mouth the first word and the rest of us chime in: “What does success look like?” It’s not all that unique or profound, but it’s still a question that gets at the core of the staggeringly enormous apple that we call education.

When will we know we’ve accomplished our goals? How do we recognize when we’ve achieved our purpose? The answer? I’ve been thinking about that a lot the last several days. When I consider all the factors that go into defining success and all the individuals that hold a stake in it, I realize that I have to respond with a phrase that’s practically a truism: it depends. It depends on whom you ask; it depends on whose perspective you seek; it depends on who’s doing the looking.

What does educational success look like to, say, a district administrator, whose graduation rates are decent and whose test scores and college acceptance figures are OK but whose budget is out of line? Can success be defined as balancing the district’s books while not losing ground in terms of student achievement? Or is that administrator or curriculum coordinator looking for something more, or something different?

How about classroom educators—what does success look like for them? Is it having their students post the district’s highest average scores on a particular standardized test? Is it seeing student achievement rise measurably while subjectively sensing that each and every student has been engaged? Might success be defined as managing a seamless blended implementation and moving forward to a richer, more fully integrated second year? Or could success be defined as moving the class forward while avoiding individual or collective crisis in whatever form?

And parents? Is educational success having a daughter or son learn to read fluently by a certain age or grade level, or graduate from high school, or gain admission to a prestigious college, or simply stay eligible for athletics? Is it witnessing a desired performance outcome, or is success, for parents, more about the quality of their child’s total experience from preschool through grade 12?

What about community stakeholders such as employers or government representatives? What does success look like in their eyes? Clearly, employers hope for competent, skilled, graduates to fill jobs. Government officials doubtless look to a well-educated young cohort to grow the economy and become responsible voting citizens.

But what of the students themselves? What do they think about when they think about success? Are they content to accept the definitions of their parents, teachers, coaches, and future employers? Some are. Do they have ideas of their own? Certainly some are seduced by the rewards of celebrity, hoping—realistically or not—to become the next sports superstar or entertainment sensation. But I recently heard some students discussing a newly implemented project-based learning program in their school. These were inner-city students whose parents and older siblings had experienced little approaching anyone’s definition of educational success. When asked for their own perspectives, they all raved about how, for the first time in a long time, school seemed relevant. They could actually perceive a purpose in the hours spent in class and in the lab and in workshops. They got it, and not only did they get it, but they felt as if they owned it, owned their education, owned their own success. It wasn’t about grades; it wasn’t even necessarily about college. It was, however, about them.

I haven’t delved too deeply into specifics here, and I realize that I haven’t revealed any seismic truths. My purpose is just to suggest that, as we who are invested in growing and nurturing the educational experience move forward in whatever capacity, while we understandably define success for ourselves, we remain mindful of the perspectives of all our fellow stakeholders. Pick up the apple, turn it around, and look at it from all sides. Consider whether success might look completely different to someone just as invested as you.

About the Guest Blogger: Kurt Bauer is Marketing Writer and Editor for Compass Learning in Austin, Texas. He has spent two decades in the educational space, first as a teacher and coach, and then as an educational content developer and marketing communications specialist. When not writing copy or reading, Kurt can usually be found riding his bicycle in the central Texas countryside.

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### Ted Mitchell

Ted Mitchell is president and CEO of the NewSchools Venture Fund. He has long been a leader in education reform in California and nationally. From 2008 through 2010, he served as president of the California State Board of Education. Prior to taking the helm at NewSchools in 2005, Ted was president of Occidental College, vice chancellor and dean of the School of Education and Information Studies at the UCLA, and professor and chair of the Department of Education at Dartmouth College. He has served on a number of policy commissions, including chairing the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence and the Commission on Teacher Effectiveness for the Los Angeles Unified School District. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of Khan Academy, New Leaders for New Schools, The Teaching Channel, ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career and The McClatchy Company. Dr. Mitchell received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

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### Louis Monier

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### Randy Womack

Randy Womack is Chief Operating Officer at Castlight Health, which offers companies a hosted software tool that provides employees with personalized views of their medical benefits and the costs associated with medical procedures. Womack has a strong track record in managing Internet and software companies. Most recently, he was CIO and VP of Operations for SuccessFactors, a customer-focused business execution software company with more than eight million users and 3,000 customers across 168 countries. He first began working with SuccessFactors as an early-stage startup while a partner in the Fast Forward Group at Greylock Partners. Prior to Greylock, he served as CIO at Digital River, an e-commerce ASP with more than 6,000 online stores, where he helped lead the company to a successful IPO. Randy’s previous experience includes Xerox, Oracle, Artificial Linguistics and Dell Computer.

