429: How Might We Rethink What Success Looks Like in Schools?
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Guest
Dr. Tara Bishop has led the Perry Central Community Schools as superintendent for six years, but she's been part of the school community her whole life. Tara expands innovative career programs and grant-funded community services while cultivating a collaborative culture that supports teachers and administrators as the heart of every school.
As a former teacher turned speaker and happiness coach, Kim Strobel helps schools, businesses, and organizations prioritize happiness and well-being so they can overcome fears, discover joy, activate limitless potential, and boldly pursue their dreams. She is the author of Teach Happy.
Summary
Dr. Bishop describes Perry Central Community Schools as deliberately rethinking what education should prepare students to do. Rather than treating college as the only pathway to success, Perry Central gives every student access to career and technical education, internships, project-based learning, and opportunities to develop skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, adaptability, and communication. Students choose pathways but can change direction, while internships and capstone experiences are tailored to their interests and aspirations.
One striking example is a Habitat for Humanity project in which engineering students design a house, construction students build it, and the completed home goes to a local family—giving students authentic experience, technical knowledge, empathy, and a sense of purpose.
Dr. Bishop acknowledges that innovation exists within significant constraints: standardized testing, traditional college expectations, limited resources, and teachers' lack of time for collaboration. She also emphasizes that innovative learning cannot replace foundational knowledge; students need something to draw upon when solving problems. Ultimately, she argues for an educational system that honors individual strengths, connects learning to meaningful purposes, and gives teachers the support and freedom to make that possible.
The Essential Point
Dr. Bishop’s essential point is that schools should stop defining success by a single pathway and instead help each student discover how their particular strengths and interests can contribute meaningfully to the world. That requires both strong foundational knowledge and authentic opportunities to apply it.
Social Media & Referenced
Perry Central Community Schools
The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler
About Jeff
Jeff Ikler is the Director of Quetico Leadership and Career Coaching. “Quetico” (KWEH-teh-co). He works with leaders in all aspects of life to identify and overcome obstacles in their desired future. He came to the field of coaching after a 35-year career in educational publishing. Prior to his career in educational publishing, Jeff taught high school U.S. history and government.
Jeff has hosted the “Getting Unstuck—Cultivating Curiosity” podcast for 5 years. The guests and topics he explores are designed to help listeners think differently about the familiar and welcome the new as something to consider. He is also the co-host of the Cultivating Resilience – A Whole Community Approach to Alleviating Trauma in Schools, which promotes mental health and overall wellness.
Jeff co-authored Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change. Shifting integrates leadership development and change mechanics in a three-part change framework to help guide school leaders and their teams toward productive change.
Show Credits
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