Melissa Brown of Pearson Virtual Schools: 5 Things You Need To Know To Be A Highly Effective Educator or Teacher

The pandemic has directed more government funding to schools and I hope that with those increased resources we will see positive change; better access to technology and creative supports for students who remain at home. I hope to see more focus on mental health services and job placement assistance.

As a part of my interview series about “5 Things You Need To Know To Be A Highly Effective Educator”, I had the pleasure to interview Melissa Brown.

Melissa Brown is Director of Connections Academy Schools for Pearson where she oversees school operations for Connections Academy, full-time, fully online schools for grades K-12. Included in her responsibilities is supporting schools with state accountability oversight, staffing/hiring, as well as Connections Academy’s commitment to continuous improvement plans.

Previously, Melissa served for 9 years as Executive Director of Indiana Connections Academy, Indiana’s first fully online K-12 public school. She is a 15+ year online education veteran with a Masters in Information and Learning Technologies from CU/ Denver. In January 2019, Melissa was named School Leader of the Year by Pearson Online & Blended Learning. She was selected to participate in the Executive Leadership Program for LGBTQ Leaders at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Principal’s Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Melissa has also served as a classroom teacher, coach and curriculum writer.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share the “backstory” behind what brought you to this particular career path?

I’ve been an educator since 1990. I used to marvel at those people who were celebrated for their 30+ years of experience but now I’m one of those people! Since the beginning of my career, I’ve been interested in technology and how it can transform education. I’ve always been hungry for information and learned early in my career that technology and the Internet granted access to knowledge like never before — for me and my students, who were equally as hungry for information. My area of focus is K-12 education and students in my earliest classrooms were some of the first who weren’t limited to accessing information only in textbooks! As I found myself helping to launch a small online school in 2001, I saw that information access provided the opportunity to personalize education and help prepare students for whatever comes next — whether to attend college or find jobs. Since working in that fledgling online school, I’ve never looked back. I spent some time helping to provide supplemental online courses to students at a large urban school district and then I began my work with Connections Academy schools (part of Pearson Virtual Schools) in 2010.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your teaching career? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I didn’t expect this to happen but the most interesting — and surprising — stuff happened when I started working in online schools. I heard stories of resilience that I didn’t expect. I saw families who were relentless in their pursuit of finding a school setting that worked for their children and that was inspiring. One afternoon one of our students — who uses a wheelchair — shared with me that being in an online school allowed her to be, “just like all the other students.” In fact, she didn’t even have to share with her classmates that she was in a wheelchair unless she wanted to. She was really empowered by that and that story took me by surprise because, until that moment, I hadn’t really thought of that as a benefit of online schools. Our environment really leveled the playing field for that student and continues to afford such freedoms to students across the country.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

The recent Global Learner Survey (GLS) from Pearson revealed to us that, “63% of parents agree that the disruption of education (through the pandemic) contributed to anxiety, stress levels, or mental health issues.” In my mind, we have an absolute responsibility to respond to this by increasing our focus on supporting the emotional wellbeing of all members of our learning communities, particularly, students and teachers.

For more than a year now, we’ve been invested in the social and emotional learning (SEL) components of our curriculum and embedding SEL best practices throughout our instructional delivery. An example of this would be that our lessons include videos of real-life scenarios that model healthy emotional behaviors and social interactions. On top of that, we’re providing our teachers with training that helps ensure that they are emotionally healthy as they interact with children. And we’re always looking for ways to further support our students from an SEL lens. I think we’ll see some really interesting data come from this in the coming years.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. From your point of view, how would you rate the results of the US education system?

This is such an interesting time to answer that question! I like to hope that we’ve all learned a lot (from the both the bad and good) from the last year, about how we can use technology to educate children but also that there are many ways to provide a rich and engaging school experience. For those of us who have spent a lifetime correcting the ways in which “one size fits all” doesn’t work for so many learners, this has been a kind of vindication.

A silver lining to the pandemic is that, according to the GLS, 64% of parents say that their kids are emerging from this past year with new strengths, newfound adaptability, new digital skills and a deeper concern for others. That’s incredibly exciting! In this moment, when so much changed and we learned so much, we have to capitalize on that and change, too. It’s time to ask big questions — questions about mental health, social justice, equity and authenticity — and take action when we answer those questions. I have a few thoughts about that — five, to be exact.

Can you identify 5 areas of the US education system that are going really great?

1. The pandemic has directed more government funding to schools and I hope that with those increased resources we will see positive change; better access to technology and creative supports for students who remain at home. I hope to see more focus on mental health services and job placement assistance.

2. Civil unrest in the past 12+ months has highlighted the need for schools and school systems to address issues of diversity, equity and inclusion that impact their students, communities and this country. While difficult, with those tough conversations comes an opportunity to really explore change and to understand the roots of these issues.

