speaker-0: AI or innovation will never replace a an affected teacher. You'll never replace that pr those relationships that are built. But innovation is also needed ⁓ to enhance the instruction.
speaker-1: Hello and welcome to another episode of Power School's Stronger School Podcast. My name is Jesse Roy, and I'm excited to be joined today by Dr. Jeremy Oa, the superintendent of Jacksonville North Pulaski Schools in Arkansas, as well as the board president of IST ASCD. Dr. Oa, thank you so much for taking the time.
speaker-0: ⁓ thank you for having me, Jesse.
speaker-1: Now, I know you and I had a chance to catch up at the big IST AS C D conference this summer, ⁓ where you were you were presiding in your role over I think we approach about twenty thousand attendees, if that sounds right.
speaker-0: Yes, about twenty thousand, that's correct.
speaker-1: Probably more top of mind right now is your day job ⁓ as superintendent of Jacksonville North Pulaski. So I'd like to start there if it works for you and and chat a little bit about the start of the school year.
speaker-0: Yes, definitely. ⁓ starting the school year ⁓ this week with a focus on academics, behavior, and culture. ⁓ we have the mantra of learning is required. So day one, we're ⁓ ensuring that the the foundation of learning is ⁓ is started with building the relationships ⁓ between the students and the teachers and the leaders. And also ⁓ creating that atmosphere where learning is will be conducive ⁓ for this year. And then really focusing on tier one grade level instruction each and every day so that we can continue to grow our students academically but also behaviorally.
speaker-1: So at the district and and at the school site level, you know, what are some best practices that you've used or you've seen ⁓ in your staff in terms of setting those early conditions? You know, what do they focus on and and kind of how do they get there to set the stage for a successful year?
speaker-0: Well definitely look at ⁓ their ⁓ capacity as educators or leaders and and based upon that, you know, develop their professional growth plan. But what we also have done at the district level was change the way we provide professional learning. So it's not a sit and get and one size fits all type of professional development. We are offer a catalog, we call it voltage, ⁓ because our mascot is the the Titans. And so We provide a series, multiple ⁓ sessions that our educators and leaders are able to select based on where their ⁓ capacity is is currently. And then that way they receive the professional learning that's conducive ⁓ to their area of expertise, but also to their level of learning as well. And so we've definitely made a change in that ⁓ a couple of years ago and ⁓ just finished that ⁓ Last round last week with them.
speaker-1: I love that because, you know, you and I know that that best practice in in, you know, meeting students where there are this is personalizing, you know, the way we structure our lessons, the supports we give them, the accommodations we provide, identifying their strengths and needs. And it makes sense to do the same with our teachers and school leaders in terms of kind of their professional growth. It becomes, you know, from my time in the classroom doing that with students, it becomes a lot to manage. It it's worth the effort. But talk to me about the challenges of personalizing professional growth for so many staff and so many unique needs.
speaker-0: Well, it's it's definitely ⁓ challenging at times. But what we like to think of ⁓ and always keep in mind what's best for our young people, for our students, and then what's best for the people who have direct impact on them. So what's best for our educators and leaders at the school setting. And so persons ⁓ personalizing the learning for our teachers and leaders ⁓ serve as an example of what we expect for them to do in the classroom. And so it's And it's really when we talk about equitable access, that's the very essence of that, is making sure each young person, each student receives exactly what he or she needs to be successful. And so we want to be able to ⁓ emulate that at the district level too, when we provide that professional learning ⁓ to our educators.
speaker-1: And I want to imagine and and I'm not sure if if you measure this in the district, but I think I think research also bears this out that that this has positive impacts on school culture, on retaining high quality staff when you're able to personalize their experience and provide support that's kind of most relevant to their journey in the school or the classroom.
speaker-0: Yes, definitely agree. And just, you know, so we have the data quantitatively, ⁓ that shows ⁓ how ⁓ teachers are being retained and but the qualitative data is also important because the feedback and the response that we receive from our staff has been positive on how we have ⁓ changed the professional learning and they appreciate s not sitting in a room getting a sitting get PD that they don't need or won't put be put to use.
speaker-1: 100%. I wanna I wanna double click into this idea of of supporting staff and and I wanna take two additional lenses to it. One, the start of the year, and two, the early experience or the onboarding or induction of teachers who are new to the district, because undoubtedly, you know, you have any number of new folks in either new positions or new buildings or just new to the district entirely. How do you work? How do you do early work or how do members of your staff do early work to support your new teachers in being successful sooner.
