Teacher preparation in Texas has, for a long time, entailed a semester in a classroom marked mostly by observation and with little hands-on practice. That's all evolving thanks to big changes in policy, funding and regulation around educator preparation programs!

For today's episode, we're joined by Geoff Carlisle and Patrick Steck from Deans For Impact. They share key insights on the future of teacher apprenticeships and the potential impact of this shift for education stakeholders in Texas and Nationwide.

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Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

The 89th Texas Legislature has adjourned, and there was a lot of exciting action around public education this time around!

In today's episode we debrief major legislation that passed, and examine other legislation that was highly-anticipated but failed to make it across the finish line. Tune in for our take on what matters most as the conversation continues around state assessments and the accountability system that is so closely tied to them.

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Join the Conversation! Connect with us on Instagram and send us a DM with your thoughts or questions on any and All Things Education. Your submission may be featured on a future episode!

Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

Are we preparing our students for the future, and what does that even mean in 2025?

As we ride the latest wave of big tech advancement, what do we do about AI in schools?

These are the million-dollar questions we're exploring in today's episode, with varied opinions and perspectives among the ATE pod team.

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Join the Conversation! Connect with us on Instagram and send us a DM with your thoughts or questions on any and All Things Education. Your submission may be featured on a future episode!

Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

Is it a birthday or an anniversary? We're going with 'BirthAversary' to commemorate our first, full year of the All Things Education podcast!

Join us for this special episode celebrating the experience and impact of education advocacy... and not just ours! Today's pod features Teach Plus Texas Policy Fellows Mollie, Christian, April and Andrea sharing their real-time experience advocating at the State Capitol during the full-swing of the 89th legislative session.

A special thank you to Texas State Representative Linda Garcia (HD 107) for sharing her perspective on the importance of advocacy to the effective service of an elected official!

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Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

Well, now what? Vouchers are likely to pass during the current legislative session, which will divert public money away from public schools. Meanwhile, severely overdue increases to the state's student allotment remain to be satisfied. Public schools have long served as bedrocks of their communities; Don't they deserve to be adequately funded?

In today's episode, we examine some of the ways that public education, as an institution, is being challenged like never before. Listen to hear our take on the value of public schools, and our response to some of the loudest arguments against them.

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Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

HOT TOPIC ALERT! Cell phones have become a major issue in schools; So much so that the conversation has made it all the way to the state capitol and legislation has been proposed around it.

Join us today as we discuss the various ways that schools and the state of Texas are responding to the challenges that cell phones present in the modern classroom dynamic.

Resources:

Texas Monthly article on what we can expect to hear about cell phones during session.

Austin American-Statesman article on cell phone bans in schools.

Dallas Morning News article on the effect of a cell phone ban at a Dallas High School.

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Join the Conversation! Connect with us on Instagram and send a voice note via DM with your thoughts or questions on any and All Things Education. Your submission may be featured on a future episode!

Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

And, they're off! The 89th Texas Legislature has convened, and it's sure to be a busy one with public education matters at the forefront.

In today's episode, we take a look at a few less-publicized bills that have been introduced, and we discuss our thoughts on each from the practitioner perspective.

Read the full bill text for: SB 52, HB 1425, and SB 218

Track the Texas Legislature Online

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Join the Conversation! Connect with us on Instagram and send a voice note via DM with your thoughts or questions on any and All Things Education. Your submission may be featured on a future episode!

Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

What is being taught in classrooms and how are we supporting our students? With only soundbites and sensational headlines to go by, these are fair questions coming from those outside of education - and we have answers!

Join us for today's episode where we provide first-hand accounts of what is (and isn't) happening in public schools across the state.

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Follow us on Instagram and send us a 60-90 second voice note via DM with your thoughts or questions on any and All Things Education. Your submission may be featured in an upcoming guest-contribution episode!

Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

A vast majority agree - teachers deserve to be paid more! So... why aren't they? How much of an increase is possible? What difference would it make?

In this episode, we explore potential answers and other ideas around educator compensation and the ultimate impact it has for all stakeholders.

Read Daniel Pink's Washington Post Article

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Follow us on Instagram and send us a 60-90 second voice note via DM with your thoughts or questions on any and All Things Education. Your submission may be featured in an upcoming guest-contribution episode!

Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias

There's so much more to teaching than writing lesson plans and grading papers. Our expertise, mindset and approach are carefully honed and intentionally applied in ways that parents and non-educators might not realize!

Join us for a peek behind the curtain as we reveal just a few of the many lesser-known aspects of educator roles and responsibilities, beyond delivering high-quality content to our students.

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Follow us on Instagram and send us a 60-90 second voice note via DM with your thoughts or questions on any and All Things Education. Your submission may be featured in an upcoming guest-contribution episode!

Hosted By: Natalie Arias, Matthew Balter and Lance Barasch

Produced By: Ace Arias