Chasing Bailey
By Chasing Bailey
They succeeded, but their achievement was bittersweet.
In 2016, the district closed that school.
Still, those who were there knew they had stumbled onto something special, some important educational truths that might help all of us find our way out of the morass that COVID 19 has left us in.
Chasing BaileyJul 31, 2022
Locating Leadership at the Heart of Teaching and Learning
The third episode of Chasing Bailey looks at how teacher leadership multiplies the point and power of teams in schools. Four teacher leaders – Kelly Aldridge Boyd , LeKeisha Harding, Whitney Bradley Weathers, and Lindsey Nelson -- describe their experience and outline how they grew into their roles. Host Barb Stengel links the work of these teacher leaders to the actions of the school principal, Christian Sawyer, highlighting how his willingness to let go was as important as his efforts to guide and support. In the end, we are left to wonder what love’s got to do with it.
00:00 Introduction: Locating Leadership at the Heart of Teaching and Learning
04:37 The Roles and Responsibilities of Teacher Leaders at Bailey, Kelly Aldridge Boyd, LeKeisha Harding, Whitney Bradley Weathers, and Lindsey Nelson with Narrator Barb Stengel
11:05 How Much Time Were Teachers Leaders Teaching Kids? Aldridge Boyd, Harding, Bradley Weathers, and Nelson with Stengel
21:36 What Difference(s) Did Teacher Leaders Make for Scholars and Colleagues? Aldridge Boyd, Harding, Bradley Weathers, and Nelson with Stengel
30:54 How Were Teachers Leaders Recruited, Encouraged, and Developed? Aldridge Boyd, Harding, Bradley Weathers, and Nelson with Stengel
45:30 Bailey as a Crucible for Leadership Aldridge Boyd, Harding, Bradley Weathers, and Nelson with Stengel
52:19 Principal Sawyer as the “Source” for Teacher Leadership? Janita Sanders, Conley Flynn, Sarah Prawel, Laura Lauffman, Greta Knudsen
59:35 Love and Learning at Bailey Student Jasmine Summers
At the core of this episode is a 90-minute interview with the four teacher leaders named above. Nearly half of the interview found its way into this episode. However, the interview was so lively and rich that we are making the entire audio file available for those who want to follow up on the insights of these four educators. Extended conversations about how race figured in their work and about how we might be reconstructing schools post-pandemic can be found toward the end of the interview. To listen to the entire discussion, go to www.chasingbaileypod.com.
Our Host is Barb Stengel, a retired professor of educational practice at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. She is a self-described fan of the Bailey experiment.
Between 2012 and 2016, Barb spent one day a week at Bailey, coordinating the school’s collaboration with Peabody, and serving as an informal cheerleader while also learning from this remarkable effort. She knew early on it was a story worth telling. So over the past year, Barb has spent time with dozens of staff, students, parents, and district administrators who were eager to talk about their experiences.
Chasing Bailey is hosted and narrated by Dr. Barbara Stengel, Vanderbilt University.
This episode was edited and co-produced by Brenna Fallon. The executive producer is Dr. Lowery Woodall, Millersville University of Pennsylvania.
Our theme music is Midnight Blues by lemonmusicstudio. Occasional music includes SundayBlues by Francis McDonald.
New episodes will drop on the last day of the month. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, and Stitcher, and nearly anywhere else you find your podcasts.
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Teaching is a Team Sport
This second episode of Chasing Bailey explores the first of several characteristics that marked the practice of education at Bailey: that is, teaming. Content teachers, special educators, teacher leaders, paraprofessionals, and residents learning to teach collaborated on both grade level and content-focused teams to encourage the growth and development of every scholar. Host Barb Stengel documents the difficulties in learning to team well and the remarkable successes that resulted from persistence and commitment. She focuses not only on the structure of the teams, but also on the infrastructure that teaming made possible: 1) a relentless focus on students’ growth, 2) a consistent care for teachers and all staff, 3) the space for both collaboration and autonomy, and 4) an expansive understanding of inclusion. In the end, teaming at Bailey included educators and scholars in a shared focus on learning for all. There are post-pandemic lessons in this for all of us.
