Field Trip Podcast

Today we delve into the critical issue of teacher shortages – and how mentoring programs can be a game-changer. Lynette Thorstensen, a PD specialist in Brevard Public Schools in Florida, shares how her district is tackling this nationwide challenge head-on. Get an in-depth look at Brevard’s comprehensive approach to supporting new teachers, including alternative certification pathways and the powe...

What is a Registered Apprenticeship Program in education? And how can it help school districts solve the teacher shortage? Andrea Dickson, Director of Talent Acquisition in Brazosport Independent School District in Texas, shares how their apprenticeship program enables them to open teaching up to more people who want to teach — but who may otherwise have encountered barriers to entering the profes...

This episode of Field Trip looks at highlights from the inaugural edition of “K-12 Lens,” an annual survey report from the Frontline Research & Learning Institute. Rebecca Strott, Vice President of Market Intelligence for research firm C+C, looks at the highlights from the survey, and explores the pressing challenges and emerging opportunities within K-12. From staffing challenges and strategi...

Diving into the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) in K-12 education, with a focus on its implications for educators, administrators, and students! Dr. Ellen Agnello, a former classroom teacher turned consultant and researcher, shares insights from her recent study on AI's integration into schools, addressing teachers' and administrators' perceptions, the potential uses of AI for l...

In this episode of Field Trip, we dive into the crucial role of parent involvement in special education. Dr. Kristen Williams, Executive Director for Disability Services in the San Antonio Independent School District, shares her extensive experience and passionate insights into the dynamics of educational support and parent engagement. With over three decades in special education, Dr. Williams off...

In this 4th and final episode of our series on workforce oversight, Frontline Education’s Mitch Welch and Dr. Sundie Dahlkamp, Executive Director of Business Services at Pearland Independent School District, explore the intricacies of employee data visibility. Good data matters . Here is why position history is so key to making HR decisions in school districts. Takeaways: The Importance of Positio...

Welcome to the third episode in a short series on workforce oversight in school districts! Once again, we welcome Frontline Education’s Mitch Welch and Dr. Sundie Dahlkamp, Executive Director of Business Services at Pearland Independent School District. This conversation is all about empowering principals. With the right processes, workflows, and technology, you can enable them to make changes to...

“Position management” may not win the award for Most Exciting Phrase anytime soon, but it’s a vital concept in education — and has a real impact on employees. In this episode of Field Trip, we delve into the importance and mechanisms of position management (and position vacancies) in school districts. Dr. Sundie Dahlkamp, the Executive Director of Human Resource Services at Pearland Independent Sc...

This episode of Field Trip is the first in a four-episode series about workforce oversight in K-12, with Mitch Welch from Frontline Education and Dr. Sundie Dahlkamp, Executive Director of Human Resource Services at Pearland Independent School District. Mitch and Sundie delve into workforce oversight and its importance and continued evolution in education. They also contrast the implications of wo...

In this conversation with Dr. Maria Vasquez, the Superintendent of Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida, we discuss the enrollment trends across the country. Dr. Vasquez delves into how these changing demographics affect schools, particularly aspects such as budgets, staffing, and infrastructure. She presents an informed view of this trend from her district's perspective, highlighting...

‘Tis the season: as we approach the end of the year, families are preparing to gather over festive meals, students will head home for winter break... and department heads in schools everywhere will joyfully begin to put together their budgets for the next school year. For K-12 IT professionals, that not only means keeping accurate tabs on the devices in your schools, it also means making the case...

Sam Kirk is the Director of Finance and Operations at Armstrong School District in western Pennsylvania. As industry has dwindled, student enrollment in the district has taken a hit as well. In this episode of Field Trip, Sam shares his experience grappling with the financial realities these things bring to the district, and how they’ve started a new cyber school to compete for students that may o...

