April 27, 2024

Footsteps 2 Brilliance: Helping Every Student Enjoy a Love of Reading

Footsteps 2 Brilliance: Helping Every Student Enjoy a Love of Reading

In this episode of the Digital Learning Today Podcast, Jeff welcomes Ilene Rosenthan and Kathy Maximov from Footsteps2Brilliance on the program to discuss how they have been successfully engaging parents and accelerating literacy for more than a decade. If you are a new listener to TeacherCast, we would love to hear from you.  Please visit our Contact Page and let us know how we can help you today!

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About our Guests:

Ilene Rosenthal

Ilene is a seasoned educator and executive who brings over 25 years of experience designing, developing, and implementing innovative technology to accelerate learning. She was a co-founder of Lightspan, the first educational software company to connect school and home through videogame technology. She also served as President of Strategic Initiatives for Achieve3000, a company that developed groundbreaking technology to differentiate content based on each student’s individual Lexile reading level. Ilene currently serves as CEO of Footsteps2Brilliance®, a company designed to scale early learning by connecting school and home through mobile technology and expanding strategies for parental involvement in order to help all children realize their full potential. Ilene began her career as a teacher, during which time she designed curriculum and authored textbooks. In her capacity as a lawyer, she has served as General Counsel to the Government Operations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia. She also served as General Counsel to the Software Publishers Association (now SIIA) and Special Assistant to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Ilene received her J.D. from Georgetown University and her B.A. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.

Kathy Maximov

Kathy is a product manager, blended learning expert, and business development professional with nearly 20 years in the educational technology industry including early education as well as corporate and teacher professional development. Kathy is passionate about education. After launching her career as a classroom teacher, Kathy found her niche working with educational technology design teams to create engaging content that would help all children learn how to read. Since that time, she has successfully managed large-scale software and app releases, created and executed strategic business partnerships, coached district, and school leadership to create transformative early literacy initiatives, organized pilot projects, written teacher guides, led design and development teams, developed complete e-learning solutions, and trained hundreds of educators around the world.

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Transcript

00:00:03.887 --> 00:00:04.427


Hello, everybody,



00:00:04.588 --> 00:00:05.309


and welcome to the



00:00:05.349 --> 00:00:06.929


TeacherCast Educational Network.



00:00:07.248 --> 00:00:08.369


My name is Jeff Bradbury,



00:00:08.429 --> 00:00:10.490


and I have a fantastic show



00:00:10.531 --> 00:00:11.191


for you today.



00:00:11.211 --> 00:00:13.432


Today, we're talking all about literacy.



00:00:13.451 --> 00:00:13.871


And of course,



00:00:13.932 --> 00:00:15.333


we can't start any podcast



00:00:15.352 --> 00:00:17.132


without talking about my edutriplets,



00:00:17.132 --> 00:00:18.393


10 years old,



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and they're reading every



00:00:19.853 --> 00:00:21.594


single thing they can get their hands on.



00:00:21.954 --> 00:00:22.175


Today,



00:00:22.234 --> 00:00:24.135


I have two amazing guests talking



00:00:24.216 --> 00:00:26.097


all about a great program that they've



00:00:26.236 --> 00:00:28.138


created to help young



00:00:28.439 --> 00:00:31.640


students enjoy a love of literacy.



00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:32.942


I want to bring on today



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from a great website called



00:00:34.463 --> 00:00:36.084


Footsteps to Brilliance, Ms.



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Eileen Rosenthal and Kathy Maximoff.



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Eileen and Kathy, how are you today?



00:00:41.427 --> 00:00:42.448


Welcome to TeacherCast.



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Thank you so much.



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We're great and really



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appreciate being on here with you.



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Excited to be here, Jeff.



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Well,



00:00:48.923 --> 00:00:50.905


let's get started here because I love



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talking about reading.



00:00:52.365 --> 00:00:53.987


I love talking about literature.



00:00:54.387 --> 00:00:56.709


I love watching my kids open up books.



00:00:56.768 --> 00:00:57.729


The other day they were at a



00:00:57.789 --> 00:00:59.551


library and in an hour,



00:00:59.631 --> 00:01:00.432


I think they each went



00:01:00.472 --> 00:01:01.753


through like 10 and 11 books.



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It is so important that we



00:01:03.634 --> 00:01:04.956


have the supports for



00:01:05.016 --> 00:01:06.216


students as they are



00:01:06.617 --> 00:01:08.618


picking up these literary skills,



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especially in the younger grades.



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Talk to us a little bit



00:01:11.641 --> 00:01:12.921


about what's going on at



00:01:13.001 --> 00:01:13.983


Footsteps to Brilliance.



