5 in 5: Levi Patrick, Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Assistant Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction

Results for America Fellowship Alumni give five answers in five minutes. This month, we caught up with Levi Patrick, Assistant Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

1. Summarize what you do and how you do it.
   I have the pleasure of serving the state of Oklahoma as the Assistant Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction. My role focuses on creating new understandings of the critical work schools and teachers do each day to create a safe and healthy school environment for students. My work is centered around the idea that education leaders should clearly communicate the design principles and program features that research and evidence suggest are likely to produce the desired outcomes, and then center our attention on building collective efficacy by listening, learning, sharing, and celebrating together with our teachers and leaders from across the state.
2. Share something exciting that you’re working on.
   I’ve been leading an effort — really the only version of its kind in the country — focused on celebrating the work schools do to serve the whole child. The model is called Champions of Excellence, and I really think it’s one of the best ways to close opportunity gaps between groups of students. To support schools in creating professional learning cultures that impact student experiences, we have implemented numerous successful Networked Improvement Communities. Check out our data dashboard and poster presentation at the Carnegie Foundation Summit on Improvement in Education for more details.
3. Tell us one thing you learned from someone else during your RFA Fellowship.
   The logic behind the RFA Fellowship spoke to me in a pretty powerful way: policies changed, dollars shifted, lives improved. I think it’s important that we understand that the way we frame our work as policy-adjacent leaders can create clarity — or confusion — for districts. When we can hold tightly to a set of principles and priorities, lean into the difficult conversations about equity that involve naming it and building up and/or tearing down structures to ensure each student is equitably served, that resolve normalizes what once felt too unfamiliar. We can and must ask ourselves, “Is what we are doing working for all?” And, if/when it doesn’t, we have to be willing to adjust.
4. If you could wave a magic wand and have any data or evidence, what would it be?
   One of the most challenging issues we face is our tendency to assume that the classroom teacher is both the root of and the solution to all problems. There’s plenty of convergence around the idea that the system of support for students and teachers is actually the more likely culprit/silver bullet. I would wish for more clarity around which support structures actually create better conditions for students and teachers and more examination of the ways our investments should shift to better support them.
5. What’s the [pick-your-adjective] job you’ve ever had?
   This is the most surreal job I’ve ever had. I think it’s not uncommon for classroom teachers like me to wonder why things seem broken and to daydream about what they would do if they could to fix it. Somehow, my journey over the last 15 years has taken me to role after role where I get to both dream and do! I spent a lot of time wondering why we don’t spend more time celebrating schools, learning from the teachers and leaders who are making things work, and then spreading that wisdom throughout the system. Now, that’s what I do!

Extra Question: How is the Oklahoma State Department of Education adapting its work in response to COVID-19 and urgent calls for racial equity?
We are attempting to be responsive and supportive in many ways but I will highlight two things. First, we are hopeful that schools hear our plea that they should not attempt to overcome learning loss by creating more loss. In other words, we hope they do not overemphasize math and reading scores at the expense of subjects like science, arts and social studies, which do not have standardized testing. Second, we are taking time to listen, reflect, and learn about racial injustices and the abolitionist stance we want to take on more intentionally in our language, actions, policies, and investments.

Levi Patrick participated in Results for America’s State Education Fellowship.