How to Transform Education Outcomes | Season 2 Episode 1

In the premiere episode of Season 2, Dr. Mallika Stubbs shares her inspirational journey from growing up in a low-performing school district in Cleveland to becoming a transformational educational leader. 

Work with Dr. Stubbs: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecatalystgroup/
www.mallikastubbs.com

Dr. Stubbs discusses the challenges faced in underperforming schools, the impact of community deterioration, and the importance of early literacy and extracurricular programs in shaping successful students. She emphasizes the critical role of parents in advocating for their children's education and leveraging available resources, such as public libraries and technology. She also outlines her approach to turning around failing schools by providing leadership coaching, professional development, and engaging all stakeholders in the process.


Falling for Learning Podcast, Season 2 Episode 1, Dr. Mallika Stubbs, educational leadership, school turnaround, literacy, parental involvement, failing schools, Cleveland public schools, early childhood education, community impact, extracurricular programs, public libraries, technology in education, professional development, educational reform.

#FallingForLearningPodcast
#EducationalLeadership
#SchoolTurnaround
#EarlyLiteracy
#ParentalInvolvement
#CommunityImpact
#ClevelandPublicSchools
#EducationReform
#PublicLibraries
#TechInEducation

Transcript

0:00

Hello. So, have you ever had a school that was failing or heard of schools that were failing where our special guest today is a turnaround coach. She turns the schools from failing to success hi, thank you so much for joining the following for learning podcast we have this podcast to help parents and caregivers with having the resources, strategies and tools needed to make sure that their children are on track for learning and to stay on track for success. I am so glad that you've joined us today. Today our special guest is Doctor Malika Stubbs. She is the founder and CEO of Catalyst Coaching and Consulting, LLC. Doctor Stubbs is a veteran educator who is committed to the empowerment of helping others through transformational coaching. She spent more than 20 years working with diverse groups of students and adult learners. Malika is an international coaching federation certified coach with a proven track record of increasing outcomes, supporting organizations on their transformational journey while providing one on one focus coaching for adults. Using motivational techniques aligned with core beliefs, she uses a strengths based approach to align purpose, performance and productivity. We welcome doctor Malika Stubbs. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for having me, TD. I'm super excited to be on the podcast today, ready to just, you know, fill people's cup and let them know all about school reform and transformation work that I do. Thank you so much. You are the first guest on our season two of the falling for learning podcast. We are so glad to have you and to get right into it, we always ask our guests, first of all, what hooked you into learning as a child? What really made you love learning? It's interesting you bring that up, TD, because I was a really curious kid and I cannot remember a time where I was just driven by curiosity. And often as a child, it could get you in trouble, if you know what I mean. So I was a kid that played school. Even when school was out, I was the teacher, of course. I remember sitting on the sidewalk in a stoop and having people graduate and go up a step on the stoop if they were in another grade. I just always have been driven by a love of learning, even as a very, very young child and that curiosity. I would just say I wanted to know how the world worked. I was really into figuring out things and the why behind things. So I just was really driven by that at a very, very early age. And I just always wanted to be a teacher. People ask me like, you know, so when did you choose your profession? And I tell them I was called to it. I really never chose it. I was chosen for this so I was hooked in at a very early age. Like I said, plan school from, I honestly will tell you, probably five or six years old I was teaching even back then. All right. Okay. And that leads us to what was your education journey? We know you became a teacher, but what is your education journey? You could take us back to high school undergraduate work. I would love to do that. So, honestly, I come from a zip code that was a poor performing district myself. So I am like, it's a full circle moment for me, the product of the environments that I currently serve. So I grew up in inner city Cleveland, went to Cleveland public schools. Like I said, there was a failing school system in place there. Oftentimes, kids would get an opportunity to get bused to a different school or have an magnet program, things like that, that we see today. Charter schools came along a little later in my education journey, but we did have other opportunities. And so I remember being bused from the east side. So think about the nature of early on desegregation rules. So, as a product of the eighties, baby, I may not look like it, but I was still living under that educational reform, where they would bus black and brown kids from one community over into another community to ensure that there was a diverse representation. So I, from the east side of Cleveland, being bused to the west side of Cleveland, and went to a high school on the west side of Cleveland, I honestly will tell you, I was a transient student. I went to three different high schools in my high school years, moved around a lot. So if you think about children like me, we are typically not the top performers because we always have to restart and reset and reset start when we're in that transient place. So