Brian Darrow is accustomed to making important decisions for the Rhode Island Department of Education.

But late last month, the director of college and career readiness for RIDE, enjoyed a rare opportunity to see how his decisions actually impact students in local classrooms. 

Mr. Darrow was one of the officials from RIDE who participated in the recent Shadow a Student Challenge. The global initiative allowed education leaders and policymakers the chance to see what school is like for students these days. For Mr. Darrow, that meant experiencing a full day of seventh grade classes at Barrington Middle School. 

"I had a fantastic day," said Mr. Darrow. 

The RIDE official spent the day shadowing Garrett Wohlrab, a seventh-grader in the Aqua Cluster. Mr. Darrow said he had a "key guiding question" that served as a focus for the experience — he wanted to know what makes students exited about learning throughout the day. 

He said he was aware of Barrington Middle School's work on developing deeper understanding with its students, and saw that approach come to life a few times that day, including during Garrett's math class.

Mr. Darrow said Garrett's teacher, Mrs. Williams, had the students work in teams on a problem that was relevant and featured a real-world concept.

"That was one of the moments where I saw Garrett's eyes light up," said Mr. Darrow, who is a former math teacher. 

The spark of excitement returned in science class, when the teacher introduced a month-long "March Madness" competition. The exercise required students to pair up. Mr. Darrow said students learned that individual success was not the goal, rather they needed to collaborate and work as a team.

"I think it's just a great concept," said Mr. Darrow.

The education official said the student-shadowing exercise was an opportunity to move away from evaluating school systems and instead focus on the students' perspective on learning. 

"Every day we make decisions to impact students throughout the state. This was a day to get outside that," said Mr. Darrow. "If we want to make better decisions, we want to remind ourselves of the challenges students face and get outside our comfort zone."

Mr. Darrow said his experience at Barrington Middle School included lunch in the cafeteria with Garrett and other students. 

"Lunch was good," he added. "I had a solid barbecue chicken flatbread pizza. Cafeteria food has definitely upped its game."

Mr. Darrow said he enjoyed talking to Garrett and the other students during the break from classwork. Mr. Darrow so enjoyed the experience that would welcome a return trip to Barrington Middle School or another public school in Rhode Island.

"It was an absolutely great experience," he said. 

Mr. Darrow and the other administrators who participated in the student-shadowing event held a meeting to share some of their thoughts with each other about the exercise.