00:00 Introduction: Teaching is a Team Sport
03:52 The Power of the Teacher Team. Principal Christian Sawyer
05:45 Getting going with Teaming in the 7th and 8thGrade, Team Lead Kelly Latham, Counselor April Roberts, and Resident Amanda West
13:40 Teaming in the 5th and 6thGrades. Team Lead Jennifer Hurst, Exceptional Educator/Dean Art Taylor, Kristin Petrony and Laura Laufman
21:40 Teaming and Collaboration Resident Alex Casarez
23:55 Shared and Sharp Focus on Scholars. Exceptional Educator Janita Sanders, Resident Kenan Kerr, TFA Corps Member Susan Benear, Student Zee Jennings, and ELA Teacher Leader Whitney Bradley Weathers
32:36 Team Structure and Teacher Supports. West, ELA Teacher Charlsie Wigley, Science Teacher Cherifa McDowell
37:30 Teams, Collaboration and Autonomy. Casarez, Math Lead Karen Dorris Wolfson
40:58 An Expansive Understanding of Inclusion. Hurst, Taylor, Petrony, Exceptional Educator Keisha Harding
46:38 The Scholars Were ON the Team! Host Barb Stengel
47:09 Teaming May Not Be for Everyone. Latham and Beasley
50:35 Logistical Gains, Social Justice Gains. Sawyer
51:22 Building Capacity Toward Teacher Leadership. Wigley
Our Host is Barb Stengel, a retired professor of educational practice at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. She is a self-described fan of the Bailey experiment.
Between 2012 and 2016, Barb spent one day a week at Bailey, coordinating the school’s collaboration with Peabody, and serving as an informal cheerleader while also learning from this remarkable effort. She knew early on it was a story worth telling. So over the past year, Barb has spent time with dozens of staff, students, parents, and district administrators who were eager to talk about their experiences.
Chasing Bailey is hosted and narrated by Dr. Barbara Stengel, Vanderbilt University.
This episode was edited and co-produced by Brenna Fallon. The executive producer is Dr. Lowery Woodall, Millersville University of Pennsylvania.
For full Show Notes visit: https://www.chasingbaileypod.com/episodes/episode-two
"Let's Remember Who We Are": The Bailey Story
This first episode of Chasing Bailey sketches the four-year story of an effort to transform a “failing” public school in Nashville, TN, only to have success turn sour when the district office determined that the underserved students at the school -- mostly poor and mostly Black -- had to be moved out of the place that had become their educational home. Host Barb Stengel introduces us to several central players and to the important infrastructure elements – teaming, teacher leadership, residents, relationships, race, culture, curriculum, collective responsibility, and equity – that made a difference at Bailey, and that will be explored in depth in monthly episodes to come.
00:00 Introduction: What is a good school?
03:28 Why tell the Chasing Bailey Story? Resident Julia Konrad
06:11 “Every single day, remember who we are.” Principal Christian Sawyer and Teacher Leader Karen Dorris Wolfson
10:41 Last on the list and “persistently dangerous”: Bailey in 2012. Sawyer and Dorris
13:55 Mental health and emotional needs at Bailey. Counselor April Roberts
15:54 Prioritizing teacher talent: Recruitment, development, retention. Sawyer and Dorris
19:25 Getting started: Good intentions but not much else. Sawyer and Dorris
21:05 External constraints. Metro Nashville Public Schools IZone Director Alan Coverstone
23:56 Making plans. Sawyer and Host Barb Stengel
25:00 Teaming. Exceptional Educator and Teacher Leader LeKeisha Harding
28:13 Teacher residents. Dorris and Stengel
29:43 Unpacking race at Bailey. Sawyer, Dorris, and Teacher Leader Whitney Bradley Weathers
35:50 Measuring success. Sawyer
37:03 Chief of Culture. Dr. Claire Jasper
40:51 Closing Bailey and moving the students, despite success. Sawyer and Dorris
42:48 Why “Chasing Bailey?” Sawyer and Dorris
44:47 What was Bailey missing at the start? Sawyer and Dorris
48:35 Relationships! Student Damisha Hanserd
Chasing Bailey is hosted and narrated by Dr. Barbara Stengel, Vanderbilt University.
This episode was edited and co-produced by Brenna Fallon. The executive producer is Dr. Lowery Woodall, Millersville University of Pennsylvania.
For full Show Notes visit: https://www.chasingbaileypod.com/episodes/episode-one