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Jeff.



00:01:16.555 --> 00:01:18.537


You just said it so well.



00:01:19.179 --> 00:01:20.180


Your children have



00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:21.921


incredible access to books



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and they love literature.



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And they're going to grow up



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to be incredible readers and thinkers,



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really building the tools.



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So the problem is that in



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the United States,



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nearly half of our children



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actually enter school



00:01:36.772 --> 00:01:36.873


one,



00:01:36.912 --> 00:01:38.813


two or three years behind where they



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should be.



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That's at age five.



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And the reason for this is



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that they don't have those



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resources that your



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children do that our children did.



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And so the question is,



00:01:49.778 --> 00:01:51.420


how do you remedy that?



00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:52.939


How do you level the playing field?



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And that's why we created



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Footsteps to Brilliance.



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We were one of the very



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first companies to see



00:01:59.195 --> 00:02:00.996


mobile technology as a way



00:02:01.578 --> 00:02:03.379


to remedy the digital



00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:05.141


divide and to provide



00:02:05.921 --> 00:02:07.524


parents and their children,



00:02:08.123 --> 00:02:09.626


even before they came to school,



00:02:10.225 --> 00:02:11.167


with the books, songs,



00:02:11.227 --> 00:02:13.389


and games that they needed



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in order to be prepared to



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succeed academically.



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And the beautiful thing is



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that when you give access to the books,



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songs, and games that parents need,



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we leverage their smartphones,



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their tablets, their computers,



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the children really do



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enter kindergarten ready.



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So it's very exciting.



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We, of course,



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also work in the schools



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because we want to make



00:02:39.664 --> 00:02:41.545


sure that the second benchmark,



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reading proficiently at third grade,



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is met.



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Now,



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any parent wants to make sure that



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their students are educated



00:02:50.997 --> 00:02:52.258


and well literate,



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but it's really difficult



00:02:53.558 --> 00:02:55.219


sometimes on a busy schedule.



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What advice do you have for parents,



00:02:57.401 --> 00:02:58.983


especially parents that have many,



00:02:59.022 --> 00:02:59.864


many younger kids,



00:03:00.443 --> 00:03:02.064


for helping to instill that



00:03:02.164 --> 00:03:03.406


love of reading and to get



00:03:03.545 --> 00:03:04.706


kids starting just to look



00:03:04.747 --> 00:03:06.388


at the books and start to



00:03:06.487 --> 00:03:08.009


figure out sounds and sound



00:03:08.050 --> 00:03:08.770


letters together?



00:03:08.789 --> 00:03:10.872


How can parents start down



00:03:10.931 --> 00:03:12.573


this journey to help out their students?



00:03:15.247 --> 00:03:16.868


Do you want me to jump in there, Eileen?



00:03:17.209 --> 00:03:19.431


I am also a parent,



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and I just think that when



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we are working with our little ones,



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they already have this



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inspiration and wonder,



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and we just want to



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continue on the path of



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inspiring their curiosity.



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asking questions having



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conversations and I think



00:03:36.712 --> 00:03:37.453


that's one of the neat



00:03:37.492 --> 00:03:38.713


things about the digital



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programs that we put



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together at footsteps to



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brilliance is that we have



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a lot of interactivity in



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the program that draws the



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parent in we also have this



00:03:48.902 --> 00:03:50.304


really neat toggle button



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that allows the parents to



00:03:51.685 --> 00:03:53.325


go from english to spanish



00:03:53.385 --> 00:03:54.447


because we know in a lot of



00:03:54.507 --> 00:03:56.348


our homes that english is



00:03:56.389 --> 00:03:57.509


not the first language and



00:03:57.550 --> 00:03:58.610


we want to be sure that



00:03:58.651 --> 00:03:59.811


those parents are engaged



00:04:00.711 --> 00:04:02.973


everything in the program as



00:04:03.033 --> 00:04:05.795


well is just available at a



00:04:05.855 --> 00:04:07.757


touch so even parents who



00:04:07.856 --> 00:04:08.877


might not have those



00:04:08.918 --> 00:04:10.218


literacy skills that they



00:04:10.299 --> 00:04:11.460


need or they don't feel



00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:12.719


really comfortable and



00:04:12.819 --> 00:04:13.901


literate themselves they



00:04:13.941 --> 00:04:15.641


may not have that love of



00:04:15.741 --> 00:04:17.384


reading themselves they can



00:04:17.444 --> 00:04:18.204


still give it to their



00:04:18.244 --> 00:04:19.365


child they can still



00:04:19.821 --> 00:04:21.201


play these books along.