eventually, I didn't want to go to school on the west side anymore. The school really right around the corner from my house, literally, Glenville High School. It's known in Cleveland now to be, like, this amazing school that produces top athletes throughout the state. But when I went there, it was a different story. But they had a special program that I entered into. Like I said, you had a choice. And it was like a trade program, and I went in for child development. So even then, it was like, you know, being called to do the work in early childhood education. So went there and just made. That's where I stayed for the two years, made the, you know, decision to just lock in and graduate high school, where I eventually, through different programming, like upward bound, you know, we'll talk about what. Why it's important for kids to be exposed parents to share those experiences with students because we get access to other opportunities when we are in those programs. Early on, because I went on a trip with upper bound, a college tour. You may be familiar with something like that. And that's how my undergraduate journey began. I went to this school, Miami University, on a college tour in southwestern Ohio. Completely different learning environment from the one that I was in. Right. Failing school. Now I'm in a top performing university in the nation as a black kid from the inner city who is just now culturally shocked by this environment where no one looks like me and moved on. And I mean, top performer. You know, it was other skills that I really, truly believe I brought with me because of my experience in my community. Not necessarily. Wait a minute. You're saying you were a top performer even in that environment? Absolutely. I graduated with a 3.6 gpA. Yeah. I went from a failing to excelling situation even within my life. Right. So it's interesting having that conversation, and thank you for pausing at that point, because sometimes. Sometimes I just talk as if it's just a normal thing and it really isn't. But it's a blueprint for others, especially our parents, to understand the why. And that was what I was driven by early on. Like, why are these choices and decisions so important? Because they definitely take us on a different path, and we end up having a whole different trajectory for our adult life. So Miami University is where I studied and did elementary education. I started off as an elementary educator, went into Cleveland public school system for ten years, continued to be an underperforming school district, and did some work in that community with charters as well. So I had some experience teaching in charter schools before I decided to go back to grad school at Cleveland State and get my admin degree so that one day I could become a principal because I thought that was going to be the difference maker for me. And so let me ask you, when you were, you know, teaching in a low performing school or low performing district, and that's where you had some of your schooling, were there very similar things going on, or had it even worsened since you were there? Like, what was the difference from when you were in the schools, similar schools? I think the biggest difference was what happened to the communities after the eighties era. So I grew up in the eighties and nineties, and we saw, you know, the deterioration of, like, the black family because of the war on drugs and crack epidemic, and then you had a lot of jobs. I come from a community that was like a blue collar community and close knit. We were family oriented we had recreation centers and programs and things where kids can go even if mom and dad was at work. You know, I was sort of like a latchkey kid before that was a term. I don't know if people are familiar with that. I wore a key and keyed in after school and took care of myself after a while. So I just see the transition was all of the jobs that people once had. The community was broken. The jobs had left our area. Families were really struggling to make ends meet, and we didn't have that, like, close knit support where everybody was helping everybody out, even when you didn't have it. So I became the support for my students and my families. Honestly, I made sure they had the connections and access. And if they didn't know about an opportunity, I was always, like, the person that was speeding that to my parents and community. Yes. So my personal experience. I know what that is. I know what that support looks like for that. Let me hook you up with this. Yes. So what I really want to highlight is you're saying that it had worsened. So it wasn't well, when you were a child, but because of these, you know, the war on drugs, all these different factors, there was a Derek and some of the industries being taken out of that community. It was a deterioration. Right. And people had to even rely more on schools, which, again, you were saying the school wasn't the best system itself. Right. But had to rely on the teachers that were there to help connect them to support systems. Yep. Wow. You know, that really makes me think about, you know, for yourself. You know, you did have access to some programs when you were a child. What are those extracurriculars that support your career now? Like, that were really key in helping you develop skills. Honestly, I think it was those foundational things that even when I didn't understand, and I would ask my mom, why are you sending me down south with family? Why are you sending me away to sleep away camp? I don't know if people still do that anymore, but I would go away in summer for camp. Why are you putting me in the summer program at the YMCA? Why am I going to Ken Johnson Arts and community school, where we're doing, like, karate and drama and why am I in these things? It was because of exposure. Right? The more exposed to different things I became, the bigger my