Getting Smart Podcast How Can We Transform Education to Focus on Real Learning? | Pam Moran, Liz Calvert, and Ira Socol
Nov 12, 2025
Ira David Socol is an education writer focused on mastery learning, while Pam Moran, a former superintendent, champions systemic changes in assessment. Liz Calvert, principal at Madison High School, implements deeper learning practices. They discuss redefining success in education beyond traditional measures, fostering student agency, and the importance of embracing mistakes as learning opportunities. The trio emphasizes the need for belief shifts in leadership and the moral obligation to ensure equitable grading that reflects true learning.
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From Achievement To Accomplishment
- Students often can't explain why they're in school because goals are assigned, not co-designed.
- Shifting to accomplishment-based tasks lights motivation because kids love to do things and show what they can do.
Change The System, Not A Single Gear
- Treat system change as multi-faceted: time, resources, professional learning, and student voice must align.
- Design professional learning as job-embedded, ongoing, and process-oriented rather than one-off events.
Grading Guidelines Created The Shift
- Liz described starting with deeper learning research and asking what students should be able to do at course end.
- Teachers created grading guidelines that shifted emotional debates into concrete practices.
