DESIGN THINKING IN EDUCATIONMilpitas Unified School DistrictCary Matsuoka, SuperintendentMarsha Grilli, Board PresidentMarch 10, 2014

Why Change our Model?• Create a more student-centered learning environment• Close the achievement gap, help all students succeed• Help teachers differentiate instruction, customize learning

for every student• Integrate the 4 C’s into our classrooms

What we Accomplished?• February 2012 – “if you could design a school from

scratch, what would it look like?”• Spring 2012 – incubated design teams at schools, best

plans emerged in April 2012• May 2012 – two schools voted to implement a full

blended-learning school in August 2012• Today – Weller and Randall Elementary Schools are 20

months into their blended learning experience

Images of Blended Learning

“Where are your earbuds?”

Student-Centered Learning

Student Engagement

“Learning Centers”

Small Group Instruction

More Small Group Instruction

Role of the Board of Trustees• Encourage innovation and taking risks• Prepare children for the world of the future, not the world

of the past• Today’s kinders will graduate from HS in 2026!

• Provide enough autonomy and space for staff• Expect results that are measured and documented

Perspective of a Board Member (and a grandparent!)

Our Experience as a Board• Uneasiness with the change process• Doubt• Needed to extend trust in our superintendent as the educational leader

• Faith in our staff• We need to support our 21st Century students, but change is challenging for our staff

Design Thinking - Learning by Doing

Empathy - Define - Ideate - Prototype - TestA bias towards action, faster planning cycles

Empathy

• Empathy for students• Empathy for teachers• Recognizing that our students will enter a very different world in the 2020’s and we need to prepare them for their future lives and not the world of our past

Ideate – Prototype

• Typical strategic plans – big committees, binders, too many goals, 12-18 months of meetings

• Design thinking – come up with a prototype that you can implement quickly

Test

• Learn from your mistakes, struggles, challenges

• Do not get overly attached to your first draft• Figure out when to “pivot or persevere”

• sometimes you need to stay the course• sometimes you need to pivot

• Keep iterating towards higher quality solutions

Weller’s Experience

• Year 1 – rough first 6 weeks, minor pivots with their plan, frustrations with instructional software

• Year 2 – changed software platforms, using iReady, smooth routines

• Year 3 (2014-15) – major re-design of their blended learning model

Influence of Design Thinking

• Broad blended learning at four other elementary schools

• New elementary report card, created in 6 weeks

• High school integrated curriculum, 10th grade English, World History, Chemistry

• School furniture, finding the right tools for 21st Century learning

Design Thinking as One Tool

• We still do traditional timeline and planning• Budgets, staffing, hiring, facilities

• We have a Local Educational Agency Plan (LEAP)

• We are working on our LCAP• Design thinking is a tool and a mindset