K12 Digest®

Amy Vitala, EdD, NTM is a leadership consultant, long-time educator, and trauma-informed coach who supports both individuals and organizations. A former teacher, district trainer, and edtech startup executive, Amy is passionate about educator satisfaction, employee wellness, and workplace culture. Amy holds a doctorate in Teacher Leadership and has spent more than a decade working with leaders and educators across the U.S. to affect positive change in K12. Check out her expert article published in K12 Digest®, discussing that teacher attrition stems from burnout and lack of support, but happy teachers stay when leaders build community, culture, autonomy, and empathy. Therefore, leaders must retain staff by fostering relationships, trust, work-life balance, and care in small, daily actions. Read the full article here. https://lnkd.in/gi8iBzWY #K12Digest #ExpertArticle #TeacherRetention #K12Leaders #SchoolCulture #TeacherWellbeing #LeadWithEmpathy

The Latest Issue of K12 Digest is now LIVE!! Read and Subscribe for FREE: https://lnkd.in/g2Pb34_Z We congratulate Dr. Conrad Hughes (Head of School, LYCEE INTERNATIONAL DE LOS ANGELES) and Bright International School - Algarve for being featured in this issue. We thank Dr. Carolyn Mason Parker Ph.D (FRSA) (Head of School, KIS International School), Dr Matt Pitman (Head of School (Senior), Catholic Regional College Caroline Springs), Kip Glazer (Principal, Mountain View High School), Heather Rhodes (Founder & Principal, Highgrove Education), Denry Machin (Governor, Destiny Education) and Nick Casey (Head of Primary, Dulwich College Suzhou) for sharing their insights and opinions with us.   #K12Digest

At Bright International School - Algarve, learning is designed to be engaging, collaborative, and connected to the real world. The school’s open and flexible environment encourages students to explore ideas with confidence, communicate naturally, and grow through shared learning experiences. For Tom Caston, Head of School, the principles of “joyful learning” and “natural excellence” are reflected in the everyday culture of the school. From the early years to iGCSE, students are supported in an environment that values curiosity, independence, and meaningful learning. Read the full feature in the latest issue of K12 Digest Magazine: https://lnkd.in/gyfPbWY4 #K12Digest #InternationalEducation #EducationLeadership #JoyfulLearning #IGCSE #FutureOfEducation #StudentLearning #SchoolLeadership

Dr. Twana Young is Vice President of Academic Design, Mathematics at McGraw Hill, leading development of engaging, high-quality K–12 math curriculum for students and teachers. She has served as a teacher, instructional coach, district leader, and product leader, with expertise in curriculum and assessment development, professional learning, instructional design, educational leadership, product development, and research. Dr. Young is dedicated to improving mathematics education and creating impactful instructional resources. A national thought leader, she frequently presents research and insights across the country. Check out her expert article published in K12 Digest®, discussing that post-pandemic math struggles aren’t just about curriculum — student and teacher self-efficacy, the belief they can succeed at specific tasks, drives motivation, persistence, and classroom outcomes. Therefore, district leaders must prioritize mastery experiences, visible practice, and educative curriculum materials so teachers build confidence at scale and students learn to engage through productive struggle. Read the full article here. https://lnkd.in/gQDADTJA #K12Digest #ExpertArticle #MathEducation #TeacherSelfEfficacy #StudentSelfEfficacy #K12Math #CurriculumDesign #ProfessionalLearning #HQIM #InstructionalLeadership #MathematicsAchievement #EdLeadership

Olli-Pekka Heinonen has served as Director General of the International Baccalaureate (IB) since 2021, advancing its mission to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring students. Mr. Heinonen served as Director General of the Finnish National Agency for Education from 2016-2021. Prior to that he served as State Secretary to the Finnish Prime Minister and as Minister of Education and Science. Check out his expert article published in K12 Digest®, discussing that IB’s new course “Systems Transformation” shifts students from theory to action by having them solve real global problems like climate change and misinformation through project-based, interdisciplinary learning with community partners. This shows K12 education is moving beyond textbooks to build systems thinkers who can connect the dots and take real action on complex issues, training problem-solvers instead of just test-takers. Read the full article here. https://lnkd.in/gs2aeBNu #K12Digest #ExpertArticle #IBEducation #FutureOfLearning #SystemsThinking #ProjectBasedLearning #EdTech #StudentLeadership #ComplexSystems #EducationInnovation #GlobalCitizenship

Nic Ford is the Head of Bolton School Boys’ Division, one of the UK’s leading independent schools. Prior to headship, he was academic deputy head in two schools, and he is recognised for his commitment to academic excellence, pastoral care and educational innovation. Nic is particularly known for championing technology-enhanced learning and developing opportunities that help pupils realise their full potential while contributing positively to the wider community beyond school. Recently, in an exclusive interview with K12 Digest®, Nic shared insights into how education as an agent for social mobility has shaped his leadership, turning both “outstanding” and “special measures” OFSTED outcomes into progress. Looking to 2030, he argued that schools using data to deepen understanding will be separated from those merely monitoring performance by their discipline in collecting the right data, not mass data, because strategic collections across knowledge and skills criteria cut through noise and transform outcomes, while indiscriminate tracking creates confusion. If he could put one sentence on every staff room wall, it would be “what you do matters,” a simple reminder that teaching and learning transform lives, especially at the start or end of a six-period day. Read the full interview here. https://lnkd.in/g6HaKa2z #K12Digest #ExclusiveInterview #EducationLeadership #SchoolCulture #DataInEducation #TeacherRetention #SustainableInnovation #SocialMobility #EmotionalIntelligence