world eventually opened up to and evolved into. I was like, okay, I see this. I see that. And then, like I said, once I got into Glenville, there were other programs, like upward bound, and I forget the other one that I was a part of. But then I went on these field trips and I was getting outside of my community that was growing my world. It was bigger than the block of 105 and St. Clair, over to 105 and superior. Now I understand things outside of Cleveland. I've been going down south since I was a kid. I know there's different cultural, like, norms. I understand that, you know, sleep away camp, and I need to be have some sense of independence that we may not see in our children today. Right. So I just think that was really the difference maker in my childhood. Like I said, when I went to college, everything about my educational upbringing in the zip code I grew up in would not have equated to success at a university like Miami. I was doomed for failure if it was according to the statistics that we see today. So it had to be something in that experience in my community that really, truly prepared me for greatness at the university level. Wonderful. So I'm glad. I just hope parents are definitely able to key into that, like getting your kids access to other programs. The YMCA places that get them out for field trips will really help make a difference. Yeah. So thank you for dropping those nuggets. It's really important. People may not realize how important those extra activities are. One that I will also add and is one that is currently underserved and undervalued is our public library system. I grew up going to the library. I had a library card probably at five years old. And I'll talk more about literacy and the importance of early literacy and just exposure through books. So maybe, you know, if you are early mom, like a young mom, you know, whatever, or you just want to find a place. Public library system is free. To us it is now. I mean, amazing. I mean, technology things in the library that we wouldn't even believe in. My library, we have a podcast studio in the library. So it's just other opportunities through the library system as well that I think is not often tapped into. And they have a lot of other opportunities that they're connected with too. Sorry, had to add that one. Oh, no, very true. It is so important. It's a free resource. Sometimes parents don't have the money to invest. And I agree. I've been to in Los Angeles area as well as when we were in Alaska and I grew up there. Lots of resources at the public library. You need to ask or look it up, but it's a lot of stuff is there for free. Very true. So let's get into your job, which is turning around schools. And can you tell us. What should parents know about that? If they're at a school that is a turnaround, that is failing, that needs this reform, what should they know about it? Well, I think the first thing parents should do is ask the question of what is the school's report card grade? And I think every school in the US has some iteration of that, even if it's not called a report card. Right. Is our standing with the state agency, because there is a federal law called ESSA, every student succeed act, that requires and mandates states to produce accountability systems. And then for those schools that are failing, they have to provide additional support to those schools. So the first 1st question is like where do we stand? What is our report card grade? What is our grade? And that's a great entryway into understanding whether you're at a failing school, an underperforming school, or a school that continuously underperforms in a marginalized community. So you may have a c grade, but you are continually to underperform and underserved black boys or black girls or your special ed students. So it runs really deep. So just knowing the grade is super, super important and that'll be your gateway into. Now what do I do next? That's the first step. Okay, so when you come into a school, what do you do first? So when I come into a school, it is after several things have happened, the report cards have come out and there is an identified list of schools. It is public information. For our parents, this is public knowledge, public information. And the same language, because it's a federal mandate, is in every state. So I support North Carolina and South Carolina. I was from Ohio. It is the same language. It's called CSA, comprehensive support intervention schools. So you have CSI schools in every state. And because there is a list that is required to go back up to the federal government from each state, this becomes public knowledge. And anybody could look it up for the state of Georgia, the state of Florida, the state of, you know, California, it really doesn't matter. So you see where you're, where your schools are at on this list. And once they have been identified, I come in and I am assigned to the principal as her leadership and transformation coach because we understand that reform school reform begins and end with the leader if we have the correct leader in place to do the work. Not necessarily that this is not a good leader, but for this kind of work where it takes rapid school turnaround, school improvement, we have to get the right leader in place. So we come in and we do a diagnostic review of the school. My team and an external evaluator. And we look at it for three days, top to bottom. We go into every classroom. We talk to kids at lunch, we talk to kids while they're in recess. In special areas like arts and music. We really get a sense and culture of what the school is, and we give a report after that and we say, okay, let's start with these two or three things to leverage school improvement. And with this process of continuous improvement. I'm there for three years supporting the principal first and then her leadership cabinet or his leadership