Field Trip Podcast

Picture what happens happen when every staff member in your school or district – from substitutes to the superintendent – can articulate exactly how they are connected to your educational mission. When students have a genuine voice in their learning. When everyone feels heard and has ownership in education. That’s what Mountain Brook Schools in Birmingham, Alabama set their sights on. Director of...

Kutztown Area School District needed more teachers. So along with several other districts, they offered education majors at nearby Kutztown University the chance to spend time in classrooms — at least 30 hours a year, starting as freshmen. The goal? A source of amazing, well-trained teachers ready to hire upon graduation. But in the process, they uncovered another gem: the program is tremendously...

As the population of English learners grows across the country, Brazosport ISD in Texas is using restorative practices to support ELs’ growth in language, connect them to differing perspectives, and address behavioral issues. In this interview with Grace Delgado, the Director of Language Acquisition and Lorin Furlow, the Director of Special Services, they dive into: The concept of oracy How restor...

(Rebroadcast) This week at Insights Summit 2019 , our guests Nick Indeglio and Jon Ross are two of our keynote speakers. To celebrate, we're taking another listen to this episode of Field Trip from 2018. Being a principal can be isolating. Here’s how two principals began to use podcasting, blogging and social media to connect with colleagues around the world — and the impact it had on their school...

When April Strong started teaching, she wanted to be the best. But it wasn’t until she started filming her own lessons and watching them back later at night that she was able to see exactly what she wanted to change about her practice. It was nerve-wracking at first, but over time, April began to love the growth that came from self-reflecting on her videos. “Any serious athlete watches footage of...

When leaders at this school district wanted a teacher workforce that reflected the diversity of its student body, the answer was right in front of them. Jason Olson, Director of Human Resources at Verona Area School District near Madison, Wisconsin, shares why they’re looking to their own students and non-certified staff to help fill their teacher hiring pipeline. It’s more than just a way to comb...

The financial crisis in 2008 left many school districts scrambling to stay afloat, save jobs and move mountains for teachers and students. Here’s how one district overhauled their onboarding process in the middle of the most difficult crisis they had ever faced — and didn’t spend an extra dime. In this conversation with Angela Cooper, Chief Human Resources Officer at Lexington School District Two...

Heather Stocking wanted to give her Human Resources team more time to be creative and strategic. That meant getting rid of a lot of their paperwork. Sounds great, right? But it wasn’t that simple. This is the story of how the HR department at Bettendorf Community School District went paperless. But it’s really a story about change management. It’s about getting buy-in from teachers, leaders and th...

Over the summer of 2018, the RAND Corporation released a report on the results of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching Initiative. The big question: Did teacher evaluation reforms move the needle on student achievement? In this interview, we speak with researcher, professor and author Dr. James Stronge about his perspective and reaction to the RAN...

A large suburban school district. An 18% year-over-year teacher turnover rate. A superintendent who said, “We need to plug the hole in our bucket.” This is how one school district set out to give teachers more voice. In this interview we speak with Dr. Jeannie Stone, Superintendent of Richardson ISD in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Dr. Stone talks about the factors that contributed to a the highest...

Why do Response to Intervention and Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports matter? In this interview, we speak with Jim Wright, author of “The RTI Toolkit: A Practical Guide for Schools” about his experience in RTI and how schools can impact students with academic and behavioral tiered intervention systems. We ask Jim about: The relationship of school culture and climate to RTI and positive behavioral i...

One of the best things teachers can do to improve their practice is to film themselves teaching, then replay and reflect. This week, we speak with well-known researcher and author Dr. Jim Knight, to learn how teachers and administrators can best use video to enhance teaching, mentoring and coaching. Dr. Knight’s 2014 book Focus on Teaching looks at this topic in-depth. In this interview, we ask hi...

A financial incentive to reduce the number of personal days teachers take? Here’s the story of one district’s efforts to save money and improve instruction. Dr. Cecelia McLoon is the Human Resources Director at Jeff Davis County Schools in Georgia. In today’s episode, she discusses the financial incentive they’re offering to any teacher with fewer than four absences, how it’s going over with their...

At Franklin Public Schools in Wisconsin, building the capacity of teachers means developing principals. In this interview, Director of Teaching and Learning Christopher Reuter and principal Erin King share what they’ve learned over the past few years as FPS has worked to grow building leaders as well as teachers. Near-immediate post-observation conversations with teachers Modeling conversations ab...

Gresham-Barlow School District in Oregon has a fresh perspective on learning walks. Looking for a way to offer professional learning opportunities that promote teacher voice and teacher agency and that lead to growth in instructional practice, they began something they call “Collaboration Walks,” where teachers collectively decide on focus areas before observing a lesson. In this interview, we spe...

San Marcos CISD near Austin, Texas set out to boost engagement, address the issue of teacher turnover and ultimately improve student outcomes. Here’s their data-driven approach. In this interview, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Willie Watson explains how they conducted a teacher engagement survey, what they found and the steps they’re taking in response to their findings. We also spe...

Branding their district, attracting great candidates and making sure all departments are aligned: how Blue Valley Schools upholds a stellar academic record and ensures they have an exemplary teacher in every classroom for every child. This interview with Chief Human Resources Officer Bob Kreifels explores: How Blue Valley’s HR department determines which applicants are the best fit for their distr...

Mary Kathryn Moeller and her team facilitate professional learning at Jenks Public Schools in Oklahoma. In this interview, she discusses the big questions that shape their program, how they iterate and improve, and what it looks like to measure impact. When we spoke with Mary Kathryn, the Director of Professional Development, she spoke with us about: Developing connections between leaders and acro...