Jeremy Otto is a relational leader who believes community is built one meaningful moment at a time. An experienced educator and senior leader, he has held roles including Deputy Principal, Director of Teaching and Learning and international IB consultant, advancing student centred approaches in schools across the world. Jeremy is currently Director of Community Engagement and Advancement at Westbourne Grammar School, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and an MBA candidate at Melbourne Business School. Guided by kindness, authenticity and trust, he is committed to creating cultures where people feel connected, supported and proud to belong together. Schools are increasingly being judged not by the sophistication of their marketing, but by the quality of the relationships they build. In an era shaped by AI, shifting parent expectations and growing competition, authentic community connection has become one of a school’s most valuable assets. For Jeremy Otto, that connection is not created through campaigns alone, but through hundreds of everyday interactions that shape whether people feel welcomed, known and valued. In an exclusive interview with K12 Digest, Jeremy reflected on the future of school community engagement, the ethical role of AI in admissions, and why trust will define the strongest school brands in the years ahead. Read the full interview here. https://lnkd.in/gUsZJwRW #K12Digest #ExclusiveInterview #CommunityEngagement #TrustInEducation #AuthenticLeadership 

Mercedes Mateo Diaz is the Division Chief of Education at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where she leads a team of specialists and professionals to support the transformation of educational systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. Her work covers different areas of social policy, with an emphasis on inequality. She has coordinated the research, design, execution, and evaluation of innovative projects in education, as well as contributions to institutional reforms, education, childcare policies, soft skills development, female labor participation, and social cohesion.  Recently, in an exclusive interview with K12 Digest®, Mercedes shared insights into how her path from academia to the IDB revealed that real leverage in education comes not from producing research alone, but from bridging knowledge, political understanding, and implementation design in the rooms where decisions are made. For teachers shifting from knowledge deliverers to learning designers, Mercedes called for a recentering of the profession built on pedagogical content knowledge, collaborative professional time, and metacognitive capacity — skills no algorithm can replicate. Ultimately, she sees the urgent task as ensuring that AI becomes a tool for augmentation, not substitution, and that education systems distribute human capability rather than concentrate it. Read the full interview here. https://lnkd.in/gX8UDyBy #K12Digest #ExclusiveInterview #NewEducationModel #CognitiveEquity #HumanisticFormation #AIAndLearning #EducationReform #TeacherAsDesigner

Jonathan Mace is currently Head of Senior School at Strathallan School in Scotland- a leading co-educational day and boarding school. Prior to moving into this promoted role he held the position of Senior Deputy Head and Head of Boarding. Before moving to Scotland in 2022, Jonathan held a number of pastoral and academic management positions in a range of UK independent schools. Jonathan graduated in Economics from the University of Durham before commencing his teaching career at St Edwards’ School Oxford. Check out his expert article published in K12 Digest®, arguing that modern education pressures teens and parents into early specialisation, treating breadth as an indulgence. Therefore, schools must create conditions to flourish, not rush to certainty, because the strongest futures are built by young people allowed to grow wide before they grow deep. Read the full article here. https://lnkd.in/gWrZA6Bi #K12Digest #ExpertArticle #BreadthBeforeDepth #K12Education #DeepLearning #StudentAgency #CurriculumDesign #InquiryBasedLearning #InterdisciplinaryLearning #ChildDevelopment

Charles Pimentel is a Research Fellow at the Transformative Learning Technologies Lab (TLTL) at Columbia University, where he investigates the use of sensors, microcontrollers, and Internet of Things applications in schools to support Data Science education. He is also a doctoral candidate at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, researching Data Literacy in K-12 education. In addition, Charles is a Design and Technology educator whose work explores how technology can promote social impact and student empowerment in schools. Recently, in an exclusive interview with K12 Digest®, Charles shared insights into bringing Data Science and Critical Data Literacy into K-12 classrooms. For AI in classrooms, he believes the next five years hinge on whether schools teach students to understand and question AI, not just use it, with teachers guiding judgment, ethics, and responsibility while tools like MIT Day of AI and Google Teachable Machine make the “black box” accessible. To include girls, neurodivergent, and low-income students, he designs safe, democratic classrooms where students use tech to explore community issues and see themselves as creators, not just consumers. His advice to early-career EdTech teachers is to study always, stand on the shoulders of giants like Papert and Freire, and lead with collaboration, vulnerability, and lifelong learning, because we must practice the change we want students to embrace. Read the full interview here. https://lnkd.in/ggTBZnnX #K12Digest #ExclusiveInterview #DataLiteracy #K12Education #EdTech #STEMeducation #CriticalThinking #InclusiveLearning #AIinEducation #TechForGood #TransformativeLearning