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### Anthony Kim, CEO & Founder

Anthony Kim is the CEO and founder of Education Elements, a blended learning technology company he created in 2010. A seasoned entrepreneur, Anthony also founded and led Provost Systems, a provider of software and services for operating online schools, where he worked with K-12, post-secondary and Department of Defense institutions to support innovation in instructional delivery and instructional technology. After selling Provost Systems to EdisonLearning (formerly Edison Schools) in 2008, Anthony served as Executive Vice President of Online at EdisonLearning until 2010, building out its newly formed online business unit. Anthony graduated from Cornell University and has served as an advisor to several software companies. He lives in San Francisco with his family, including two huskies.

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### Shelli Taylor

Shelli is the Chief Operating Officer for Education Elements, supporting the team in creating classrooms that inspire teaching and learning. Prior to joining Education Elements, Shelli was the Vice President of Disney English China, China’s leading English Language provider delivering immersive English language learning experiences, products and services for children ages 2 to 12 years of age. Shelli oversaw all operational aspects and scaled the business from 15 centers in 5 cities to 34 centers in 8 cities educating more than 24,000 young learners. Shelli enjoyed an 18 year distinguished career at Starbucks Coffee Company. She held several executive positions including Regional Vice President, China; Vice-President of New Business Development, Greater China; and Vice President of Operations and Store Development, Taiwan. Shelli graduated from University of California Riverside. She lives with her husband and son in Northern California.

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### David Sanchez

David Sanchez leads Product Development and Platform Partnerships for Education Elements. David brings over 15 years of experience developing technology products and services that deliver transformational user experiences. Most recently he held product and marketing strategy roles for Jawbone, the leading innovator in mobile lifestyle electronics and Tellme, a platform-as-service pioneer and leader in voice recognition services which was acquired by Microsoft in 2007. David began his career with Accenture where he was a founding member of the Strategic Alliances and Channels practice and spearheaded its growth worldwide through long-term assignments in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Spain.

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### Jackie Pugh

Jackie Pugh is a member of the Design & Implementation team, and works closely with school administrators and lead teachers to implement blended learning models that fit a school’s needs and innovative aspirations. Jackie began her teaching career as a Teach for America corps member teaching first grade in the Roosevelt School District located in south Phoenix. She later became an instructional coach, implementing Success for All, a school-wide leveled literacy program and comprehensive school reform model supporting Kindergarten through 8th grades. As a member of her school’s leadership team, she planned and executed staff-wide professional development and coordinated the school’s supplemental educational services program serving over 20% of the school’s at-risk student population. Her experience in Arizona has fostered her passion to redesign schools as she continues to work in the education sector in Washington DC. Jackie attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and received an MA in Elementary Education from Arizona State University.

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### Jane Bryson

Jane Bryson works to design and implement blended learning into schools at Education Elements. Jane has six years of teaching experience, including two years at Town School for Boys, a private school in San Francisco, and four years at East Palo Alto Academy, a charter school serving a low-income neighborhood. At East Palo Alto Academy, she was a lead teacher and administrator running the Early College program focused on college readiness. Beyond the school environment, she has also worked with NewSchools Venture Fund as well as with the US Department of Education on the Race to the Top federal grant program. She graduated from Stanford University with an MBA and MA in education, as well as a BA from Stanford.

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### Angela Chubb

Angela Chubb serves on Education Element’s School Partnerships Team. Prior to joining Education Elements, Ms. Chubb was the Senior Vice President at Leeds Global where she worked as an international education consultant. Her work included advising the government of Abu Dhabi on the design and implementation of comprehensive school system reforms, including the adoption of world-class standards, the implementation of new instructional methods and approaches, and the transition to a bi-literate curriculum. In addition, she supervised the design and delivery of professional development services to 800+ school leaders across the United Arab Emirate, resulting in the successful implementation of the country’s groundbreaking New School Model. Previously Ms. Chubb was the Senior Product Manger for EdisonLearning. In addition, Ms. Chubb also served as Vice President and Executive Director of Achievement Services and supervised 60 schools and principals along the east coast. Ms. Chubb was the founding principal and CEO of an award winning K-12 Charter school with over 1000 enrolled students. Ms. Chubb also served as an Academy Director and Elementary School teacher. Ms. Chubb graduated summa cum laude from Kansas State University with a B.A. degree in Education and earned Master’s degrees in Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Leadership.