00:04:21.262 --> 00:04:22.862


They can go to the Spanish side,



00:04:22.903 --> 00:04:24.023


listen to it in Spanish,



00:04:24.403 --> 00:04:26.384


and then read along in English as well.



00:04:26.425 --> 00:04:27.786


And it's a really powerful



00:04:27.826 --> 00:04:30.067


way to help parents feel



00:04:30.307 --> 00:04:31.427


empowered by what they've



00:04:31.447 --> 00:04:32.608


got just right there in



00:04:32.648 --> 00:04:33.369


their back pocket.



00:04:34.814 --> 00:04:35.654


let's talk a little bit



00:04:35.675 --> 00:04:37.175


about students picking up



00:04:37.235 --> 00:04:38.216


the natural language here



00:04:38.257 --> 00:04:38.817


because we know that



00:04:38.836 --> 00:04:39.596


there's many different



00:04:39.637 --> 00:04:41.057


kinds of reading out there



00:04:41.077 --> 00:04:42.639


there's reading the words



00:04:42.718 --> 00:04:43.420


there's reading for



00:04:43.459 --> 00:04:44.440


comprehension there's



00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:45.560


reading to have a deeper



00:04:45.661 --> 00:04:46.562


understanding there's



00:04:46.622 --> 00:04:48.622


reading to be able to share



00:04:48.702 --> 00:04:49.744


what you've known I mean



00:04:49.963 --> 00:04:50.704


it's one of the things that



00:04:50.745 --> 00:04:51.766


we talk about at the dinner



00:04:51.805 --> 00:04:53.346


table here is what are you



00:04:53.406 --> 00:04:54.367


reading tell me about the



00:04:54.406 --> 00:04:55.348


characters what are the



00:04:55.367 --> 00:04:56.488


characters doing meaning



00:04:56.528 --> 00:04:57.850


and stuff like that all of



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that stuff is translating



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throughout their entire you



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know life really but mostly



00:05:02.512 --> 00:05:03.733


their you know their academic career



00:05:04.553 --> 00:05:06.596


How can parents help bring



00:05:06.615 --> 00:05:07.937


their students from simple



00:05:08.557 --> 00:05:11.158


sounding things out through



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those early stages of



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actually what are you reading?



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What are you understanding?



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There is a huge gap right



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now in people who can do



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that and people who are



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still trying to learn that.



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What are some of the things



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that teachers and parents



00:05:24.110 --> 00:05:25.511


can do to make sure that



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our students are able to



00:05:26.531 --> 00:05:27.952


not only understand what they're saying,



00:05:27.992 --> 00:05:30.355


but be able to spit it back at them?



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Jeff,



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music is one of the marvelous ways to



00:05:35.122 --> 00:05:36.343


develop oral language.



00:05:36.822 --> 00:05:38.043


And Footsticks to Brilliance



00:05:38.264 --> 00:05:40.925


is infused with nursery rhymes,



00:05:41.444 --> 00:05:43.005


both English and Spanish,



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and lots of music throughout.



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So children will learn their



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counting through music.



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This is a wonderful way to



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produce knowledge.



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But I have to say that one



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of the podcasts that I saw



00:05:54.492 --> 00:05:56.293


you do that I loved was



00:05:56.353 --> 00:05:58.194


about having children tell



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their own stories.



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And at Footsteps to Brilliance,



00:06:01.757 --> 00:06:03.418


we have something called Create a Book.



00:06:04.338 --> 00:06:05.899


And this allows children,



00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:07.401


every time they read a book,



00:06:07.940 --> 00:06:08.942


to take all of the



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characters and the



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backgrounds and make a variation of it,



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create their own story, if you will.



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And this is so exciting that



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there are now books



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published and in libraries



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throughout the United



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States written by young



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children because they've



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been using the Footsteps to



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Brilliance platform.



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Yeah, I would just add, Jeff,



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that that's kind of part of



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our collective impact model.



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Like we come in and we



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partner with our school districts,



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we partner with our communities,



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and we create these



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challenges that the district rolls out,



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maybe over spring break,



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maybe over the summer,



00:06:46.533 --> 00:06:48.194


those times when there's a lull



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And they really want to



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engage with families and



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not have that slide back



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from all of the good



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learning that's been



00:06:55.201 --> 00:06:56.223


happening in the classroom.



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And so we'll create a



00:06:57.244 --> 00:06:58.904


writing challenge and have



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families be reading the books,



00:07:00.867 --> 00:07:02.108


writing and submitting



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their writing work.



