Dr. Nick Polyak on Unlearning Your Way to Educational Innovation

Quick take

Award-winning Superintendent Dr. Nick Polyak reveals why the most innovative school leaders aren't just adding new programs—they're actively tearing down outdated practices to make room for transformational student experiences.

First time reading? Sign up here and join 5,422 Ruckus Makers Doing School Different 🎉

A MESSAGE FROM IXL

20 MINUTES TO TRANSFORM YOUR SCHOOL

What if you could identify struggling students and create personalized intervention plans in less time than it takes to grab coffee?

IXL's universal screener does exactly that. Plus, you'll get a dashboard packed with actionable insights about student growth, customizable reports, and research-backed predictions for standardized test performance.

Join the data-driven revolution👇

🎧 LISTEN TO THE SHOW

• Apple

• Spotify

• BLBS Website

Are you subscribed?

🏴‍☠️ BREAKING DOWN THE OLD RULES

In this episode, Dr. Nick Polyak challenges traditional education paradigms:

Key Insight #1: Unlearning Debunked Educational Practices

• What's broken: Clinging to disproven theories like multiple learning styles while adding endless new initiatives

• The shift: Actively identifying and discarding outdated knowledge to make room for evidence-based practices

• Impact: Teachers empowered with current, relevant pedagogical approaches instead of layering old myths with new methods

Key Insight #2: Reimagining School Structure Through Innovation Incubators

• What's broken: Traditional 45-minute siloed classes with bell schedules that fragment learning

• The shift: Creating teacher-led innovation teams who design interdisciplinary, problem-based learning experiences like CoLab

• Impact: Freshmen spending four periods daily in meaningful, community-connected learning that earns honors credit

Key Insight #3: Transforming Exclusion into Belonging Through Bilingual Programming

• What's broken: Theater programs that don't reflect the school's 70% Latinx population

• The shift: Creating Teatro Leyden with dual English/Spanish casts, treating language as an asset

• Impact: Doubled theater participation and families who previously couldn't access school arts now fill auditoriums
  

✌️ YOUR DO SCHOOL DIFFERENT CHALLENGE

Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:

1. Tomorrow: Identify one "sacred cow" practice in your school and research whether it's still educationally sound

2. This Month: Create an innovation incubator team of teachers from different disciplines to dream big about student experience

3. This Semester: Audit your programs to see if they reflect your student demographics—then redesign what doesn't

✅ CONNECT AND CONTINUE

• 🎯 Get the full episode transcript: here

• 🔗 Follow Dr. Nick Polyak: LinkedIn

• 💪 Join the Ruckus Maker Movement: The Ruckus Maker Club

🤝 TODAY’S RUCKUScast IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

• IXL: Meet your students where they are and take them where they need to go. Join over 1 million teachers who trust IXL to drive data-informed excellence in their classrooms. 🔍 Learn more here

• Expressability K12: Your inbox isn't a task manager. Your mind isn't for storing mundane processes. It's time to break free. With Expressability K12 Ruckus Makers can prioritize student success by offloading time sucking tasks. Visit Expressability K12 to learn how here

• ODP Business Solutions:  STEAM programs failing before they start? 

  Most schools botch STEAM implementation because they're missing 3 critical elements. Here's the wild part: it's not about fancy tech or massive budgets. ODP Business Solutions® has researched many successful programs to identify what actually works (and what's just burning cash).

  Learn the blueprint: here

Podcast created by Danny. Audio engineered by Dragan. Show notes written by Christina. Email sent by Soniya