cabinet. And then I'm constantly observing and going into classrooms to support the instruction, like effective high, like highly effective practices that teachers could use to close. So can I ask you, what are some of those moves that you're making to make changes? Like, what is a change that you might do and that also affects parents. Right. A lot of what we are doing, specifically engaging in professional learning. Right. So even with our parents, sometimes they just don't know what they don't know. So it's an opportunity to provide additional learning opportunities for our principals, our teachers, our parents, all stakeholders, really, because the research is telling us there are certain things that we can do, those highly effective teaching practices. So if no parent goes away with anything else, you can google highly effective teaching practices. How can I support my son or daughter while they're at school, I mean, while they're away from school? So that they're getting the same messaging at home. And we really, really, like, hone in on, like, one or two things for professional development with our teachers and our school leaders. And then we just close gaps like that because the highly effective practices are known to be closing the gap of one year or more. So in this nine month period, we see students who are going from UnSAt scores to approaching or meeting those standards. So I'm hearing from that it's really important for parents to know about these highly effective practices that are being implemented and for them to be following up at home with those same type of practices to help their children make the improvements. Yes. So important, the same messaging both ways. And if you are, say, for instance, someone who cannot, like, be there in that moment to follow up, to do the practice, there is online support. There's things like, I excel. Like, technology is a leverage point. So I know, like, our students are in this digital age, so I use that to my advantage. Like, let the kids do what they do naturally. We may be the people who want to write it out and do every step, but they're used to technology. Put one of those programs on their phones or iPads and let them practice in that for about 30 minutes every day when they get home. And then they could have the game or go outside or whatever. That is really important information. Yes. So you may not be able to do it yourself, but thinking about how you might leverage technology to help your child to, you know, have improved outcomes is really important. So the other thing we want to talk about is, as in this process or as you've been a teacher, what are some missteps that you may have made or that you see that are common that you should warn parents about? I think the greatest one that I was unaware of because I taught upper elementary most of my career, three through five, and I'm now, like, in high school settings. I did some middle school that wasn't for me as a coach. I realized the importance of that foundational literacy piece. Students, our kids should have access to reading materials early, early on, as early as possible. They should be read to from, I mean, literally from birth. When I tell you the research is telling us the moment our kids are birthed into this world, we should be having conversations. We should be reading the phonemic awareness piece for our students by the second grade. If they don't have a good grasp on reading, they will then fall behind. So we are coming back around to phonics. Go fix. That was how I learned, right? Yes, me, too. A very powerful reader. But we went away from that, and so that was a misstep in our whole educational system where a lot of gaps happen because we went the whole language and this motto of sight words like, you see it? You could say it. How do I sound it out? Yeah. So if you can really create a love for reading and imagination and creativity in our kids, do not stifle their creativity or let them think. Let them dream all the way. And guess what? This is. Even in high school, TD, we see kids wanting this same thing in 10th and 11th grade. So it's how we raise the children up so they know which way to go. And I'm telling you, it's all about the love of literacy. It's all about. That is the difference maker that I'm seeing. Yes. Thank you so much. Any final advice that you have for parents, just get involved as much as you can. If you are in an underperforming school, there is a school improvement council sic that you can join as a parent, as one of the stakeholders. And if it can't be you, there are minutes. If you can't, like, dedicate time and attention there are minutes that must be shared out. Ask for those know what your school goals are and to be sure that you definitely know what that school report card grade is. And make the choice and decision of keeping your kid in that school. Because there are other opportunities for parents and students who are zoned for those schools. They have a choice and they could be given vouchers or other incentives to take their students somewhere else, even into the charter world. So just know you have power. Power. You are the decision maker for your child's education. It is not the teacher in the system and we have to own our power instead of giving it away and allowing someone else to make those decisions for us. Yes. All right. Well, thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. TD. Yes. If people want to find you, where should they look you up? Doctor Malika Stubbs, catalyst coach on LinkedIn. I'm there. Or you can do www.malikastubbs.com and all of my social media is also there. Wonderful. We are going to put all of that in our show notes for you. Thank you so much for joining us, everyone. Have a great week. Thanks again for supporting the falling for learning podcast. New episodes go

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