If Bryan Johnson wanted to illustrate quickly why he built a new system of career pathways in his school district, he could just point to Waltkia Clay.
Waltkia is a 10th grade student in the health sciences 鈥溾�� at The Howard School in Chattanooga, Tenn., one of 28 career-oriented 鈥渟chool-within-a-school鈥� programs that the Hamilton County district launched in high schools nearly two years ago.
She studies core subjects through a healthcare lens, and gets real-world opportunities to practice what she鈥檚 learning. She鈥檚 already mastered CPR and learned how to apply tourniquets. And she recently got a taste of trauma care that鈥檚 rare for a teenager: She played the role of a car-crash victim at a local hospital in a simulation for doctors working toward certification in advanced trauma care. Lying on a stretcher and made up with bloody gashes, Waltkia got to see emergency treatment procedures up close.
EdWeek鈥檚 Leadership Symposium | Live in D.C.
鈥淚n 8th grade, my thinking [about a career] was all over the place,鈥� said Waltkia, who wants to be a forensic scientist. 鈥淐oming here gave me a clear vision, a straight shot, of what I wanted to do.鈥�
- Don鈥檛 be afraid to jump off the ledge: You don鈥檛 have to have it all figured out. Of course you try to mitigate as many things that could go wrong as you can. But if you鈥檝e built deep ownership in the idea, and the community sees it as their thing, it鈥檚 good to move ahead.
- Ask what your community needs鈥攁nd mean it: You鈥檝e got to be extremely genuine. When we involve partners in our work, we often say, 鈥業 need your help with X.鈥� But when you ask a business leader what they need from us, it shifts the conversation. It becomes: 鈥楬ow do I, as a school system, help you fill that need?鈥�
- Seek鈥攂ut don鈥檛 demand鈥攖he support of school-level leaders: We involved our school leaders in conversation early on. That was really important. It was also important that we didn鈥檛 demand that they be part of it. This wasn鈥檛 top-down; it was bottom-up
That sense of direction is what Johnson hoped to provide for students when he spearheaded the future-ready institutes after becoming superintendent of the 44,000-student in July 2017.
鈥淭he reality is, whether a student chooses to get a certificate, or go to a two- or four-year college, or straight into the military, everything ends at a job,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭o be productive citizens, they need to be employed.
鈥淪o, working backwards, we need to ask, 鈥榃hat can we do to expose students to the opportunities that exist locally and nationally, find out what they鈥檙e interested in, and get them prepared?鈥� 鈥�
As intuitive as it might seem to design career pathways to reflect the job market, it鈥檚 hardly commonplace. In most districts, administrators don鈥檛 take the time鈥攐r have the know-how鈥攖o dig up local, state, or national job-trend data to shape course offerings accordingly and advise students expertly on post-high-school options. Most don鈥檛 have ongoing discussions with local businesses about the workers they need. Johnson鈥檚 done both of those things.
His work is getting some top-drawer notice. Frank Brogan, the assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Education Department, visited the programs for technology and networking and for teaching in November, and was impressed.
鈥淭he structure of Future Ready Institutes lends itself as an archetype that other schools could use to offer innovative career prep options to their young people,鈥� he said in an email to Education Week. He added that he is 鈥減articularly impressed鈥� with the way the district harnesses business and community partnerships to support the career institutes.
When Johnson, 37, came to Chattanooga two years ago, after 13 years as a high school teacher, athletic director, principal, and chief academic officer in a district near Nashville, he started by listening. Dozens of group sessions with parents, educators, and business leaders helped him shape for the district.
A key piece of that strategic plan is boosting students鈥� 鈥渇uture readiness,鈥� which the district defines as preparing them for jobs that pay well and are in demand. Some of those jobs require only short-term training and certification after high school. Others might demand an associate or bachelor鈥檚 degree.
That means all students need preparation for some kind of study after high school. Johnson prioritized expanding access to Advanced Placement and dual-enrollment classes, and courses that lead to certifications. Under his leadership, every high school now has an asset that鈥檚 rare in the nation鈥檚 public high schools: at least one counselor dedicated to college and career advising.
In his previous school district, Clarksville-Montgomery County, Johnson helped start a system of career academies, so he鈥檇 had a taste of what was needed. In his new post, he imagined a set of themed programs that could give students career ideas and a chance to get a real-world taste of jobs they might be interested in.
But those programs鈥攐r 鈥渋nstitutes,鈥� as they are called鈥攚ould have to avoid channeling students into low-paying, dead-end jobs. Johnson鈥檚 team studied state and local workforce data to find out which jobs were in demand and paid well. They met with local business leaders, and the chamber of commerce and workforce development board and learned that the greatest need for skilled workers was in health sciences, information technology, and advanced manufacturing. They also picked up a bit of data that reinforced the idea that their institutes would have to set up most students for more education beyond high school: 55 percent of the jobs listed by top employers in the region demanded some kind of training or college after high school, but only 38 percent of the county鈥檚 residents met those criteria. And Johnson kept in touch with local businesses as his team built the program.
鈥淒r. Johnson is an expert in teaching and learning, but he鈥檚 also quick to recognize and acknowledge the areas where he doesn鈥檛 have expertise,鈥� said Molly Blankenship, the executive director of Chattanooga 2.0, the local chamber of commerce鈥檚 education-and-workforce partnership. 鈥淗e might not know what it looks like to be an engineer every day, how that learning is applied at work, and he reaches out to businesses for their expertise.鈥�
In August 2018, barely a year after Johnson took the helm, 20 鈥渇uture-ready institutes鈥� opened in all but one of the district鈥檚 14 regular high schools. Freshmen were eligible to enroll鈥攁nd nearly one-third of that year鈥檚 class did so. This school year, there are 28 institutes that enroll 2,550 9th and 10th graders.
