Professor Stanley S. Litow of Duke University: 5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve The US Educational System
Make College an Option for All: I would want to ensure that all students have the opportunity to complete college. P-TECH is a great way to make this possible. Not only do students earn a high school diploma, but also an associate degree — all at virtually no cost to districts, too. We have been thrilled that 80 percent of P-TECH students go on to finish a four-year bachelor’s degree and have had few, if any restrictions, regarding an academic or career focus. Many P-TECH students who completed their college degrees concurrent with their high school diploma were low achievers and many were special needs students, but given the right opportunity, they succeeded.
As a part of my interview series about the things that should be done to improve the US educational system I had the pleasure to interview Stanley S. Litow.
Stanley S. Litow is Professor of the Practice at Duke University where he also served as Innovator in Residence and also teaches at Columbia University. He previously served as deputy chancellor of schools for New York City and as president of the IBM Foundation and vice president of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs at IBM. At IBM, he helped create Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH), the innovative grade 9 to 14 school connecting school to college to career. He is also co-author of Breaking Barriers: How P-TECH Schools Create a Pathway From High School to College to Career from Teachers College Press.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share the “backstory”behind what brought you to this particular career path?
I grew up on New York City’s Lower East Side and attended public schools — P.S. 61, JHS 104 and Stuyvesant High. I did some volunteer work and after volunteering at the local settlement house as well as some political volunteering, I got a job in the mayor’s office helping manage the city’s largest college internship program, the Urban Corps, which I ultimately led in my early 20’s.
I have always known that quality education is the key to any area of service, whether it be social services, economic development…anything, and it has been at the core of my career in the public, private and not-for-profit sector ever since.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
In 2010, I had an opportunity to create a new model for education in America called P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School). I designed the model as a grade 9 to 14 school, combining high school with a community college with an employer as a full partner, in an integrated program that gives students a free associate degree and the skills needed to enter into a high-growth career in the STEM field. After launching one school in Brooklyn (nearly 10 years ago in September) it spread not only across the U.S., but around the world. Now, there are 266 such schools across 28 countries, serving more than 150,000 students, with some of the strongest results for low-income students of color out of any schools in the world.
The lesson I learned is that innovation in education is possible, but only if you engage all of the key stakeholders and don’t wait to bring innovation to scale. Instead, you must design innovations so they can spread easily and widely from day one by removing the barriers to expansion.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am a co-author (along with Tina Kelley) of a new book called Breaking Barriers: How P-TECH Schools Create a Pathway from High School to College to Career. The book (released through Teachers College Press) tells the story of the innovative P-TECH schools and describes how all young people, regardless of race or income, can achieve academic excellence and a pathway to careers if they are given the right support. We have some exciting plans in the works to coincide with its release. And coming out of the horror of the pandemic, we can expect that P-TECH will get the needed and necessary support from education and political leaders at the federal and state levels.
Can you briefly share with our readers why you are an authority in the education field?
When New York City was on the brink of bankruptcy in the 1970s, I organized and led the city’s Educational Priorities Panel, which helped the city schools recover from a deep recession. From there, I went on to be deputy schools chancellor and helped lead the nation’s largest school system. There, I also helped to initiate the small schools movement, launched the nation’s first gender neutral diversity program, and helped the schools innovate during a recession.
When I was at IBM, I led the IBM Foundation and helped launch new education initiatives around the world, including new ways to teach children to read using voice recognition, the use of language translation, and the use of artificial intelligence to help teachers deliver high-quality lessons incorporating effective teaching strategies. I have had hands-on work experience in education in the public, private and not-for-profit sector for decades. I’ve negotiated teacher’s contracts, helped launch new schools, and created the transformative P-TECH model that now operates in cities across the globe. Since I have also had on-the-ground experience, it has taught me what to do and how to do it, and importantly, what not to do.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. From your point of view, how would you rate the results of the US education system?
I would say it “needs improvement.” There are many great schools in the U.S., but sadly, too many of them are only available to students from select zip codes and far too often, those who are already high achievers. Far too many others fall short of what we would want — serving larger numbers of low-income students and students of color. Specifically, we need to focus on ending segregation, broadening opportunity and improving college readiness and completion, not just for some, but for all students.
Can you identify 5 areas of the US education system that are going really great?
I think we have improved early childhood education and, in many cities, implemented pre-K programs. We have innovated in career and technical education by connecting schools to areas of labor market growth like technology and health care. We have expanded after school and extended day programs, many of which are connected to the arts and programs like robotics. And, we have experimented with innovative school models like P-TECH, early college high schools, and small schools that have addressed the challenges of combining a strong academic curriculum with workplace skills.
Can you identify the 5 key areas of the US education system that should be prioritized for improvement? Can you explain why those are so critical?
- Far too many students leave high school with a diploma but are not college ready. We need to create a real pathway from school to college to career. For example, creating a scope and sequence of courses that connect high school courses directly with college credit bearing courses. Models like P-TECH can help make this possible.
- We need to recruit, retain and support higher quality teachers — especially teachers that reflect the nation’s diverse population. We are entering a crisis phase in being able to recruit and then retain the best teachers. Far too many who go into teaching are at the lower end of the spectrum. And we must recruit and retain more teachers of color. Right now, only 20% of our teaching population consists of people of color, a far lower percentage than the percentage of students. We know that students achieve at higher levels if they are taught by teachers who look like them. This is a major and urgent priority.
- We need to lengthen the school day and year. A 180-day school year is an anachronism along with the 9 to 3 school day. Students need more time on tasks, and more creative uses of areas of study, like the arts. This can be done by adding school time and integrating what is taught after school and during traditional vacation time, with what is taught during regular school time.
- We need to integrate technology more effectively into our schools, including remote learning. We need to teach skills like cybersecurity and the use of innovative technologies like artificial intelligence. During the pandemic, far too many students simply could not take advantage of remote learning effectively. Part of it was absence of Wi-Fi or devices, but even more, was a lack of real quality instruction with needed support. We can’t wait for the next pandemic; a more extensive use of remote learning should be part of how we deliver education.
- We need to open our schools to collaborations with the private sector, community colleges, and not-for-profits. For example, P-TECH has partnered with IBM and Thomson Reuters, among others. Through these partnerships, students get the support of mentors and effective paid internships that help develop their workplace skills, like problem solving, offering them the opportunity to pursue career opportunities that pay well. And many not-for-profit arts and human service organizations should also be integrated into how our schools operate to open new opportunities for students and respond to their need for support services.
How is the US doing with regard to engaging young people in STEM? Can you suggest three ways we can increase this engagement?
In terms of STEM, there is certainly room for improvement. Specifically, we need 1) More engagement of entrepreneurs in schools and more involvement of the private sector. Many schools have unused space that entrepreneurs could take advantage of in exchange for mentoring students and their teachers. 2) More teachers need to be effectively prepared to teach math and science, especially in the early grades and middle schools where most teachers are licensed in general education. Math and science need to be part of the instructional plans at every grade, and 3) More involvement of the science community from museums and higher education, among other community entities. Our science museums have rich content and skilled staff and their resources ought to be integrated into our schools.
Can you articulate to our readers why it’s so important to engage girls and women in STEM Subjects?
Science, math and engineering are key to advancement in all careers, not just some, and no opportunity should be denied to anyone based on gender or race. Women can lead and create opportunities for themselves — and for all of us — but they need every opportunity to do so without any restrictions. Every child, given the right opportunity and support, can achieve if the barriers to achievement are removed. And it is particularly important that they are exposed to successful women working in related fields so that they come away believing that they too can succeed
How is the US doing with regard to engaging girls and women in STEM subjects? Can you suggest three ways we can increase this engagement?
We are not doing well and can do a lot better. We need to recruit women from the technology community to be encouraged to consider second careers as teachers. If young girls see successful women in their classrooms who have had successful STEM careers, it will be a game-changer and certainly spark inspiration, as we have seen in the P-TECH school in Norwalk, CT or Longmont, Colorado. We also need to get more successful women to engage as mentors, tutors and partners, and make their skill and expertise available to both students and teachers. And finally, we need to engage girls in STEM areas much earlier on. This needs to start at the elementary school level — in science activities, in the community, and even online.
As an education professional, where do you stand in the debate whether there should be a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) or on STEAM (STEM plus the arts like humanities, language arts, dance, drama, music, visual arts, design and new media)? Can you explain why you feel the way you do?
I think a focus on STEM is essential, but it is not exclusive. So, I would want a focus on art, music, sports and community service. And it’s important to note that both science and math can actually be taught in the context of each of these curriculum areas. And by the way, the same is true of academic subjects like English, social studies and history. The curriculum can be taught by incorporating science and math via project-based learning and teaching strategies.
If you had the power to influence or change the entire US educational infrastructure what five things would you implement to improve and reform our education system? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Expand P-Tech: I would make the structure of P-TECH, the grade 9 to 14 high school culminating in a free associate degree, standard operating procedure for all schools. As President Obama said, this model should be made available to all students. When P-TECH experienced initial success, leadership in New York expanded it by adding 16 schools all across NY, including rural areas. This can be done in any state in the union.
- Make College an Option for All: I would want to ensure that all students have the opportunity to complete college. P-TECH is a great way to make this possible. Not only do students earn a high school diploma, but also an associate degree — all at virtually no cost to districts, too. We have been thrilled that 80 percent of P-TECH students go on to finish a four-year bachelor’s degree and have had few, if any restrictions, regarding an academic or career focus. Many P-TECH students who completed their college degrees concurrent with their high school diploma were low achievers and many were special needs students, but given the right opportunity, they succeeded.
- Lengthen School: I would also suggest lengthening the school day as well as the school year. I believe that doing this would not only provide students with more learning time, but also more time for creative exploration through art, music and sports. Also, by engaging human services agencies, they can provide mental health, social services, health care and other essential services to help ease academic achievement. Most P-TECH schools implement summer “bridge” programs that ease the transition from middle schools to high school by effectively using the summer between grade 8 and 9.
- Double Down on Recruiting: I would double down on recruiting into teaching the best talent we can find and support them so we can retain them. School districts and states spend far too little on professional development for their teachers. This denies them the support they need to become more effective in the classroom.
- Teacher Training: I would work to make sure new teachers have comprehensive training to ensure they hold high expectations for all students and encourage all students to excel in rigorous coursework, with comprehensive support. This can be enhanced by more of a focus on mentoring for new teachers and access to the time and talent of their experienced colleagues.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite quote is “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” and it is relevant because I have never stopped trying to make the world a better place.
We are blessed that some of the biggest names in business, vc funding, sports, and entertainment read this column. is there a person in the world, or in the us, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? he or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I would like to engage with Elon Musk. Tesla has been a strong collaborator with a P-TECH school in Buffalo focused on the environment and has hired over a dozen students from this small school focused on environmental skills, and I’d like to help him learn how to take it to the next level.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You find me on Linkedin (www.linkedin.com/in/stanleylitow) or on Twitter (@StanLitow)
Thank you so much for these insights! This was so inspiring!
Professor Stanley S Litow of Duke University: 5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve The US Educat was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.