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### Keara Duggan

As part of Education Elements’ Service Delivery Team, Keara works closely with school leaders and teachers to design and implement blended learning solutions that accelerate student achievement. Keara began her career as a Teach For America corps members, serving as a third grade teacher on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. Since then, she has managed development, operations, programming, communications, curriculum design, and professional development projects for education organizations in the non-profit and for-profit sector, including Education Pioneers, Teach For America, InsideTrack, and Brooklyn Historical Society. She received an M.A. in Public History from New York University and a B.A. in History and International/Intercultural Studies from Claremont McKenna College.

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### Janice Flynn

Janice Flynn works with schools to implement Education Elements’ blended learning model. Janice comes to Education Elements from UPD Consulting where she provided project management support to state education agencies, school districts, and education nonprofits. She holds a masters degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a bachelors degree in American Studies and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame. Janice currently lives in the Washington, DC area.

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### Kusha Tavakoli

Kusha Tavakoli works with schools to implement Education Elements’ blended learning model as smoothly as possible. Prior to joining Education Elements, Kusha worked across a wide range of industries in various consulting environments for more than five years with Deloitte Consulting and The Hackett Group. During this time, he worked on consulting engagements with companies such as Genzyme Genetics, General Motors, Alcoa, and Navistar, among others. The central focus of these engagements was improving business processes by working alongside clients to drive sustainable results. Kusha has a B.S.E. in chemical and biomolecular Engineering from University of Pennsylvania.

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### Simon Urrutia

As a part of Education Elements’ Client Support Team, Simon Urrutia strives to help resolve any questions our clients have with HLMS and to further efforts to implement blended learning in the classroom. Prior to joining Education Elements, Simon worked with vendors in Google’s Real Estate and Workplace Services. He has also served in other client support roles at Charles Schwab and Alameda County Office of AIDS. Simon’s approach to customer service has also been influenced by his professional and academic experiences in education. Simon holds a MA in Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University and has completed additional graduate coursework in Educational Psychology.

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### Mike Wolking

Mike Wolking works with schools to implement Education Elements’ blended learning model. Mike spent four years as a teacher at Charles R. Drew Middle School in south Los Angeles, a position he began as a Teach for America Corps Member. While at Drew he fostered outdoor education partnerships with Burton Snowboards and the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, and spent summers as a language learning leader for Putney Student Travel in France. Mike comes to Education Elements from the Office of Innovation at the New York City Department of Education, where he supported the visioning and implementation of blended learning programs for 18 New York City public schools. Mike holds a B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Michigan, a masters degree in education from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and a masters degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He grew up in the Detroit area and currently lives in Washington, D.C.

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### Ken Arendt

As Education Elements’ User Experience (UX) Designer, Ken Arendt works with the product team to ensure visual design, usability, and user interactions are intuitive and grounded in making blended learning easy and enjoyable for all users. Ken has a long history working with startups and has held several product management and design oriented positions. He has worked extensively with consumer products and mobile devices on various platforms. He also cofounded a company which developed educational apps on mobile devices prior to coming to Education Elements. Ken holds a BA in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Originally from Illinois, Ken now resides in San Jose, CA with his wife and two kids.

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### Beverly Chung

Beverly Chung leads product development for Education Element’s core HLMS platform and content and tools integrations with key ecosystem partners. Prior to Education Elements, Beverly worked as a product manager for EF Education in Shanghai, the leader in online English education globally. She also brings several years of experience working across the social sector, as a former strategy consultant and director of internal strategic projects. She has helped organizations like Teach For America create, evaluate and launch innovative programs and products. Beverly earned her BA from Stanford University and MBA from Columbia Business School. She currently lives in San Francisco.

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### David Shackelford

As a product manager, David works on need-finding, prioritization, feature design, QA, and other tasks in our development cycle. Before joining Education Elements, David spent two years in the Teach for America corps, and spearheaded implementations of various technology platforms at his placement school. Before that, he spent time in IT support for SAY Media and Lewis & Clark college, as well as on marketing, copywriting, and translation projects for businesses in Japan and the US. David currently lives in San Francisco, and holds a B.S. in Economics from Lewis & Clark college and a California teaching credential from Loyola Marymount University.

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### Justin de Leon

Justin serves on Education Elements’ Knowledge Management Team. In this role, he analyzes EdTech providers to help schools make informed decisions about which content best suits their needs. Most recently, Justin taught 5th grade ELA at a KIPP middle school in San Jose, CA. Before that, he taught middle school ELA for six years in Miami, FL where he employed a blended learning model to help his students maximize their achievement. For three summers, he worked with The New Teacher Project in Miami and Louisiana to train new teachers and lead summer training institutes. He also worked with a group of Teach For America Corps Members to develop their instructional design and classroom management skills. Justin holds a BA in English from the University at Albany and an MA in Education from Stanford University. He lives in San Jose, CA.

