A Conversation With Ashley Flores
Ashley Flores, Senior Director of the Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL) in Dallas, Texas.
Reimagine America’s Schools is engaging in a series of round table discussions and interviews with experts in a variety of fields to outline a vision for the future of our schools. On May 20, National Design Alliance President and CEO Ron Bogle spoke with Ashley Flores, an educator with a Master's Degree in Education and Educational Policy and Management from Harvard. As the Senior Director of the Child Poverty Action Lab in Dallas, Texas, Flores brings a unique, holistic perspective to this discussion, balancing her experiences in the classroom with those in administration.
Ron Bogle: How has the pandemic changed the way we need to look at our schools?
Ashley Flores: I think something the pandemic has revealed is how central schools are to communities, and how critical of a conduit for information schools are in the neighborhood. In fact, the school district and the neighborhood school might be the only public institution that a family interfaces with in the city. When the pandemic struck, schools became this frontline institution, not just for transitioning to virtual learning, but also directing families to where they could get tested for COVID, or where they could visit a food bank, or where they could get rental assistance. And that's because, for most families, their primary relationship with a public institution is the public school.
All of these other public institutions — the city, county services, the housing authority, the public hospital system — didn't have the preexisting connective tissue that the school district did with families. So, I think what this has exposed is a really exciting opportunity for public school districts.
RB: How do we leverage this opportunity without overburdening schools and teachers, who are already taking on so much?
AF: I think it would require a great deal of collaborative planning across the public agencies in the city, and the establishment of a shared case management infrastructure across the organizations. Right now, the burden falls disproportionately on schools. Schools are being asked to do so many things, particularly in this time. And if those responsibilities could be better shared across other agencies, it would free up teachers to spend more time focusing on teaching and learning.
RB: The pandemic has led to a global experiment with remote learning. How has it impacted where learning takes place? What new opportunities exist?
AF: In my current role, I'm working on other drivers of poverty, aside from education. Through this lens, I've had an opportunity to see how different organizations, businesses and people have started to develop virtual content for students. For example, down the street from where I live, there’s a great arts and crafts shop. During the pandemic, they've had to regroup and think about a different kind of revenue model, so they started delivering virtual art classes for kids and adults.
I think there's a really exciting opportunity for these institutions — agencies, artists, musicians, people who are experts in their field or in a particular area of study — to come in and be part of the learning experience for students.
RB: Could you give us your take on what's happened in the Dallas schools for disadvantaged students, before and during the pandemic?
AF: Locally, the Dallas Independent School District has approximately 155,000 students, and I believe between 85 and 90% receive free or subsidized lunches. The city and the school district have a large Latino student population whose first language is not English, so there has been a great deal of work on teacher evaluation, developing innovative school models, and creating choices for families and students.
In the context of the pandemic, I think the biggest challenge is first, access to the internet. But I think a positive that's come out of this is that there's been a number of local organizations that have come together to figure out some solutions so that all students have internet access. That will be important beyond the pandemic.
The other challenge is that parents need to go to work, but also need someone to care for their children. It becomes really difficult for parents to keep up with work, play teacher and parent all at the same time.
RB: What do you see for the next generation of America’s schools?
AF: Schools have to be able to tap into the interests and passions of their students. Having a cookie-cutter curriculum that doesn't allow space for creative exploration and curiosity is very problematic. I’m also a big supporter of project-based learning and learning through doing. So opportunities for students to find meaning and make meaning through creation and exploration is critical. The other piece that is becoming increasingly important is to nurture social-emotional skills in students, the habits of mind that we know are so important when kids become adults.
Schools have the impossible task of being everything to everyone, and it's difficult to get that right. But if you bring in artists, musicians and scientists, if there are ways to better partner with these entities to bring quality content to students, I think that could be very powerful.
The last thing I would say is that schools need to be integrated. We can't have these segregated islands where white kids go here, black kids go here, wealthy kids are here, poor kids are there. That's enormously problematic. My ideal school would be diverse from a socioeconomic, racial, ethnic and religious perspective.
RB: Over the next decade over $500 billion will be invested in school construction. How is the pandemic changing the way you think schools should look like?
AF: I think it starts as a space. There always will be and should be a brick and mortar element of school; a home base, a place that is safe, where kids are excited to build relationships and learn about the world together. But there could also be a greater network beyond that hub, where kids spend time with outside organizations.
Maybe they don't take their art class at school, they take it at the art shop down the street from a local artist. Or maybe they have music lessons with a musician somewhere in the city. I think the possibilities are endless.
RB: How can we create a more effective national vision for our public schools?
AF: That's a very big question. I think locally, we've seen critical investments in education. And we've seen some cities that have taken a real stand to improve their education system. Nationally, I think the bigger conversation should be how and where we will use our public dollars to build people up.
RB: How will design support this new age concept of America’s schools?
AF: Teachers are designers. The job of a teacher is to get to know students and identify their strengths and areas for growth. From there, they design a teaching and learning experience that best meets the needs of their students. Bringing that lens more explicitly to education is really important. The brick and mortar perspective, the physical environment in which students learn, is a third teacher for students and a powerful part of the learning experience.
Having worked in a big urban district, there is a palpable difference between school facilities that are broken down or haven't been updated, and schools with big, bright, light-filled spaces, and students who are exploring and creating. Design of the built environment is a piece of the education equation that cannot be neglected or short-changed.
Having intentionally designed spaces to help them accomplish what they're trying to achieve will only accelerate and advance their work as teachers.
We would be remiss in the next couple of years if school districts don’t take a step back and think critically about what school buildings should be for students, families and the community. I think there are a lot of lessons learned that should be applied to the physical school environment.