DA Changemakers

In this episode, we sit down with the NASSP's 2024 National Principal of the Year Andy Farley to learn more about his leadership philosophy and his advice for current and aspiring principals in this age of the principalship.

Tiffany Shlain's new documentary, "The Teen Brain," looks through the lens of neuroscience to help teens—and their parents and teachers—better understand the upsides of an intense period of growth and development.

Preventing violence in public schools has been Sandy Hook Promise co-founder and CEO Nicole Hockley’s mission since 2012, when her son Dylan was among the 20 children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. She and the team at Sandy Hook Promise are now a leading voice on making schools safer places and providing mental health support for students by focusing on "upstream violence prevention."

Pamela Shetley and Doug Anthony head the University of Maryland's Education in School System Leadership Ed.D. program, which challenges aspiring superintendents to take on a district’s real-time wicked problem, diagnose its root causes and find the solution.

Recruiting more aspiring educators of color will not only fill teacher vacancies but also propel student achievement and improve school climate, says this week's podcast guest, Javaid Siddiqi, the president and CEO of The Hunt Institute.

Teachers quit the classroom when they lack control, choice and collaboration, says Becky Pringle, president of the NEA teachers union.

In this episode, Dr. Ken Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services,  describes the current school safety climate and what leaders can do now to ensure a safer 2024-25 school year.

Gordian recently commissioned a double-blind study, conducted by Forrester Consulting, shedding light on the pressing challenges confronting K-12 facilities nationwide. Shockingly, nearly half of K-12 school facilities leaders admit to falling short of achieving their primary objectives, jeopardizing student safety, facing costly fines, and undermining the overall learning environment.

Delve into our podcast to delve deeper into the report's revelations, and discover effective strategies for district leaders to tackle the prevalent school facilities challenges unveiled by the study.

Key discussion points include:

1. The imminent dangers of deferred maintenance and proactive measures for repairs and upgrades.

At the risk of telling you something you already know, chronic absenteeism is one of the most serious challenges to superintendents' efforts to get all students back on track. "The churn that's happening in classrooms is now affecting everyone, it's affecting the ability of teachers to teach, teachers to set classroom norms, and kids to learn," Attendance Works Executive Director Hedy Chang says on this week's podcast. 

The Los Angeles Unified School District is taking AI where few other districts have gone before. So how does "Ed, "LAUSD's personalized AI student assistant work?