speaker-0: So what we do, we strategically ⁓ partner the new teachers with mentor teachers, so experienced teachers. ⁓ so that's what we have done ⁓ for the most part with all of our ⁓ new teachers, but we also have a partnership with UA Little Rock a ⁓ local university here where we have a paid teacher residency. And so those teacher interns during that entire year of their residency program. are paired with a mentor teacher ⁓ who teaches and supports alongside with them. So when they when we're able to hire them as new teachers of teachers of on on of record the next year, those mentor teachers continue to mentor them. And so they have built those relationships ⁓ back and forth and they're able to continue to grow as new teachers. But we also have ⁓ other ⁓ Teacher supports throughout the year where the leaders ⁓ check in within my curriculum and instruction team, ⁓ meet with the ⁓ team members, meet with the new teachers, novice teachers, ⁓ as well as a lot of the leaders just to have that ongoing support ⁓ each year. And I will tell you, Jesse, we also have ⁓ curated ⁓ professional learning that's geared just to new teachers as well, so that they are in the environment with other people who are in the same situation as them. And so is it removes that intimidating ⁓ type feeling ⁓ that they may have by sitting in PD with tenure teachers.
speaker-1: Kind of kind of a cohort model, which which I really like. Yeah. You mentioned so this idea of your partnership with the university. And and I love this idea of kind of the longer runway it creates, where, you know, young novice teachers are engaging with the folks who will continue to support them when they're, you know, ultimately in seat earlier, more frequently. That seems unique to me. Is is that is that something that you think or in your experience is unique to Jacksonville, North Pulaski, or are we seeing this model in other places?
speaker-0: I will say it's no longer. We started this about three years ago and it was fairly new, a fairly new process ⁓ here in the state of Arkansas for sure. ⁓ but we've seen more districts to partner with universities to ⁓ with residency programs. ⁓ and we've also seen ⁓ the uptick in a number of districts outside the state of Arkansas who have started to ⁓ to partner with ⁓ educator prep programs so that one, it's an advantage for the district because that's a direct pipeline for ⁓ personnel employment. But also it's really impacting the education profession as well because we're growing teachers. I mean, you you think about the advantage of having a year long residency in a school, when you start at at being the teacher of record the next year, you don't have those new teacher jitters or that that ⁓ that phase where you're just learning the ropes, you've already built those relationships, already understand the district policies and procedures. So you have you're better prepared to start providing a sound instruct teaching and learning experience for your young people the first week of school instead of three or four weeks out.
speaker-1: It it makes so much sense. And and I'm glad you you pointed to this idea of of teacher pipeline as well, because because we know that's a challenge. Teacher pipeline, school leader pipeline. ⁓ and this idea that not only are you preparing teachers to be successful earlier, but you're also engaging with potential teaching candidates for your district, you know, a year in advance. ⁓ you know, I know when I was student teaching, you know, you did not necessarily do your student teaching, which was typically not a full year, in the same place that you're going to be teaching. You know, you go out and search for a job. But this almost becomes like a version of of grow your own.
speaker-0: Exactly. And yeah, it and that's actually what it is, is growing our own and really focusing on equitable access for our young people because we know that ⁓ when we grow our own, when we participate in this teacher residency, our ⁓ teachers are better prepared to teach our community of students and which means that students are achieving more and growing more.
speaker-1: Right. Right. That that context matters. ⁓ you know, the the function of a district or a specific building, the population you're going to be working with, the expectations of the community, like that varies from place to place. So what a what a great advantage to those to those early teachers. I wanna I wanna stick with the start of the year, but I actually I wanna get back to something you and I chatted about at ISTE and something you were clearly really passionate about, Dr. Ella, and something that I know is so fundamental to so many different student outcomes. And that's the partnership between school and home or school and families. Talk to me about this time of year, early in the school year, and how you start off on the right foot with kind of that homeschool partnership or homeschool communication, either at the district level or the school level or even the classroom.
speaker-0: Well, it's definitely ⁓ important to start like you mentioned, Jesse, at the front of at the beginning of the school year because that's where you really set the tone. And if you don't establish a positive connection ⁓ with families, that could really change the dynamics of that school year. And so we do a lot of communication and and somewhat even over communicate with our parents with the information. And then when we ⁓ have dropped the ball or if there's been some hiccups ⁓ during the start of the school year, we immediately address those and acknowledge and correct those ⁓ those ⁓ those hiccups or those those issues that ⁓ we had at the beginning. And so it's just having that ongoing ⁓ conversation and then establishing ways for parents to share their ⁓ their concerns or feedback. So that open line of communication ⁓ in a multiple ⁓ of ways. So just not via ⁓ email or social media, but making sure parents have access to all the leaders, all the support ⁓ team members throughout. And so we we definitely made sure we have that focus of engaging our pe our families, our parents, ⁓ community members at the very beginning, ⁓ even with our open houses, ⁓ and setting that tone. ⁓ of making sure parents know that they feel welcome and that we want them ⁓ part of our ⁓ educational environment.
