A Conversation with Dr. Randy Poe, Executive Director of the Northern Kentucky Education Council

Executive Summary In this episode of Leaders Learning from Leaders, host Steve Barkley speaks with Dr. Randy Poe, Executive Director of the Northern Kentucky Education Council, former superintendent of Boone County Schools in Kentucky, and an at-large member of the Kentucky Board of Education.  Drawing on nearly four decades in Boone County, Dr. Poe reflects on the strategic alignment, community trust, and continuous learning that carried one of Kentucky's most recognized school districts through extraordinary growth. Dr. Poe describes Boone County's transformation from a small rural district of roughly 3,000 students into a diverse system of 21,000, once among the fastest growing districts in the nation.  That growth demanded a united strategic direction.  Adopting the Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) framework from Harvard, the district aligned vision, resources, and daily practices around the instructional core: the student, the teacher, and the curriculum, animated by rigor, relevance, and relationships.  Rather than chasing test scores, the district measured student hope, well-being, and grit and found that growth there corresponded directly with academic gains. Working with Ken Kay of the 21st Century Skills movement, Boone County became one of the first districts in the nation to develop a portrait of a graduate, expanding the four C's into a broader set of essential skills.  More than 2,000 teachers were trained in project-based learning, with students defining their own projects.  Dual credit partnerships allowed students to accelerate based on academic performance rather than chronological age, and a student board member, elected by students across the district, brought student voice to every board decision. Steve and Dr. Poe explore how leaders innovate without creating initiative fatigue.  Dr. Poe's answer is alignment: the core does not change, the work changes.  He recalls coach Bobby Knight's counsel that hard work without results is just hard work, and describes an evaluation system in which listening flows upward, from students to teachers to principals to a superintendent who listens.  He also recounts how trust built in calm waters, through open book studies with the board and genuine community engagement, carried the district through its most difficult storms. The conversation closes with Dr. Poe's current work leading the Northern Kentucky Education Council, aligning eighteen school districts with postsecondary and business partners around dual credit, career pathways, and student well-being, and his charge to aspiring leaders: if adults are not learning in the building, children are not learning either, so be the lead learner. Main Topics Covered 1. The Transformation of Boone County Schools Over Dr. Poe's 39 years of service, Boone County grew from a small rural district of roughly 3,000 students into a suburban, rural, and urban system of 21,000, at one point among the fastest growing districts in the nation.  That growth brought increasing diversity and a shift in expectations toward college, career, and life readiness for every student. 2. A United Strategic Direction and the Instructional Core Boone County adopted the Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) framework from Harvard and aligned its vision, resources, and daily practices around the instructional core: the student, the teacher, and the curriculum.  The district held to a small number of strategic goals, keeping the focus on rigor, relevance, and relationships. 3. Measuring Hope, Well-Being, and Grit Rather than focusing on test scores, the district set student well-being goals at the district, school, classroom, and individual level.  Work conducted with the University of Cincinnati showed that growth in hope, well-being, and grit corresponded directly with gains in academic performance. 4. A Portrait of a Graduate and Accelerated Pathways Working with Ken Kay of the 21st Century Skills movement, Boone County was among the first districts in the nation to define a portrait of a graduate, expanding the four C's into its own broader set of essential skills.  More than 2,000 teachers were trained in project-based learning with the Buck Institute, and students defined their own projects.  Asking why chronological age should hold students back, Dr. Poe also built dual credit partnerships that became the largest in northern Kentucky. 5. Student Voice in District Governance Boone County seated the first student board of education member in Kentucky, elected by students across the district, receiving the full board agenda, meeting with the superintendent, and casting a symbolic vote on every issue.  Student voice also informed teacher practice, with students invited to help teachers make units more relevant to their learning. 6. Innovating Without Initiative Fatigue Using a memorable pancake metaphor he learned from Joel Murphy of Vanderbilt University, Dr. Poe e