Jim Shelton: Education Innovation -- Improving Opportunity, Equity & Outcomes

Mention innovation in America, and what comes to mind? Silicon Valley? NASA? Tech firms? Not for Jim Shelton. He thinks: Education. In fact, he wonders: Why, as we learn more about the Science of Learning and Development, shouldn’t education – like, say, the military – have a full research & development infrastructure?

That thinking has driven Shelton – in the private sector, non-profits and government – on a singular path: Innovating our approach to learning, teaching and educating, and using that innovation to create more opportunity, greater equity, and of course, better student outcomes.

Jim served as Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Education under President Obama – a role he took only after overseeing the Office of Innovation, which included managing the government’s Investing in Innovation Fund. Before joining the administration, Jim drove education innovation in various roles, including as Program Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. After leaving, he continued his push, serving as President of Education at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, where he remains as an advisor while pursuing additional ventures.

So what does education innovation look like – and how can it take inputs from science and elsewhere to redefine 21st century education? Here’s our conversation with Jim Shelton.

For more information, go to www.turnaroundusa.org/podcast/