3. There is more attention on technology than ever before. While we’ve had access to technology for a long time, many schools made it an option for teachers to incorporate its use in the classroom. As a result of the pandemic, technology has become essential to the benefit our children as they learn to navigate an information and technology-rich world.

4. The pandemic provided an opportunity to shine light on the amazing work that educators do on a daily basis. While they weren’t recognized as frontline workers, they are just that. They worked every day to provide care and support (and instruction) to millions of children during one of our world’s biggest crises. While long overdue, teachers are being celebrated more than ever.

5. I believe that teachers are working harder than ever before to be living, breathing positive role models for students. They’re doing that by embracing who they are and by making certain that students see themselves represented in classrooms all over the place. For example, we’re seeing more and more LGBTQ educators coming out with their students in an effort to provide support to students who also identify as LGBTQ. Those efforts will save lives.

Can you identify the 5 key areas of the US education system that should be prioritized for improvement? Can you explain why those are so critical?

The parallel between my answers about what’s going well and what needs to be improved is ironic! As much as we’ve made progress in the five areas I mentioned before, ALL of them need improvement. We need continued access to resources; we need continued focus on having — and finishing — hard conversations. We need access to more and better technologies.

Students in rural areas need broadband access and access to devices that enable learning when they’re not sitting in a bricks-and-mortar building. When children have devices with access, the sky is the limit for their learning.

Continued social and emotional support of educators is critical and providing them the opportunity to bring their authentic selves to the classroom will enable learning environments that are positive and effective. When school districts and superintendents take a stance that allows educators to be who they are, our children will benefit.

More than anything, realizing that with change comes opportunity is the most important thing for all of us to focus on. While this pandemic forced some schools to change course, it’s our obligation to make certain we steer this ship in the right direction, even if it doesn’t look anything like it used to. Educators talk often of creating change, of disrupting the status quo and the time is perfect for creating learning environments that are different than “what we’ve always done.” There’s no reason to embrace a new normal when we can create a “new amazing!”

Super. Here is the main question of our interview. Can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Know To Be A Highly Effective Educator?” Please share a story or example for each.

1. Just be you. Being authentic allows for connection and connecting with students is a highly-effective teacher’s priority and most effective tool. When humans connect, wonderful things happen. My 17-year-old daughter loves school (yes, high school!) for one reason: the human beings who happen to be her teachers.
2. Pick up the phone. I have seen so many teachers who are fearful of calling parents (with or without students) to talk about classroom progress. Never be afraid of engaging all of the important stakeholders.
3. An educator’s social and emotional health is just as critical as a student’s. Many educators place so much focus on student mental health that they forget to take care of their own. The adage about “putting your own oxygen mask first” applies to educators.
4. Be flexible! Change is hard, but it’s a constant part of education. Learning how to navigate changing technology and curriculum is a skill that the best educators have mastered. Those people who can change and grow with the landscape will be successful at engaging even the toughest learners.
5. Collaborate with others and share, share, share. Voices together are always better. The best ideas and progress come from collaboration and when you find what works, share it with others, especially new teachers.

As you know, teachers play such a huge role in shaping young lives. What would you suggest needs to be done to attract top talent to the education field?

I truly believe that the next ten years can be the most exciting time for education in this country. If we do this right, we’ll re-examine the current system and do some things very differently. More positive attention to teacher stories and successes, access to more resources and tools and just a better appreciation for the profession will attract top talent. Online education also taught many teachers the benefits and value of teaching online. Teachers have more diverse teaching opportunities than they have ever had.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

There are hundreds of quotes that grab me and I’m guessing my daughter would tell you that she gets tired of hearing my “life lessons.” But time and time again, I’m drawn to words that encourage positivity. I am someone who believes that something really awesome is just around the corner. Just recently, the artist Pink! received a lifetime achievement award and at the end of her acceptance speech, she said “Dream big because what if it comes true?” I love those words.

When I set out to be a teacher in 1990, I wasn’t certain at all where I would end up, but I always had this feeling I could — and would — do something important. I followed my gut and made mistakes, but I always tried hard to learn from them and hoped to have another opportunity to do it better next time. I am so grateful to be one of those people who got to have her “dream job” when I became the founding principal of an online school that has graduated nearly 20,000 students. My dream continues as I support schools just like that one. I am one of the luckiest people alive.

We are blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

My daughter and I are life-long Taylor Swift fans. I’m talking about “we’re getting matching tattoos” kind of Taylor Swift fans, so I’m going to dream big. Because what if it comes true!!!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Melissa Brown — www.linkedin.com/in/melissabrownEDU

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!