00:07:03.350 --> 00:07:04.490


And then the district can



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celebrate the amazing work



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that's happening.



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There are all kinds of like



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Eileen was talking about.



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They're publishing those



00:07:10.737 --> 00:07:11.658


books and putting them out



00:07:11.677 --> 00:07:12.439


in libraries and



00:07:12.939 --> 00:07:14.341


celebrating the writing that



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students are doing.



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And when they have a voice,



00:07:16.204 --> 00:07:17.387


just like you were talking about,



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it really makes a difference in their,



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even their motivation to be



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a reader if they're an author as well.



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Speaking today to Eileen and



00:07:26.625 --> 00:07:28.185


Kathy from Footsteps to Brilliance,



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you can learn more



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information over at



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footsteps2brilliance.com.



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That's footsteps, the number two,



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brilliance.com.



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We're going to make sure we



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have every single link over



00:07:37.310 --> 00:07:38.829


in our show notes over at



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Digital Learning Today on



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teachercast.net.



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Now,



00:07:42.771 --> 00:07:44.093


if a school district is looking to



00:07:44.153 --> 00:07:45.454


bring this program in,



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generally around what grade



00:07:48.074 --> 00:07:48.935


does that happen?



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What does a school district



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need to have in order for



00:07:51.456 --> 00:07:53.237


this to be successful and



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implemented in the classroom?



00:07:56.108 --> 00:07:59.091


So we are a mission-driven company.



00:07:59.951 --> 00:08:02.694


And so when we work with school districts,



00:08:03.295 --> 00:08:04.076


the school districts



00:08:04.136 --> 00:08:05.437


sponsor the children that



00:08:05.476 --> 00:08:06.838


are in the school already.



00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:10.060


And we actually sponsor for



00:08:10.141 --> 00:08:12.242


free the children who are



00:08:13.223 --> 00:08:14.045


in the community.



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And this means that we can



00:08:16.447 --> 00:08:19.048


start at birth working with parents,



00:08:19.249 --> 00:08:20.610


showing them how to read, talk,



00:08:20.709 --> 00:08:21.730


play with their children.



00:08:22.851 --> 00:08:24.392


taking them up through the



00:08:24.773 --> 00:08:25.992


foundational skills that



00:08:26.033 --> 00:08:27.793


they need to be prepared for kindergarten,



00:08:28.233 --> 00:08:29.314


and then going all the way



00:08:29.394 --> 00:08:30.675


up until they're really



00:08:30.714 --> 00:08:33.255


doing very sophisticated



00:08:33.355 --> 00:08:35.956


critical thinking work in the sciences,



00:08:36.116 --> 00:08:37.356


in the social sciences,



00:08:39.758 --> 00:08:41.638


in all of the work that they need to do.



00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.280


And so when a teacher is



00:08:49.321 --> 00:08:50.260


working with the program,



00:08:50.301 --> 00:08:51.782


what does that look like to a parent?



00:08:53.883 --> 00:08:54.263


Sure.



00:08:54.503 --> 00:08:56.303


So our program is really



00:08:56.384 --> 00:08:57.745


easy for a teacher to get started.



00:08:57.764 --> 00:08:58.745


We know that teachers right



00:08:58.764 --> 00:09:00.586


now are really overwhelmed,



00:09:01.046 --> 00:09:02.086


that there's a lot of



00:09:02.187 --> 00:09:03.346


pressure happening around



00:09:03.388 --> 00:09:06.308


the science of reading, about MTSS,



00:09:07.208 --> 00:09:09.971


about doing data-informed instruction.



00:09:10.091 --> 00:09:11.610


And so with Footsteps to Brilliance,



00:09:11.630 --> 00:09:13.032


we just seamlessly align



00:09:13.091 --> 00:09:14.072


with what the schools and



00:09:14.092 --> 00:09:15.373


the districts are already doing.



00:09:15.812 --> 00:09:17.813


We have pre-curated



00:09:17.994 --> 00:09:21.576


alignments of our games and



00:09:21.696 --> 00:09:23.557


books and activities and lessons



00:09:24.022 --> 00:09:25.384


that align to the core



00:09:25.464 --> 00:09:27.186


reading programs that are out there.



00:09:27.225 --> 00:09:28.148


So a teacher would go and



00:09:28.168 --> 00:09:30.390


look up their program and off they go.



