Lou Glazer: Designing Equitable Schools Incorporating the 6Cs

<p>Dr. Bob Maxfield and Dr. Suzanne Klein continue the podcast series with a focus on resetting education featuring guests with unique insights into the issues surrounding public education during the pandemic and what schooling needs to look like afterward. Their guest for this conversation is Lou Glazer, CEO of Michigan Future Inc.  Mr. Glazer holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan and was a member of former Michigan Governor Blanchard’s Economic and Community Development Team.  As he created Michigan Future Inc. as a think tank focused on the economic well-being of Michigan households, he understood the state’s economy was fundamentally changing due to globalization and technology, and wanted those in leadership positions to understand what it would take for Michigan to be a high prosperity state. Mr. Glazer suggests that we are still struggling with what good paying work looks like, the skills that people need to get it, and what Michigan has to do to be a high prosperity state. </p><p>When asked what we have learned about effective schools during the pandemic and what advice he had for school leaders moving forward, Mr. Glazer cited two lessons for educational leaders: in-person learning is the way most education should be delivered to all students, and narrow content standards that are measured by standardized tests are a small part, not a main part, of what students need to be successful adults. From his perspective it is imperative to reconsider the role standardized testing plays.  “The unintended consequence of standardized tests is the horrible things it does for both curriculum and pedagogy.  And if, particularly for non-affluent students, everybody wants to double down on so called ‘learning loss’, that would be a horrible lesson to learn from the pandemic.  There's a whole set of skills that are not content specific that really are what matter most for kids” that need to be incorporated into state education policy.  Mr. Glazer clarified that although basic literacy