In this episode of the Caring, Character, & Community Podcast, Hardin interviews Susan Lusi, President and CEO of Mass Insight Education & Research. Sue discusses her organization's work to support marginalized students and their teachers in working to overcome barriers to educational equity. Systems-change work, she says, is essential in order to provide all students with multiple, viable "onramps" towards college and career paths after high school.
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BU Wheelock College of Education and Human Development
Center for Character and Social Responsibility
“Caring, Character, & Community” Podcast Series
To prepare the next generation to become caring and effectively engaged citizens requires a multi-faceted approach. It includes a focus on personal development, professional development, program development and implementation, and on system change. As part of the CCSR’s focus on the personal and professional development of educators, parents, and community leaders, we use our podcast “Caring, Character, & Community” to introduce our community to people who are using the ethic of caring, a focus on their own and others’ character development, and a commitment to community to create environments in which children and adults can flourish.
In this semester, as the world of education and positive youth development has begun to address the degree to which inequitable conditions interfere with the ability of many youth to flourish, we want to have conversations with educators and community members who are working to foster systems that are grounded in equity. In each interview, we will ask our guests to share their definitions of equity in learning, how they work to create communities that increase equity in learning, and how an ethic of caring and a commitment to community influences their work.
Susan Follett Lusi has worked in both urban and suburban settings, and in practice, policy, and research, during her over 30-year career. She has led Mass Insight Education & Research for six years. Prior to joining Mass Insight, she most recently served as Superintendent of Schools in Providence, R.I., where she was credited with increasing student achievement and opportunity. Most notably, she improved graduation rates as well as reading proficiency scores for Grades 4 and 11, particularly among English Language Learners.
Sue was a champion for Providence students. To enhance their college and career readiness, she and her team increased Advanced Placement, Career and Technical Education, and dual credit offerings in all high schools, as well as established partnerships with institutions of higher education. Sue also collaborated with the Providence School Board and Providence Teachers’ Union to develop board policy and teacher contract language supporting increased school autonomy.
Sue previously served as Superintendent of Schools in Portsmouth, R.I., Chief of Staff for Providence Schools and Assistant Commissioner for the Rhode Island Department of Education. She started her career at Brown University working for the Coalition of Essential Schools and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, as well as serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Taubman Center for Public Policy.
Sue is the author of The Role of State Departments of Education in Complex School Reform (Teachers College Press, 1997). She holds a B.A. in Economics and a M.A. in Teaching Social Studies from Brown University, and a M.P.P. and Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Please visit our archive to listen to previous episodes of the podcast, including interviews from Semester 1: “Leadership in Times of Crisis,” with PK-12, higher-education, and community-based-organization leaders.
Thanks to Lizzie Barcay for the editorial and production work.
Music:
Bluesy Vibes by Doug Maxwell/Media Right Productions
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Caring, Character, & Community