00:09:30.431 --> 00:09:31.692


They've got a weekly pacing



00:09:31.731 --> 00:09:33.575


guide where students can be working on



00:09:34.024 --> 00:09:35.546


the same skills that they're



00:09:35.586 --> 00:09:36.546


doing in the classroom,



00:09:36.566 --> 00:09:37.285


and then the teacher



00:09:37.446 --> 00:09:39.986


automatically gets reports



00:09:40.187 --> 00:09:41.347


because our games are like



00:09:41.427 --> 00:09:42.467


formative assessment.



00:09:42.567 --> 00:09:44.568


So whenever the students are playing,



00:09:44.609 --> 00:09:45.389


the teachers are getting



00:09:45.408 --> 00:09:46.409


the reports back.



00:09:47.429 --> 00:09:48.691


Parents can be interacting



00:09:48.730 --> 00:09:49.591


with all of that at home.



00:09:49.811 --> 00:09:51.751


So they're getting exactly a



00:09:51.951 --> 00:09:53.113


window into what the



00:09:53.153 --> 00:09:54.493


teacher is teaching in the classroom,



00:09:54.533 --> 00:09:55.994


but it's all interactive.



00:09:56.994 --> 00:09:57.855


they don't need to know the



00:09:57.894 --> 00:09:59.414


phonic skills they don't



00:09:59.434 --> 00:10:00.816


need to know the sounds



00:10:00.936 --> 00:10:02.197


even but they just make



00:10:02.236 --> 00:10:02.996


sure that the students are



00:10:03.017 --> 00:10:04.859


getting the time and that



00:10:04.958 --> 00:10:06.158


they can kind of watch over



00:10:06.198 --> 00:10:08.120


the shoulder also and



00:10:08.821 --> 00:10:10.341


engage and ask questions



00:10:10.422 --> 00:10:11.861


and interact with the books



00:10:11.922 --> 00:10:13.562


and songs as well so it



00:10:13.582 --> 00:10:14.364


sounds like the parents



00:10:14.423 --> 00:10:16.144


really are a partner in this program



00:10:16.885 --> 00:10:18.908


absolutely absolutely and I



00:10:18.947 --> 00:10:19.587


think that's one of the



00:10:19.648 --> 00:10:20.869


things that I've loved



00:10:20.908 --> 00:10:21.629


about footsteps to



00:10:21.669 --> 00:10:23.410


brilliance um coming on



00:10:23.471 --> 00:10:24.812


board is that our program



00:10:24.952 --> 00:10:25.873


also even from the



00:10:25.952 --> 00:10:28.455


fundamentals was built for



00:10:28.535 --> 00:10:31.077


parents um when covet came



00:10:31.138 --> 00:10:32.578


we were okay in part



00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:33.840


because our pro is also



00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:36.282


built to be used with wi-fi



00:10:36.601 --> 00:10:37.743


or without so even though



00:10:37.763 --> 00:10:39.384


we're on mobile devices we



00:10:39.423 --> 00:10:41.946


made a clear decision that



00:10:41.966 --> 00:10:43.668


we needed to have equity



00:10:44.207 --> 00:10:46.869


access for all parents and



00:10:47.028 --> 00:10:48.490


in order to do that we have



00:10:48.529 --> 00:10:50.429


a totally offline mode and



00:10:50.450 --> 00:10:51.471


the teachers and the



00:10:51.530 --> 00:10:52.931


districts still get their



00:10:52.951 --> 00:10:54.731


data as soon as that device



00:10:54.772 --> 00:10:55.912


connects to wi-fi again



00:10:55.932 --> 00:10:57.533


that's pretty amazing that



00:10:57.552 --> 00:10:58.614


you have that program that



00:10:58.813 --> 00:11:00.913


is able to access the you



00:11:00.953 --> 00:11:02.894


know like I said with wi-fi



00:11:02.955 --> 00:11:04.056


or not could you give us



00:11:04.076 --> 00:11:05.115


some examples of a school



00:11:05.155 --> 00:11:06.557


district or a program that



00:11:06.576 --> 00:11:07.777


you're working with that



00:11:07.817 --> 00:11:09.076


you've had a lot of success



00:11:09.116 --> 00:11:10.317


with and what does that look like



00:11:11.991 --> 00:11:13.332


Oh, you know, we have,



00:11:14.254 --> 00:11:15.195


thank you for asking that.



00:11:15.235 --> 00:11:17.277


We have really so much success.



00:11:17.856 --> 00:11:19.457


I want to tell you maybe two



00:11:19.518 --> 00:11:21.059


stories that will really illustrate it.



00:11:22.073 --> 00:11:23.475


One is the other day



00:11:25.535 --> 00:11:28.138


superintendent Diego Ochoa



00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.500


from San Mateo Foster City



00:11:31.580 --> 00:11:33.041


podcast that he had done.