speaker-1: I I love that last sentence because I think, you know, in my time in education or even when I was a student, we we have evolved from communication with parents, which can feel sort of monodirectional, to engagement with parents, which was maybe a next step towards making it a little more balanced, to now like true partnership, like honoring and accessing and respecting the important knowledge and understanding and roles and challenges and strengths of our parent partners in supporting, you know, the students that they have the most insight around. How do you, how do you support engaging as or or partnering with as many parents as possible? Because we know, you know, there's a a diversity of ability, there are language barriers sometimes. There's just, you know, the challenges of working several jobs. What happens in North Polask year? What are some good examples of approaches that you've all used to make sure as many parents are able to participate in the process as possible?
speaker-0: So we have a variety of ways that ⁓ we partner with parents. ⁓ we have ⁓ in-person events, ⁓ both academically and socially. So when we ⁓ have student performances, ⁓ we invite parents out and we use those ⁓ opportunities to also share ⁓ academic information or updates with our parents. But we also have ⁓ opportunities where we have virtual ⁓ events and meetings where parents who may not be able to come in person, but they're able to ⁓ join a meeting or an event virtually. ⁓ we and it's just a variety of ways that parents can come in. We have small intimate events or we tack on to like athletic events and create larger events so that we can make sure that we engage as many parents as possible. We've also launched ⁓ this feature called rooms through aptogee where it increases the communication opportunity between ⁓ students and teachers, teachers and parents, ⁓ athletes and coaches or ⁓ club members and sponsors, leaders. And but it's all ⁓ operated ⁓ under the district's operational system. So parents don't have to feel like they just ⁓ they have to go to social media or to any other ⁓ communication tool. We have a actual a tool specified for all types of communication and updates.
speaker-1: Now talk to me a little bit, you know, Jacksonville North Pulaski, as I recalled forty five hundred students approximately. Talk to me a little bit about the community and and sort of the important relationship between the district and the community and how one sort of elevates the other.
speaker-0: Yeah, approximately. Yeah. Yeah, we discovered ⁓ Jesse when we first started, ⁓ we're actually celebrate celebrating our ten years of operation this year. Right. And we ⁓ started ⁓ this district knowing that we really could not have the impact on our young peoples academically or behaviorally without a strong partnership with the community. ⁓ we also are the home of the Little Rock Airport space and we realize that ⁓ we have to have a strong relationship with those partners as well. And so we've made a concerted effort in ⁓ within our strategic plan, ⁓ any of our ⁓ school district events, we ensure that we have community partners come in. But also as a part of my job as superintendent, I participate in several community organizations and events as well. And then I'm able to share updates. ⁓ for instance, our local chamber of commerce. I'm a ⁓ ex officio board member there. So every meeting. I'm able to share updates on what's happening at our schools and our districts to all of our chamber members too. So just being an active participant ⁓ in in multiple ways within our community ⁓ will keep them informed.
speaker-1: I l I love this idea and and you've really sort of embodied this in some of the other hats you've worn up, but you know, you don't have enough going on already. But you know, the idea of the superintendent as a community leader. Because a we know, you know, education is is, you know, such an important asset to a community, to a state, ⁓ generally. Also because, you know, so much of your job is facing upward and outward. You know, as much as you are a support for your cabinet, for your s for your school leaders. Your job is to be an advocate and someone with the finger on the pulse of the expectations and the needs of the surrounding community that that supports you all and sends their students to be educated by you. ⁓ so so I I really appreciate that you blur the line, so to speak.
speaker-0: ⁓ yeah. I mean, it's definitely even when it comes to our legislative session for the state of Arkansas, it's important ⁓ that I'm there and and participating in that session because then I can come back to our district and share the updates with my staff, with my parents, with my board members, and even with the community, so we can actually be more engaged citizens in that work that happens at the state capitol.
speaker-1: Let me let me sort of follow your lead here and zoom out a little bit and pull in this other piece, which is you as the president of the board for ISTASCD, which it not hard to argue, you know, makes you one of the most prominent ed tech thought leaders in the country and and probably even globally, which, you know, I try not to overstate it too much more. And I don't expect you to say anything, but like, you know, what you do is really essential to the future of education. How do you Or how do you encourage or what should the expectation be for district leaders to be advocates to legislative bodies or to their communities around pressing issues in educational technology right now? Because we know right now it feels a little thorny. You know, there's a lot of misinformation out there. There's a lot of strong stances using partial information right now around things, and I'll be specific, like screen time or ⁓ artificial intelligence in districts. What is the role of someone like yourself who's a superintendent? Or someone in a policy organization to stand up and say, Hey, this is what I experience every day, or this is what my staff members experience, and help the community or a legislative body understand, you know, the nuances of something like this.
speaker-0: If ⁓ just it's it's it's imperative ⁓ that ⁓ educational leaders ⁓ are a part of that conversation and take lead in that conversation. I mean, if there's an e expert in on any of those ⁓ topics that you just mentioned, ⁓ it's the it's really ⁓ those are the educational leaders who are the experts because they ⁓ they vet the potential educational partners. They put ⁓ they attend the professional learning experiences and and they stay well informed. So and and that's another, you know, it's a two-edged sword because as educational leaders, we have to make sure we stay abreast with the current trends and issues that are impacting education so that legislators, parents, community leaders, members, see us as that thought partner or that source of ⁓ educational information. And then we have to proactively participate in those ⁓ discussions and not wait to be asked to join. ⁓ when when we know that there's legislation that could potentially harm ⁓ our school districts, our schools, our students, our educators, then we need to proactively arm our legislat ⁓ legislators with the right information, both at the state level and the federal level. And so we have a a important responsibility in making sure that we fill those gaps with the right information, the correct information, and the timely information that will inform their legislative ⁓ decisions. And and it takes away the excuse that they don't know or they didn't know or they they didn't hear about it, because now once we are proactive in sharing the information, it is up to them to decide what to do with the information, if they use it or not. But we need to be able to be proactive in sharing the information.
speaker-1: So I I think this is just me soapboxing for a second. Sometimes educators as the experts, that that idea is overlooked a little bit, or or you know, the the possibility or potential there can be a little diminished, you know, by, you know, various political, you know, statements or slings and arrows or whatever. I'm not gonna dig too deeply into it. But I love what you're saying that it is important that we assert ourselves as experts, that we that we build the trust that will lead to being getting the attention we deserve in helping to guide policy, ⁓ be it federally, be it at the state level or even in our communities. ⁓ I think it's it's such an important role that all of us need to get more comfortable or be more willing to play. And I and I speak for vendors as well. You know, I I think, and maybe you've got an opinion on this, so I'll turn this into a question when I'm done, when I'm done soapboxing. So much of what we do as a district right now depends on technology. And so what is your thought on a vendor's role in also being an advocate and being a partner in steering the conversation in ways that are most advantageous to practitioners like yourself? Because w I I'm feeling strongly like it's important not to just sit on the sideline as sort of the third leg of the stool when it comes to this conversation.
speaker-0: Well, I I think it's important for vendors, ⁓ and I always like to call them potential partners, to realize that's really what the goal is to partner with ⁓ educational entities, ⁓ educators and leaders on enhancing the classroom instruction, the classroom experience. ⁓ I think if what we see now is that relationships really do matter. So if if a vendor Or a potential partner comes in and has not built relationships with those educators or those leaders or the parents, then it's it's not going to ⁓ farewell. It's not going because it's you're trying to sell me a product or have me sign a contract without really knowing what our needs are. And I think a true partner will take the time to get to know the educators, the leaders of the educational entity and to learn what the needs are. And if their services or resources could fill the gaps, then they organically show them how they can ⁓ work together. But just those hit or miss emails or those cold calls, ⁓ those those ⁓ types of communications really doesn't ⁓ do not work with a lot of the leaders, ⁓ especially not me. ⁓ I I really believe in taking the time to get to know ⁓ potential partners, ⁓ community partners, vendors, you know, so that we can have a discussion on what it looks like ⁓ to force to support the teaching and learning that's take place that takes place in the schools.
speaker-1: It's excellent advice. And and, you know, I would echo, you know, as much as I can objectively from the vendor side the importance of exactly what you're describing, you know, understanding the local context, ⁓ you know, being a listener as much as, you know, a seller and and making sure that we are being good stewards of, you know, the critical role we now play in your daily operations, instruction, homeschool communication, et cetera. So so I really I appreciate that. Let me let me ask you a question that that will Involve you taking one hat off and putting the other on. At the national level, and then I'm gonna ask you the same for Jacksonville North Pulaski, at the national level, in coming off the conversations we all just had to see, what are you feeling most excited about in the evolution of education?