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### Kawai Lai

Kawai Lai leads the Knowledge Management team in its efforts to curate education technology and build Education Elements’ expertise in blended learning. Kawai started as an Education Pioneers Fellow with Education Elements in 2011. Prior to joining the company, Kawai helped Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits implement and prepare for new technologies with Deloitte Consulting’s Technology practice. She is passionate about promoting STEM subjects among young women and serves on the Board of Directors at Arise High School in Oakland, CA. She has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Methodist University and an MBA from Haas, UC Berkeley. She lives in the bay area with her family and labradoodle.

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### Jenni Tonti

As the Finance Manager at Education Elements, Jenni Tonti is responsible for all aspects of financial management as well as financial planning and analysis. Prior to Education Elements, Jenni worked at Fiscal Management Associates, providing financial consulting services to nonprofit organizations. There she worked with numerous education-focused organizations to improve their financial systems and processes. Jenni began her career as the finance and operations director at an organization dedicated to youth leadership development. As a graduate student Jenni participated in the Education Pioneers Fellowship Program, acquiring content knowledge about the education sector while gaining work experience in strategic operations. Jenni has a BS in Architecture from University of Michigan and an MBA from UC Berkeley-Haas. She currently lives in San Francisco.

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### Ben Politzer

Ben brings over 15 years experience developing leading schools and growing businesses that integrate technology and educational services. Most recently Ben held dual roles VP of Business Development and CIO at Extreme Learning, a leading provider of live tutoring over the web. Ben started his career as a middle school teacher and member of Teach For America; later holding roles as a director of technology and a middle school principal. He speaks Spanish and holds a Masters Degree in Education from Stanford University.

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### Amy Jenkins

Amy Jenkins is the VP of Marketing at Education Elements. Prior to Ed Elements she spent five years leading projects at the Monitor Group, a strategy consulting firm. Her global projects spanned across commercial and non-profit sectors, and ranged from marketing to innovation to general strategy. Before Monitor, Amy worked at NewSchools Venture Fund, a venture philanthropy firm working to transform public education through powerful ideas and passionate entrepreneurs. In 2001, Amy co-founded the local affiliate site of America SCORES, an after-school program for low-income youth, where she was in charge of program development as well as fund-raising. She served as a teacher through Teach for America in Oakland, California and has been active on the boards of several non-profit organizations. Amy has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

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### Kyle Rutledge

Kyle Rutledge develops new Education Elements partnerships as a Regional Director of Growth & Development in the Eastern United States. Before joining the company, Kyle was a Vice President of Sales and Senior Regional Sales Manager at Blackboard, Inc. where he helped to start virtual learning programs at the state, district and school levels. He has also worked as a Director of Sales at k12, inc. and Aventa Learning establishing virtual and blended learning programs with state departments of education, school districts and charter schools. Kyle holds a BS in Communications from the University of Tennessee. He resides in Davidson, NC with his wife and two daughters.

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### Charlie Hufnagel

As a Data Creative on the Product team, Charlie helps figure out how teachers can get the most out of student data. Before joining Education Elements, he spent a year interning for Asia Society’s Northern California office and running errands for TaskRabbit. Charlie currently lives in San Francisco, and holds a B.A. in History and East Asian Studies from Oberlin College.

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### Filip Kesler

Filip Kesler leads Platform Partnerships for Education Elements. Filip brings over 20 years of experience building successful ecosystems and channels for disruptive technology companies. Most recently he built a reseller partner channel for Egnyte, the leading file sharing platform for the enterprise, enabling thousands of partners to benefit from the rapid growth of the Egnyte platform and the enterprise cloud storage market. Earlier in his career, Filip held executive Business Development and Alliances roles with Informatica, Interwoven, PwC and others. He lives in San Francisco and works on children’s literacy with non-profits, such as 826 Valencia.

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### Elizabeth Kopp

Liz helps manage day to day life at Education Elements, from recruiting and vendor account relations to human resources and social media marketing. Prior to joining Education Elements, Liz worked in appraisal compliance at a mortgage lender and managed operations for a home appraisal company. Liz majored in International Development with a minor in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. She currently lives in San Francisco.

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### Taha Kazi

Taha Kazi is part of Client Services Team, and works with schools and online content providers to implement Education Elements’ blended learning models for teachers and students. He comes to Education Elements from Kumon, where he was fortunate to work in several roles from working directly with students in classrooms to designing and implementing technology products and solutions across various Kumon learning centers in North America. Taha has a bachelors degree in Actuarial Science from Georgia State University. He currently lives in DC, and likes to spend weekends photographing wildlife.

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