00:11:33.662 --> 00:11:35.023


There was a family that had



00:11:35.082 --> 00:11:36.222


moved from Brazil and they



00:11:36.283 --> 00:11:38.245


spoke no English and their



00:11:38.264 --> 00:11:39.806


young child ended up being



00:11:39.905 --> 00:11:41.006


one of the top readers on



00:11:41.047 --> 00:11:42.748


the Footsteps to Brilliance platform.



00:11:43.587 --> 00:11:47.030


And he has a podcast where he asked the



00:11:48.515 --> 00:11:49.636


child, you know,



00:11:49.876 --> 00:11:51.739


why did you spend so much time?



00:11:52.499 --> 00:11:53.960


And basically she said,



00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:55.642


I wanted to learn English



00:11:56.322 --> 00:11:58.323


and I learned how to speak



00:11:58.423 --> 00:11:59.865


English on the Footsteps to



00:11:59.904 --> 00:12:01.826


Brilliance platform in just 30 days.



00:12:02.486 --> 00:12:03.687


So that's the kind of thing



00:12:03.727 --> 00:12:04.729


that's really exciting.



00:12:04.769 --> 00:12:05.610


And the parents were



00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:07.211


learning alongside her.



00:12:08.392 --> 00:12:09.972


In terms of actual data,



00:12:11.134 --> 00:12:12.934


California a few years ago



00:12:13.355 --> 00:12:14.797


gave a standardized test,



00:12:14.856 --> 00:12:17.038


which was called the California



00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:20.561


English language development test.



00:12:21.201 --> 00:12:24.283


And this was done throughout California,



00:12:24.322 --> 00:12:25.484


but in Napa County,



00:12:26.065 --> 00:12:28.725


which was our very first client,



00:12:28.785 --> 00:12:30.326


and they're still with us today,



00:12:30.346 --> 00:12:33.109


the psychometricians



00:12:33.389 --> 00:12:34.830


noticed something really unusual.



00:12:35.451 --> 00:12:38.293


Before they could even analyze the data,



00:12:38.873 --> 00:12:40.134


there were these outliers



00:12:40.193 --> 00:12:42.576


that kept popping up of certain children.



00:12:43.375 --> 00:12:45.677


And when they reversed engineered it,



00:12:46.197 --> 00:12:47.158


They found out that the



00:12:47.219 --> 00:12:48.900


children who on average



00:12:49.441 --> 00:12:51.743


tested 31 points higher



00:12:52.403 --> 00:12:54.245


than other children had



00:12:54.285 --> 00:12:55.167


been the children who were



00:12:55.246 --> 00:12:56.648


using footsteps to brilliance.



00:12:57.187 --> 00:12:58.208


And that meant that they



00:12:58.249 --> 00:12:59.711


were being reclassified



00:13:00.951 --> 00:13:02.734


from English learners to



00:13:02.874 --> 00:13:04.294


actual English speakers.



00:13:04.995 --> 00:13:05.196


Wow.



00:13:06.256 --> 00:13:07.238


That's an amazing story.



00:13:09.106 --> 00:13:10.008


That's got to make you guys



00:13:10.048 --> 00:13:11.268


feel pretty awesome that



00:13:11.889 --> 00:13:14.370


this platform is helping so



00:13:14.390 --> 00:13:15.451


many students and affecting



00:13:15.471 --> 00:13:16.111


so many children.



00:13:17.091 --> 00:13:17.493


Thank you.



00:13:17.932 --> 00:13:18.273


It does.



00:13:18.894 --> 00:13:19.894


It's why we get up every



00:13:19.933 --> 00:13:21.075


morning and are



00:13:21.095 --> 00:13:22.775


enthusiastic about what we do.



00:13:23.876 --> 00:13:25.618


When we're looking ahead here,



00:13:26.317 --> 00:13:27.318


what do you see as the



00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:29.000


future for Footsteps to Brilliance?



00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:30.600


What's on the horizon?



00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:32.682


I always ask the question,



00:13:32.903 --> 00:13:33.763


where are we going to be in



00:13:33.822 --> 00:13:34.803


six to 12 months?



00:13:35.345 --> 00:13:36.544


I'll let you answer that.



00:13:37.265 --> 00:13:38.145


Where do you see all this



00:13:38.186 --> 00:13:38.866


going in the future?



00:13:41.293 --> 00:13:41.573


Well,



00:13:42.794 --> 00:13:45.017


we have three things that we're



00:13:45.057 --> 00:13:46.337


working on right now.