In Hanover County Public Schools, there's a shift happening... something bubbling up from deep within the Curriculum & Instruction Department. Something exciting. In the past, teachers would complete their professional learning requirements in large part by participating in mandated sessions for two days every August. “The problem is,” says Dr. Steve Castle, Director of Professional Learning a...

Portman Wills believes money is key to solving the substitute shortage — even if districts can’t raise substitute teacher wages. Substitute teachers want to be in the classroom, teaching and impacting lives. But finances — and more specifically, waiting anywhere from 2-4 weeks for payday — can force an uncomfortable choice. In a world where people can deliver groceries, drive for a rideshare servi...

In 2022, Kelly Coash-Johnson joined a webinar with Frontline Education and EdWeek, and shared five “shifts” or practices that the American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) believes are necessary to address the educator shortage: reducing barriers to careers in education, designing comprehensive human capital management systems, establishing transparent and equitable total rew...

When trying to fill teaching positions, what can school districts do that goes beyond simply posting jobs in more locations? Dr. Jon Isaacson, Superintendent of Hillsboro R-III School District in Missouri, shares some insightful strategies for hiring and, just as importantly, retaining teachers – and the data he looks at to make some of these decisions. In this conversation with Frontline Educatio...

The teacher shortage has been in the news for years — but especially since 2020, nationwide concern has reached new levels. But... Pennsylvania is not Florida. New York is not Texas. Every part of the country experiences the teacher shortage a little differently. The Frontline Research & Learning Institute recently published "The Local Teacher Shortage,” a report exploring job posting and cand...

“If you don’t know where you’ve been, you don’t know where you’re going.” That’s what Derick Sibley, MBA, RTSBA, SFO, Director of Finance and Accounting at Pleasant Grove ISD in Texarkana, Texas, has to say about data. Establishing trends and examining historical financial data and other vital statistics is critical for any school district that wants to avoid financial risk. (That’s all of them, o...

School districts collect a wealth of data — data that often lives in various disconnected systems or spreadsheets that make it difficult to understand and work with. While many K-12 leaders recognize that data can be useful, the in-depth analysis that makes it possible to use data to inform strategic decisions about student programs or financial planning can often feel out of reach. Dr. CyLynn Bra...

School business officials have a crucial role to play for school districts. Not only are they in charge of balancing the budget for the school year, but they’re also tasked with anticipating future financial plans, sometimes half a decade down the line. Compound that with responsibilities you might not think come with the job – like, say, finding missing kindergarteners – and you have a position t...

School district negotiations with teachers unions can be challenging. School business officials not only have multiple stakeholders to work with and keep informed — including the school board, administration and staff, and the surrounding community — they are also tasked keeping the district solvent in the long term. Without a solid picture of the districts’ financial status both now and projected...

Note: This episode was originally released in 2018, but with districts around the country facing a worsening substitute shortage in 2021, the story remains relevant today. When a teacher is out, a substitute to take over for the day isn’t a given. Many districts have a difficult time keeping a pool of substitutes that’s adequate to cover all vacancies. Today, we speak with Spring Grove Area School...

Schools are swimming in data — but there’s a difference between having data and using it to make better decisions. Since early 2020, most people have seen more charts and graphs than perhaps ever before, but using analytics in schools correctly is a developed skill. How do you take all those numbers in a spreadsheet and turn them into something useful for driving decision-making? How can schools a...

While most people might picture buses, crowded hallways, and teachers working in bustling classrooms, the behind-the-scenes work is just as vital. All the work that goes into making school happen: recruiting and hiring teachers, custodians, coaches, bus drivers, food service employees, nurses, and everyone else who makes it possible to open school each day. Onboarding those employees, and providin...

It’s no secret that when students have teachers of the same race or ethnicity, they tend to do better academically. Yet people of color make up a relatively small percentage of the teaching workforce. Today we’re joined by Dr. Searetha Smith-Collins, a career educator and former superintendent and chief academic officer, to talk about workforce diversity in education: why it matters, and steps sch...