School of Thought: 12 Education Activists for 2012

John Danner: The Tech Guy

A successful entrepreneur in online advertising, Danner made a lot of money during the 1990s tech bubble but left Silicon Valley when his wife took a position teaching law at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Instead of coasting, he became a middle-school teacher for three years in Nashville public schools and an activist in education reform. In 2006 Danner and Teach for America alum Preston Smith founded Rocketship Learning, a network of public charter schools in California. Its five schools (two more are opening this fall) use technology as well as live instruction to provide a customized education experience for students. In addition to solid results for students, Rocketship has a school model that works in California’s cash-starved public education system: it is able to boost teachers’ productivity by letting them focus on critical thinking and higher-order thinking skills by using technology for more basic skills and practice. The network was just approved to open 20 more schools in and around San Jose and plans to expand to other cities and states. Danner, being all too familiar with bubbles from his days in Silicon Valley, is more deliberate and dialed into the importance of instruction than most educational technology boosters. He also understands politics. If there is going to be a compelling proof point for the burgeoning online education movement, Rocketship is likely to be it.

Next: Arne Duncan: The Secretary