Episode 1: “Let’s Remember Who We Are”: The Bailey Story
Show Notes
This first episode of Chasing Bailey sketches the four-year story of an effort to transform a “failing” public school in Nashville, TN, only to have success turn sour when the district office determined that the underserved students at the school -- mostly poor and mostly Black -- had to be moved out of the place that had become their educational home. Host Barb Stengel introduces us to several central players and to the important infrastructure elements – teaming, teacher leadership, residents, relationships, race, culture, curriculum, collective responsibility, and equity – that made a difference at Bailey, and that will be explored in depth in monthly episodes to come.
00:00 Introduction: What is a good school?
03:28 Why tell the Chasing Bailey Story? Resident Julia Konrad
06:11 “Every single day, remember who we are.” Principal Christian Sawyer and Teacher Leader Karen Dorris Wolfson
10:41 Last on the list and “persistently dangerous”: Bailey in 2012. Sawyer and Dorris
13:55 Mental health and emotional needs at Bailey. Counselor April Roberts
15:54 Prioritizing teacher talent: Recruitment, development, retention. Sawyer and Dorris
19:25 Getting started: Good intentions but not much else. Sawyer and Dorris
21:05 External constraints. Metro Nashville Public Schools IZone Director Alan Coverstone
23:56 Making plans. Sawyer and Host Barb Stengel
25:00 Teaming. Exceptional Educator and Teacher Leader LeKeisha Harding
28:13 Teacher residents. Dorris and Stengel
29:43 Unpacking race at Bailey. Sawyer, Dorris, and Teacher Leader Whitney Bradley Weathers
35:50 Measuring success. Sawyer
37:03 Chief of Culture. Dr. Claire Jasper
40:51 Closing Bailey and moving the students, despite success. Sawyer and Dorris
42:48 Why “Chasing Bailey?” Sawyer and Dorris
44:47 What was Bailey missing at the start? Sawyer and Dorris
48:35 Relationships! Student Damisha Hanserd
Our Host is Barb Stengel, a retired professor of educational practice at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. She is a self-described fan of the Bailey experiment.
Between 2012 and 2016, Barb spent one day a week at Bailey, coordinating the school’s collaboration with Peabody, and serving as an informal cheerleader while also learning from this remarkable effort. She knew early on it was a story worth telling. So over the past year, Barb has spent time with dozens of staff, students, parents, and district administrators who were eager to talk about their experiences.
Chasing Bailey is hosted and narrated by Dr. Barbara Stengel, Vanderbilt University.
This episode was edited and co-produced by Brenna Fallon. The executive producer is Dr. Lowery Woodall, Millersville University of Pennsylvania.
Our theme music is Midnight Blues by lemonmusicstudio. Occasional music includes Blues Vibes by Michael Kobrin, Soul Food by Chris Haugen, and Lazy Bluesy by astrofreq.
New episodes will drop on the last day of the month. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Anchor.
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