Matchbook Learning is excited to announce Eric Nadelstern, one of the country's leading educators, is joining our team as our Chief Academic Advisor.  Eric is a Professor of Practice in Educational Leadership at Teacher's College in Columbia University, New York City where he runs their Summer Principal Academy.  Prior to Columbia University, Eric's career in public education spanned four decades culminating in becoming the top educator in NYC Public Schools, serving as their Chief Schools Officer.  Since before our inception as a blended school turnaround management organization, Eric was instrumental in helping Matchbook Learning Founder & CEO Sajan George design an innovative approach to school turnarounds.  In his advisory role with Matchbook Learning, Eric will help us think about we train our staff to build the capacity of our teachers in unleashing the potential latent in every student.  

Over the course of your career that has spanned almost 4 decades in public education, you have developed a unique and successful philosophy when it comes to education reform.  How would you describe that philosophy?

I've been a teacher, principal, superintendent and deputy chancellor. The work has always been the same - only my students have changed. To paraphrase Albert Schweitzer, who was referring to physicians, the job of the educator is to awaken the teacher in each student.

What do you see as the single biggest challenge in US K-12 public education right now?  What is the single biggest opportunity?

You can't reform schools unless you also reform the district office. School districts are the problem, not the solution. We need an alternative to district management of schools that places schools at the top of the organizational hierarchy, supports them, develops their principals and teachers, protects them from outside interference, and holds them accountable for the highest standards of student perfomance.

I'm optimistic because there is a growing consensus in the United States that we need to transform education so that all students reach their full potential. High school graduation with postsecondary learning opportunities needs to be the new baseline expectation for all children.

Why did you join Matchbook Learning as its Chief Academic Advisor?

Matchbook has accepted the great challenge of transforming our worst performing schools and has applied a compelling theory of action to that critically important task. It is an honor for me to support such outstanding and vital  work.