Unifying Forces in Education: How Full Scale Aims to Transform Learning for All

PODCAST Season 6 EPISODE 1
 
Dr. Beth Rabbitt and Virgil Hammonds
Fullscale Learning

Quote of the Podcast:
 
If you come upon a wall, throw your hat over it and go get your hat.
 
Introduction of Guest BIO –
Virgel Hammonds, a nationally recognized leader in education innovation, joined the Aurora Institute as CEO in 2024 with over two decades of experience working alongside young people, educators, communities, districts, and policymakers as they endeavor to become more learner-centered. Having most recently served as Chief Learning Officer at KnowledgeWorks, Virgel has forged partnerships with national policymakers and local learning communities across the country to redesign learning systems to become more learner-centered. Prior to his time at KnowledgeWorks, Virgel served as superintendent of the RSU 2 school district in Maine, where he collaborated with five communities to develop and implement a curriculum designed to ensure mastery of standards by all students. Before serving as superintendent, Virgel was a high school principal at Lindsay Unified School District in California. There, Virgel helped implement a personalized learning model where learners didn’t earn letter grades, but rather are awarded mastery for subjects in which they’ve proven to be proficient.
Currently, Virgel also serves on the PBLWorks Board, the Learner-Centered Collaborative Board, and Jobs for Maine Graduates Executive Board. Additionally, he is Board Chair Emeritus of the Aurora Institute and a former member of the CompetencyWorks Advisory Board. 
Virgel holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and a Master of Education from Fresno Pacific University.
Beth Rabbitt is Chief Executive Officer of The Learning Accelerator (TLA). She is a nationally recognized expert in education innovation and improvement, with over 20 years of experience in the K-12 nonprofit, philanthropic, and private sectors. 
Prior to becoming CEO in 2016, Beth was a Partner on TLA’s start-up team, leading the organization’s work to develop educator training systems and research on emerging teaching and learning models and practices. She also was a Doctoral Resident and Director of Human Capital at a start-up school system in Newark, NJ, an Associate Partner at the NewSchools Venture Fund, a consultant to and with Education Resource Strategies, and the founding Doctoral Fellow at the Harvard Innovation Lab. 
Beth is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow and serves on the board of several nonprofits, including Catalyst:Ed, GiveThx, and Portland Parks Conservancy. She earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a doctorate (Ed.L.D.) from Harvard University, where she was an inaugural cohort member in the University’s Doctor of Education Leadership program. 
Beth is based in Portland, Maine, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. As a parent and educator, she is inspired daily and urgently to create school experiences that better meet the needs of every child, everywhere.

​Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators.
 

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education?
• Merger to Full Scale
• Multiple Ps Policy, Practice, Progress, People.
• Time as a resource
• Building community to change togehter
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

 
Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
 
Fixable- Podcast
https://symposium2025.fullscalelearning.org/
 
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions