Cami Anderson interview

 

Here's an interview with Cami from the TFA alumni magazine:

I've become even more convinced that it's possible to serve students and families at scale. The longer I'm in this work, the more I'm struck by how similar some of the challenges and questions are around the country. How do you ensure that you have great teaching happening in every single classroom? How do you partner with students to tap into their motivation when they might have been disengaged from school previously? What is the school leader doing? What is the district doing? Everyone's asking the same questions and discovering some of the same patterns and solutions.

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http://www.teachforamerica.org/alumni/one_day/takefive_winter2007.htm

Take Five

Since her time in the Los Angeles corps, Cami Anderson ('93) has spent more than a decade working for underserved students. She earned an Ed.M. from Harvard and worked as executive director of Teach For America - New York City and as chief program officer at New Leaders for New Schools. In her current role as superintendent of District 79, Alternative Schools and Programs, for New York City Schools, Anderson oversees the educational needs of 50,000 individuals at a variety of facilities, including suspension sites, transfer schools, and correctional education facilities (such as the schools on Rikers Island).

By Jackie McCarthy

TFA: What was your path to becoming a district superintendent?
CAMI ANDERSON: Being the executive director of Teach For America in New York City was a key experience in terms of what I did and the relationships I built. I knew pretty early on that I wanted to be a superintendent, because it's a marriage of policy, pedagogy, advocacy, management, and just day-to-day work in schools. I like to think all the way from what a good lesson looks like to what we should be doing in Albany to ensure we have the highest-quality talent coming into schools.

TFA: How has your understanding of educational inequity changed as you've gained experience?
CA: I've become even more convinced that it's possible to serve students and families at scale. The longer I'm in this work, the more I'm struck by how similar some of the challenges and questions are around the country. How do you ensure that you have great teaching happening in every single classroom? How do you partner with students to tap into their motivation when they might have been disengaged from school previously? What is the school leader doing? What is the district doing? Everyone's asking the same questions and discovering some of the same patterns and solutions.

TFA: If you could instantly change one thing about the education system, what would it be?
CA: I would have better ways of assessing student outcomes-literacy development, numeracy development, social and emotional progress. We have such inadequate instruments now that as we ratchet up accountability and increase autonomy-all of which I couldn't agree with more-the impact will be lessened if we don't also concurrently have a far more sophisticated, robust set of data systems to measure outcomes.

TFA: What are the differences you've noticed since the mayoral takeover of New York City Schools?
CA: The pros have been that you can make massive, bold change much faster, because you just don't have the layers. Now, some people would say that means you have fewer checks and balances, which is true. Certainly, I'm for fast and aggressive, because the status quo is not okay, but there have been costs to that as well-some good, some bad.

TFA: What role do you think Teach For America alumni can serve in the movement to expand educational opportunity?
CA: I know there are a lot of people in the alumni community who really care passionately about the population of students that has been underserved by the traditional school system. I want to get all those people in one place and show that we can serve this population well at scale. So you have to give me a plug about how I need people. [Laughs] I'm issuing an all-call!