00:13:47.238 --> 00:13:48.799


One is generative AI,



00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:50.461


how that's gonna be helping teachers,



00:13:50.520 --> 00:13:51.120


how it's gonna be



00:13:51.181 --> 00:13:52.601


accelerating student learning.



00:13:53.023 --> 00:13:54.563


We're really excited about



00:13:54.604 --> 00:13:55.985


the work that we're doing in that area.



00:13:57.298 --> 00:13:58.418


We're also doing something



00:13:58.479 --> 00:14:02.663


that is really transformative.



00:14:03.323 --> 00:14:04.585


We're doing a transmedia



00:14:04.625 --> 00:14:06.846


program with San Bernardino County,



00:14:07.326 --> 00:14:08.688


their PBS station.



00:14:09.448 --> 00:14:10.951


And what it's going to do is



00:14:11.191 --> 00:14:13.072


turn television from a



00:14:13.173 --> 00:14:14.913


passive to a very active



00:14:14.995 --> 00:14:16.735


experience for parents and



00:14:16.755 --> 00:14:17.297


their children.



00:14:18.754 --> 00:14:20.496


And then the even bigger



00:14:20.537 --> 00:14:22.477


vision is democratizing



00:14:22.857 --> 00:14:24.460


education for the entire world.



00:14:24.980 --> 00:14:25.780


We actually have a



00:14:25.841 --> 00:14:27.601


partnership right now with



00:14:27.621 --> 00:14:28.923


the government of Pakistan



00:14:29.024 --> 00:14:29.783


and Teach the World



00:14:29.844 --> 00:14:31.385


Foundation where we're



00:14:31.446 --> 00:14:33.748


creating micro schools that



00:14:33.868 --> 00:14:36.230


children can come and learn English.



00:14:36.970 --> 00:14:38.130


And the amazing thing is



00:14:38.431 --> 00:14:39.773


that Nielsen did an



00:14:39.793 --> 00:14:41.833


evaluation study and they



00:14:41.874 --> 00:14:43.075


find that the children who



00:14:44.035 --> 00:14:46.317


frankly, for one reason or another,



00:14:46.398 --> 00:14:49.019


weren't able to afford even



00:14:49.019 --> 00:14:50.519


$2 to get into school,



00:14:51.380 --> 00:14:52.662


could come to these micro



00:14:52.701 --> 00:14:55.342


schools for a couple of hours a day.



00:14:56.244 --> 00:14:59.046


And at the end, they were actually



00:14:59.557 --> 00:15:01.278


testing three times higher



00:15:01.298 --> 00:15:04.883


on English than their



00:15:05.083 --> 00:15:06.345


counterparts were in a



00:15:06.445 --> 00:15:07.787


traditional school with



00:15:07.927 --> 00:15:09.788


teachers and books and all



00:15:09.828 --> 00:15:11.030


the other things that go with it.



00:15:11.730 --> 00:15:13.113


So we're really excited



00:15:13.192 --> 00:15:14.754


about the future of digital



00:15:14.815 --> 00:15:15.875


learning in terms of what



00:15:15.895 --> 00:15:16.817


it can do for the world.



00:15:17.457 --> 00:15:19.179


That is an amazing story and



00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:20.841


a remarkable accomplishment.



00:15:21.001 --> 00:15:23.063


Congratulations on putting



00:15:23.124 --> 00:15:24.085


all of that together.



00:15:24.125 --> 00:15:26.386


I mean, those three things that you said,



00:15:26.407 --> 00:15:28.068


those are huge hurdles to



00:15:28.129 --> 00:15:30.431


accomplish and it's...



00:15:32.398 --> 00:15:32.998


It's inspiring.



00:15:33.038 --> 00:15:34.299


I got to tell you, as a parent here,



00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:35.340


saying that there are



00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:36.541


programs that are out there



00:15:36.561 --> 00:15:37.282


that are going to help



00:15:37.322 --> 00:15:39.062


students get to where that they need,



00:15:39.524 --> 00:15:41.144


whether they are learning English,



00:15:41.164 --> 00:15:41.905


whether they are native



00:15:41.966 --> 00:15:42.846


English speakers trying to



00:15:42.865 --> 00:15:43.506


learn how to read.



00:15:44.187 --> 00:15:45.688


There's so many different things here.



00:15:45.908 --> 00:15:47.610


And again, Footsteps to Brilliance,



00:15:48.110 --> 00:15:48.951


it's just that program



00:15:48.971 --> 00:15:49.591


that's going to go out



00:15:49.611 --> 00:15:50.272


there and help out.



