Building the Bridge

Dr. Maria Carlone has embraced the challenges of teaching in a hybrid setting, in which half of her students are in the classroom while the other half are learning at home via video. Dr. Carlone teaches in an elementary school Spanish Immersion program and one of her students, Chloe, was our guest on last week’s episode.

This week we hear the teacher’s perspective from “the other side of the camera,” as Dr. Carlone describes what it’s been like to teach during the pandemic, what has been most challenging, what’s been successful, and how she has grown professionally. The conversation also touches on topics including learning loss and social-emotional health, which have been prominent in recent education discussions.

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

In this episode, student voice is at the center. You’ll hear perspectives on remote learning from an elementary school student. Dr. Wendy Oliver interviews her daughter Chloe, a third grader who has been learning remotely during the pandemic, and is part of a Spanish language immersion program. Chloe shares what she likes and dislikes about remote learning, as well as some of the surprising benefits she’s encountered.

As you listen, you can compare this perspective to what you’ve heard from your own children and students, and to what educators have shared on various episodes of Building the Bridge. By highlighting all the important voices that make up our education system, we can find ideas and solutions that work for all.

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

This episode gives a broad, detailed overview of what school districts nationwide are facing, as Dr. Wendy Oliver interviews Dan Domenech, Executive Director of AASA – The School Superintendents Association. Among several hot topics addressed, the episode touches on how superintendents are tackling the digital divide, food access during COVID-19, handling immunizations, learning loss and social-emotional health. Additionally, Dan looks at the future and identifies changes that he hopes to see in our country’s school systems.

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

About our guest:

Daniel A. Domenech has served as executive director of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) since July 2008. Domenech has more than 36 years of experience in public education, twenty-seven of those years served as a school superintendent. Prior to joining AASA, Domenech served as senior vice president for National Urban Markets with McGraw-Hill Education. Prior to his position at McGraw-Hill, Domenech served for seven years as superintendent of the Fairfax County, Va., Public Schools, the 12th largest school system in the nation with 168,000 students. Follow him on Twitter @AASADan

In this episode, Dr. Wendy Oliver and Dr. Paula Love continue their timely conversation about the sources of funding currently available to U.S. school districts. If you haven’t yet heard part one, listen here to get detailed information about the ESSER Fund, established as part of the Education Stabilization Fund from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) package in March, and the funds made available through the Consolidated Appropriations Act in December. The vast majority of these funds are still available to districts, and the Department of Education has until September 2023 to obligate the funds from December.

Paula recaps the three highlighted areas, of the total 12 allowable uses for the Consolidated Appropriations Act funds―learning loss recovery, educational technology purchasing, and modifications to school facilities related to indoor air quality as areas of focus―and Wendy discusses how these areas are in alignment with district leaders’ goals nationwide, as evidence by her recent conversation with Dan Domenech, Executive Director of AASA, The School Superintendents’ Association.

These funds allow for districts not only to address immediate needs, but to work on long-term planning in implementing instructional best practices and resilient models. Paula also reminds leaders that any uses of funding under ESSA are also allowable with these new funds, so the potential uses are broad and give leaders many options. She also discusses $2.75 billion in funds that have been designated for non-public schools, and explains how these may be accessed.

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

About our guest

Known as “The Funding Doctor,” Dr. Paula Love is a renowned funding expert with decades of experience delivering grant strategies for for-profit and nonprofit organizations, state and local educational agencies, schools, and institutions of higher learning. She is President of RFPMatch.com and―along with her assembled team of highly skilled staff, strategic partners, and consultants who bring expertise in education, industry, sales, funding, and business and fiscal management―she helps connect K-12 product and service providers with the right information and funding sources to improve sales success.

On this timely episode, renowned funding expert Dr. Paula Love shares a wealth of knowledge regarding the relevant funds currently available to districts as a result of the pandemic. In fact, Paula shared so much information, we’ll have even more from her next week for part two.

The interview begins with a review of the funds designated for education from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) package in March (1:40). More than half of this funding is still available, and the allowable uses set up in March have set the pathway for the new funds that were designated in December. Paula gives important detail on several of the 12 allowable uses of these funds, which cover a broad range of needs for all districts.

The second half of the episode features discussion on the funds made available through the Consolidated Appropriations Act in December (9:25). This last round of COVID Relief designated four times as much for education, building on an already-sizable bucket of funding. Bringing more focus to the still-relevant 12 allowable uses, the new round of funds specifically highlights learning loss recovery, educational technology purchasing, and modifications to school facilities related to indoor air quality as areas of focus. The Department of Education has until September 2022 to obligate the CARES education stabilization funds and until September 2023 to obligate the funds from December.