The institutes cover a range of career options, from aviation, engineering, building construction, and automotive manufacturing to marketing, business, law, healthcare, and teaching. Each institute has its own career-tech-ed specialists, and one or more business partners to advise them on coursework and provide guest speakers, job shadowing, or mentoring.
In Waltkia鈥檚 program, for instance, a former nurse and a former pharmacist teach the health science classes. They attend weekly course planning meetings with teachers in core academic subjects and help them develop projects related to healthcare and infuse daily instruction with real-world examples from the industry, said Zena Buckley, the institute鈥檚 co-director.
A respiratory therapist from Erlanger Health System, a local group of hospitals and clinics, also advises the institute鈥檚 teachers and arranges mentorships, job-shadows, and other activities at the hospital, such as the treatment simulation in which Waltkia participated.
Johnson has been surprised by how quickly the future-ready institutes have caught on. He thought maybe a half-dozen principals would get on board in the first year, but nearly all opted in right away.
LeAndrea Ware, the principal of The Howard School, welcomed Johnson鈥檚 idea, opening two Future Ready Institutes the first year and two more the second year.
鈥淭he traditional ways we鈥檝e done things for so long just don鈥檛 work for everyone anymore,鈥� she said. 鈥淗is vision, his passion, was inspiring. And his shared leadership style made a big difference. He didn鈥檛 just come in and say 鈥楾his is something we鈥檙e going to do.鈥� He gave everyone an opportunity to have input, get insight, share thoughts.鈥�
The most challenging part of managing the career programs is 鈥渢he day-to-day, making sure that the experiences students have in the classroom, and outside it, are really rich and deep,鈥� Johnson said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the daily instruction, the guest speakers, that there are quality apprenticeships or internships, making sure it鈥檚 coherent and aligned.鈥�
Also a challenge? Carefully curating the institutes鈥� offerings. Shifting a career pathway from one school to another better equipped to make it successful. Choosing business partners. Those difficult but necessary conversations are tough and ongoing, Johnson said.
He manages all this with a leadership style that鈥檚 been a hallmark of his work for years: collaborative, focused on delegating rather than dictating, and on listening rather than talking.
鈥淗e has a real presence,鈥� said Mason Bellamy, who worked with Johnson when both were principals in Clarksville-Montgomery County and reported to him as director of elementary schools when Johnson became the chief academic officer.
鈥淲hen he walks into a room, you can鈥檛 help but notice him,鈥� Bellamy said. 鈥淏ut he listens first. You don鈥檛 necessarily hear his voice until you鈥檝e been with him awhile.鈥�
Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitt frequently sought Johnson鈥檚 advice on how state policy would affect educators when Pitt served on the education committee in the state鈥檚 legislature.
鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 have to prove he鈥檚 the smartest person in the room,鈥� Pitt said.
Blake Freeman, who Johnson recruited to lead the design of the future-ready institutes, praised Johnson鈥檚 insistent focus on what鈥檚 good for students and his willingness to trust his leadership team.
鈥淗e鈥檚 going to allow you to trust your instincts even if they鈥檙e a bit different from what he鈥檚 thinking,鈥� Freeman said. 鈥淎nd he always reminds us that [our work] is all about the people.鈥�
Johnson recently chatted with an 11th grade girl who said she wished she鈥檇 had the chance to be part of a future-ready institute, where she鈥檇 get career ideas and learn about colleges that suit her goals. This conversation stuck with the superintendent, who asked his leadership team to think about ways to extend the offerings at future-ready schools to older students, Freeman said.
Johnson sees himself as a 鈥渟ervant leader鈥� to the children in his district. His parents鈥攁 social worker and a Baptist minister鈥攕haped his ideas about leadership, he said.
It鈥檚 really about influencing, not commanding.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really about influencing, not commanding,鈥� Johnson said.
He鈥檚 ridden that style into important school improvements. When he became principal of Northwest High School in Clarksville-Montgomery County in 2012, the school had an average rating from the state, a 3, for growth in student achievement.
Johnson led the school through an 鈥渦ncomfortable鈥� but successful series of changes, including moving teachers to common planning and shared assessments and dropping by classrooms to offer feedback, said Theresa Muckleroy, who was Johnson鈥檚 assistant principal there. Within two years, the school earned the state鈥檚 highest rating, a 5, for growth in student achievement.
鈥淗is gift is vision, being able to sweep away everything else and see clearly,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to get bogged down in the managerial and forget that instruction is what鈥檚 important. He was relentless about what was important, but always in a soft-spoken and professional way.鈥�
Promising signs are emerging from Johnson鈥檚 鈥渇uture ready鈥� work. When he took the helm in the 2017-18 school year, only 61 students earned industry certifications. The next year, 224 students earned them. The number of students taking AP and dual-enrollment courses jumped from 1,951 to 2,867 during that same period. The district also earned the state鈥檚 top rating, a 5, for growth in student achievement in the last school year, a dramatic improvement from two years ago when it received the state鈥檚 lowest rating.
Waltkia said her time in the healthcare institute has made her more optimistic about her future. She鈥檒l apply to a four-year college, with CPR, medical assistant, and EKG technician certificates already in hand.
鈥淚 feel prepared for life,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t gives me something to look forward to. It gives me hope.鈥�
