Jack Schneider joins us from UMass-Amherst to talk about what community members have to offer local schools beyond tax dollars, and what schools have to offer community members beyond test scores (to coin a phrase).

You can email him with follow-ups, as he offers in the episode.

We talked about an article ("In Praise of Ordinary Measures") on the show, so here is that resource, and here are a few other pieces we've collaborated on over the past several years.

• "Democracy in Action" (2023) American School Board Journal
• Educational Accountability 3.0: Beyond ESSA (2023). National Education Policy Center
• "Are Locally Elected School Boards Really Failing? (2022). Education Next

Cara Jackson, recent President of the Association of Education Finance and Policy (AEFP), joins us to talk about her presidential essay and what she's learned over two decades of work in the "evidence-informed education ecosystem" about what it takes for policymakers, school leaders, and classroom teachers to their very best for their students.

Additional links to things we talked about:

• High-dosage tutoring implementation
• Immigration enforcement and student outcomes
• Standards of Excellence for Outcome-Based Contracting

Professor Jay Plasman, of Ohio State, joins us to talk about a recent report he published with the Fordham Institute, entitled "College or Career Readiness: Postsecondary and Labor Market Outcomes for Ohio High School Students Earning Industry-Recognized Credentials." The full report is available for download, as well.

It turns out that industry-recognized credentials pay off in some industries more than others, that they pay off bigger when credential-earning is tied to CTE course-taking, and that IRCs do not necessarily lead students to enroll in college at higher rates. Interesting findings!

Superintendent Kyle Luedtke, of Frederic, joins the podcast today to talk through his well-honed approach to improving staff engagement, and using that positivity to drive educational growth.

Our VP of research stops by the podcast to talk about what happened in Wisconsin referendums in the Spring of 2026. How did this April compare to previous Aprils? What trends are we seeing? What does it all mean?

I promised to link to Rob's dissertation, in case anyone wanted the deepest deep dive into Wisconsin referendum trends up to 2020.

Bob Soldner sits down with Derek to talk about the processes, actors, and decisions involved when Wisconsin school districts need to fold or join their neighbors in order to provide a quality education. What role do finances play? Will taxpayers in those districts save money? What things ought district leaders and community to think about?

Veteran guests Ross Herdina and Dennis Pauli are back with us in this episode to talk us through

• The strategic challenges school districts are facing
• How facilitated planning processes can help
• How facilitation works in practice
• And how high-level plans are connected to ground-level practice.

For more information on our School Perceptions Strategic Planning offer, please contact us.

Today we dive back into strategic planning, with Janell Bullard from Paynesville Area Schools (Minnesota) and Zack Fugate of Unity School District (Wisconsin).

You’ll hear how strategic planning can help districts:

• Gather meaningful community feedback before making major decisions
• Engage staff, parents, students, and community members in planning conversations
• Turn survey results into actionable priorities
• Build trust through transparency and follow-through
• Create a roadmap for future decisions about programs, facilities, and opportunities for students

We're launching a new service called SP Squared -- School Perceptions Strategic Planning. Reach out to us to learn more!

VP of Research Dr. Rob DeMeuse joins Derek to talk about trends in the staff, student, and parent survey data we collected during the first semester of this school year.

Spoiler: lots of items are trending in the right direction!

Grand Meadow (MN) District Administrators Paul Besel and Phil Strong sit down with SP's Daren Sievers and Agile Ideas Leadership's Shannon Helgeson and Ross Herdina to talk about their experience using rich data and external facilitators to guide continuous improvement.

See this handout for more on the Grand Meadow story.

You can find Shannon and Ross at Agile Ideas Leadership.