In the third episode of season three, Tara Madden, Chief Program Officer of Talent Development Secondary, joins Dr. Robert Balfanz to discuss the four essential components of a student success system: a focus on building relationships; holistic data and predictive indicators; a response system informed by students, teachers, and families; and a shared set of student-centered mindsets among adults and what it takes to provide all students with the supports and learning experiences they need to thrive in post-pandemic times.  Madden shares several examples of recent school visits and discusses what’s taking place, how they are designing student success systems, and their impact on agency, belonging, and connectedness.

Talent Development Secondary is one of nine partnering organizations that works with the GRAD Partnership. The coalition is a national initiative that partners with communities to implement high-quality student success systems so that schools are better equipped to address the scale and scope of post-pandemic student needs and graduate all students ready for the future. The GRAD Partnership works directly with schools, districts, and local community organizations to create the conditions needed to bring the use of evidence-based student success systems from a new practice to common practice.