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

About our guest

Known as “The Funding Doctor,” Dr. Paula Love is a renowned funding expert with decades of experience delivering grant strategies for for-profit and nonprofit organizations, state and local educational agencies, schools, and institutions of higher learning. She is President of RFPMatch.com and―along with her assembled team of highly skilled staff, strategic partners, and consultants who bring expertise in education, industry, sales, funding, and business and fiscal management―she helps connect K-12 product and service providers with the right information and funding sources to improve sales success.

Closing the opportunity gap is a tall order, especially during a pandemic when new challenges have compounded previous difficulties. In this episode, Dr. Wendy Oliver interviews Susan Bearden, Director of Digital Programs for Innovate EDU, to investigate how innovative thinking can move the education system toward some solutions.

Wendy and Susan discuss how socioeconomic status contributes to the opportunity gap and the digital divide, and reflect on the ways the pandemic has exacerbated the difference between the haves and have-nots in education. They also discuss what it means to be innovative in the classroom. (Hint: It might not mean what you think.)

Susan has been at the forefront of K-12 innovation throughout her career, and you won’t want to miss her thoughts.

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

About today’s guest:

Susan Bearden is the Director of Digital Programs for Innovate EDU, a non-profit whose mission is to eliminate the achievement gap by accelerating innovation in standards aligned, next generation learning models and tools that serve, inform, and enhance teaching and learning. In Susan’s career as an educator and technologist, she has served as the Chief Innovation Officer for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), as a Senior Education Fellow in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Education Technology, and as a Director of Information Technology in a school setting, among other roles. Follow Susan on Twitter @s_bearden

It's National School Choice Week in the U.S. and to help us get a more layered, in-depth picture of the present and future of choice in education, we're excited to feature an interview with Amy Valentine, CEO and Education Evangelist of Future of School. Amy shares her insights on the history of the traditional school choice discussion, and the ways in which that conversation is expanding and evolving, both as a result of the pandemic but also dating back over multiple decades of online and blended learning. Among other perspectives, Amy shares that “COVID-19 made it undeniable to everybody in our country [that] parents should have the right, and they should be empowered, to choose the best learning environment for their children.” Listen to this conversation between two innovative education leaders to gain a better understanding of the choices parents and students have over personalized educational options.

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

About today's guest:

Amy Valentine is the Chief Executive Officer and Education Evangelist of Future of School, an education intermediary organization designed to support the growth of innovative school models integrating blended and online learning. Prior to guiding Future of School’s incubation and launch, Amy managed a portfolio of Colorado schools where she led academic and operational turnaround strategy. She also previously served as executive director for a network of Nobel Learning Communities schools in California. Follow Amy on Twitter @amyvalentine555

In this episode of Building the Bridge, Dr. Wendy Oliver interviews Keri Rodrigues, Founding President of the National Parents Union. Keri is referred to as “arguably the most successful parent organizer in education advocacy today.” Her outstanding commitment to social, economic and educational equity for children and families spans decades.

Keri's journey as a parent advocate started when she observed that she and other parents didn’t have a voice in their community regarding politics or policy in education. She organized with other parents and formed Massachusetts Parents United, which is now the largest parent advocacy organization, and discovered other pockets of parent power across the country. This ultimately led to establishing the National Parents Union.

Tune in to hear Keri's perspective on online education and her thought about the actions parents can take to ensure their kids are getting the best education possible.

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

In this episode, Dr. Oliver discusses the opportunity gap, which refers to arbitrary circumstances in which people are born, as well as the digital gap, which refers to either a lack of knowledge about using computers and/or lack of broadband internet access. She provides definitions, examples and real-world scenarios to illustrate what these disparities look like and where they are occurring in education. Wendy also refers back to a recent interview with online educator and author Courtney Ostaff, whose experience teaching online in rural areas over the past two decades has led to many valuable insights. 

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/

Over the past few weeks, we've discussed social-emotional learning and ways to enhance the well-rounded educational experience for all students. As the pandemic has continued, teachers and administrators have been actively addressing and navigating the various challenges presented. In this episode, it's time to hear their perspective. 

Dr. Wendy Oliver sits down with Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss, award-winning superintendent of Pennsylvania's Salisbury Township School District, and asks what it’s like to be an administrator during these trying times. We get a glimpse of how things have changed, how learning is approached differently, and how a good leader boosts morale among teachers.

Learn more about Dr. Zigenfuss by listening to his podcasts TL Talk Radio and Shift Your Paradigm, or following him on Twitter @ziegeran

About the host:

Dr. Wendy Oliver is a highly qualified Tennessee teacher and administrator who has pioneered digital learning across multiple states and school districts. She has authored digital teaching standards and developed software that allows teachers to self-assess their knowledge of digital instruction. No matter which hat she's wearing, her goal is simple -- to empower learners. Dr. Oliver is currently the Chief Learning Officer for EdisonLearning. Follow Dr. Oliver on Twitter @oliver_dr and learn more about EdisonLearning by visiting https://edisonlearning.com/