00:15:51.133 --> 00:15:53.075


Tell us a little bit about what we can do.



00:15:53.174 --> 00:15:53.835


Where do we go?



00:15:53.855 --> 00:15:55.515


How do we reach out to you?



00:15:55.537 --> 00:15:56.537


If somebody has a question,



00:15:56.557 --> 00:15:57.077


where can they go?



00:15:58.148 --> 00:15:59.188


Kathy, do you want to take that one?



00:15:59.849 --> 00:16:00.190


Sure.



00:16:00.409 --> 00:16:00.769


Yeah.



00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:05.232


So we are on footsteps2brilliance.com.



00:16:05.274 --> 00:16:07.134


So that's footsteps and the number two,



00:16:07.674 --> 00:16:09.716


brilliance.com.



00:16:10.216 --> 00:16:15.341


And on our website,



00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:16.642


you can find out a lot about us.



00:16:16.721 --> 00:16:19.784


And we also are on social media.



00:16:19.804 --> 00:16:20.905


And you can follow us on all



00:16:20.926 --> 00:16:23.668


of the standard platforms there as well.



00:16:24.601 --> 00:16:25.263


We're going to make sure



00:16:25.283 --> 00:16:26.222


that we have links to all



00:16:26.243 --> 00:16:27.924


their social medias, to their website,



00:16:27.965 --> 00:16:28.945


and to all the great



00:16:28.985 --> 00:16:29.885


achievements that we've



00:16:29.905 --> 00:16:31.006


been talking about today.



00:16:31.027 --> 00:16:32.748


Eileen and Kathy,



00:16:32.927 --> 00:16:34.349


thank you so much for being



00:16:34.408 --> 00:16:35.230


on the show today.



00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:36.311


Do me a favor.



00:16:36.571 --> 00:16:38.393


Please invite yourself on in the future.



00:16:38.432 --> 00:16:39.633


We would love to have you



00:16:39.673 --> 00:16:40.995


come back and share some



00:16:41.034 --> 00:16:42.254


more great success stories.



00:16:43.015 --> 00:16:44.216


Thank you so much, Jeff.



00:16:44.297 --> 00:16:45.378


It's really been a pleasure



00:16:45.398 --> 00:16:46.197


to be with you today.



00:16:46.217 --> 00:16:47.399


That's right.



00:16:47.458 --> 00:16:47.960


Thanks, Jeff.



00:16:48.822 --> 00:16:49.442


And we hope that you've



00:16:49.482 --> 00:16:50.644


enjoyed this episode of



00:16:50.663 --> 00:16:51.464


Digital Learning today.



00:16:51.484 --> 00:16:52.323


Don't forget to head on over



00:16:52.364 --> 00:16:53.524


to teachercast.net.



00:16:53.845 --> 00:16:54.845


Check out all the great stuff.



00:16:54.865 --> 00:16:55.706


We have our Instructional



00:16:55.745 --> 00:16:57.046


Coaches podcast called Ask



00:16:57.066 --> 00:16:57.645


the Tech Coach.



00:16:58.005 --> 00:16:59.106


And we've also got our Jeff



00:16:59.126 --> 00:17:00.027


Bradbury show where we've



00:17:00.047 --> 00:17:02.087


been interviewing amazing



00:17:02.168 --> 00:17:03.148


educational leaders and



00:17:03.207 --> 00:17:04.588


innovators in the world of



00:17:04.709 --> 00:17:05.808


educational technology.



00:17:06.169 --> 00:17:06.849


And if you're interested in



00:17:06.869 --> 00:17:07.509


being on the show,



00:17:07.549 --> 00:17:08.390


please feel free to reach



00:17:08.450 --> 00:17:10.431


out to us at feedback at teachercast.net.



00:17:10.770 --> 00:17:11.871


We would love to feature you



00:17:12.131 --> 00:17:13.332


on a future podcast.



00:17:13.692 --> 00:17:14.453


And that wraps up this



00:17:14.513 --> 00:17:15.515


episode of Digital Learning



00:17:15.535 --> 00:17:16.497


today on behalf of Kathy



00:17:16.517 --> 00:17:17.398


and Eileen and everybody



00:17:17.439 --> 00:17:18.240


here on TeacherCast.



00:17:18.580 --> 00:17:19.702


My name is Jeff Bradbury,



00:17:19.942 --> 00:17:20.785


reminding you guys to keep



00:17:20.825 --> 00:17:21.586


up the great work in your



00:17:21.605 --> 00:17:22.867


classrooms and continue



00:17:22.887 --> 00:17:24.672


sharing your passions with your students.