A Date with Data

Canyons, plateaus, the Colorado River, good data. These are just some of the things that neighboring Arizona and Utah have in common. Host Amy Bitterman packs her bags and heads west to take it all in with guests Arizona State Director of Special Education Alissa Trollinger and her northerly neighbor Utah State Director of Special Education Leah Voorhies. Join us for a neighborly chat about these states’ data-quality landscapes.

The Princess Bride, Finding Dorie, The Goonies, data. Stories are everywhere you look, and this week A Date with Data is looking in the state of Maine. Join host Amy Bitterman for the second part of her conversation with even more members of the team from Maine’s Department of Education's Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education: Colette Sullivan, Mary Adley, Dr. Roberta Lucas, and more. We’re talking about sharing data and using that data to tell a story about inclusive education. It’s the Maine narrative, so don’t miss out.

There are many ways to tell a story: words, images, and, yes, data! Join host Amy Bitterman as she sits down with Erin Frazier, the Maine Department of Education’s Director of Special Services and Inclusive Education, Birth to 22, and her team as they talk about how they use data (and movie references!) to tell a story about inclusive education and least restrictive environments in their state.

Lights, mics, action…one more time! We return to Charlotte, North Carolina, for IDC's Interactive Institute 2023, where we grabbed some quality time with OSEP's Gregg Corr, Christine Pilgrim, and Richelle Davis to discuss how states can interact, influence, and improve their way to higher quality IDEA data. Join host Amy Bitterman and our very first studio audience for a lively episode of A Date with Data.

Lights, mics, action! In dating, as in life, it's important to keep things fresh and lively. That's why we took advantage of our time in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the IDC Interactive Institute 2023 to sit down with OSEP's Gregg Corr, Christine Pilgrim, and Richelle Davis. Join host Amy Bitterman for this national perspective on how states can interact, influence, and improve their way to higher quality IDEA data. It's the very first episode of A Date with Data recorded before a live studio audience!

In our last episode of A Date with Data, we got to know the Ohio IDEA Data Team. Now it's time for a deeper dive. Join host Amy Bitterman as she continues her conversation with this innovative octet as they cover strategies for the collection, analyzation, reporting, improvement, and use of IDEA data. Pull up a chair; there's room for one more.

Dates are one thing, but sometimes it’s fun to bring along the whole gang. In this week’s A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman does just that, sitting down with the entire Ohio IDEA Data Team to talk strategies for the collection, analyzation, reporting, improvement, and use of IDEA data. Things are getting crowded in the Buckeye State, but there’s always room for you to come along.

In Delaware, they're doing it different, at least when it comes to Indicator 6. In our second date in the First State, our own Amy Bitterman sits down with Cindy Brown, 619 Coordinator, and Bob Sabolcik, Part B Data Manager with the Delaware Department of Education, to talk about changing trajectories on pre-school environments data, asking districts that are doing well to share their strategies with others, and just generally saying no to the status quo. Res ipsa loquitur, no?

When you learn a new dance, you don’t learn it all at once. It’s a process. It’s one step at a time. Left, right, left, right. In the second of this two-part A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman continues her discussion about how North Carolina is engaging its stakeholders through a measured, step-by-step process that leaves no partner behind and creates poetry in motion. Tune in for the big finish.

Leading a dance is a lot of responsibility. You must send clear signals to your partner, keep the rhythm, and make sure not to step on anyone’s toes. Similarly, even for experienced practitioners, the pace and rhythm of incoming data can feel a lot like a complex and delicate dance. For stakeholders, it can be positively overwhelming, leading to confusion, frustration, and a lack of engagement. In the first of this two-part A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman learns more about how North Carolina is trying to be a good dance partner to its stakeholders by putting in place a structured process for engagement, responding to feedback, and learning the value of taking things slow. So put on your dancing shoes and join us, won’t you?