speaker-0: Well, what what I really love is that ⁓ there's a lot of conversation. Even though we hear a lot of noise about screen time, we see more educators who understand the importance of innovation and not shying away from it. But also the conversation that says that AI or innovation will never replace a an effective teacher. You'll never replace that those relationships that are built. But innovation is also needed ⁓ to enhance the instruction. And so we have to not run away from it, but really embrace it and to be able to vet it. So it's really not about screen time, but screen quality, the quality of the tools that are using. And if those tools are enhancing ⁓ the learning experience, the learning and teaching, teaching and learning experience. And if not. then we don't need to ⁓ waste resources on it. And so that's where the human factor really ma ⁓ matters a lot is because you can never replace the vetting and and the human aspect and the qualitative piece of ⁓ implementation. And and I love the fact that that conversation is growing and and definitely ⁓ you hear more about though that type of conversation than you really do about screen time. And I think people are really pushing back on the negative talk about screen time because one of the things that's important is that we do not shy away from innovation because that's not really that won't prepare our young people ⁓ for the next five, ten, ⁓ ten years from now.
speaker-1: Well, you and I spoke early about the promise of personalization and also the challenge, ⁓ you know, that that comes with differentiating approaches or instruction, the, you know, essential role that data plays in our decision making. And all of these things are underpinned by educational technology. It's not just, you know, a piece of instructional software that is that is directly student-facing. It's about in some ways doing more than less, about saving staff time to focus on priority work or making better decisions with limited resources, you know, in and I think you're speaking to some of that nuance that's really important in the conversation and those value propositions that maybe don't get talked about enough. Ed tech is not just about a student staring at a Chromebook and clicking. It's it's about so much more in the districts we run today.
speaker-0: Well, it is, because if you take a paper worksheet and just put it on a device, it's still a worksheet. Right. And it's still not going to enhance that instructional ⁓ practice. But ⁓ and so you it's you really have to take the time and take a step back and really vet what you using and put and in front of our young people. ⁓ and and even when they're writing essays, if they're just using ⁓ a device to type an essay. That's not innovation. And so we we as the educators, as as the leaders, really need to take time and understand how what innovation is and how it enhances the educational experience on both sides, the student l side and the teacher side. And until we really invest in that as leaders, we're still gonna have a lot of the debate on it because ⁓ those who are using devices. ⁓ inappropriately or and just as a device, then they're impacting negatively the whole concept of innovation. And so we're having to fight against that too, because they're not using it properly. Right. And ⁓ and and and ineffectively. So ⁓ so we need to make sure that we challenge those as leaders to ensure that our educators and our staff members are using technology or any type of innovation appropriately in the educational realm.
speaker-1: A hundred percent. It's like any other tool, right? You know, I can use a hammer to put a hole in the wall or I can use a hammer to build a piece of furniture that's, you know, right beautiful and in worth building. ⁓ so so I I really appreciate you kind of explaining the differences there. What about locally? ⁓ in your district, what are you excited about at the start of this year?
speaker-0: Well, I'm s I I'm excited about where we are as a district. We are one of the things that we have agreed upon and accepted that we're going to prepare our students ⁓ for opportunities, real life opportunities, ⁓ after their twelfth grade year. And we're preparing them starting at pre-K through twelfth grade. We have a portrait of a graduate and we know lived experiences are important. We know that ⁓ innovation is important, and so we want to make sure we continue To ⁓ develop and provide those opportunities for our young people and then ⁓ prepare them for those opportunities. And so we're we're moving forward with innovation. I'm excited about our staff. I'm excited from our professional learning aspect and how we prepared ⁓ the resources that we've given our educators and prepared them for this year. And I'm excited to see their excitement because I know if if we exemplify the excitement. They will the educators and leaders will do that. And then they'll ⁓ they'll transfer over to our young people too, because that's really what's important. We want our we want the joy of learning to spill over into our young people and for them to be engaged and and take ownership of their learning. And so, but we have to make sure we provide the right resource supports to the people who are directly impacted.
speaker-1: I mean two critical words though, right? Engagement and ownership. And in this idea that it can be inspired by, you know, enthusiastic, supported educators. Dr., you know, you've been so generous with your time. ⁓ second, it ⁓ pleased to be able to speak with you, you know, twice in in approximately a month. So so let me hit you with our last question, kind of the theme of the podcast, Stronger School. What advice would you give to a district leader right now seeking to build A stronger school or stronger schools in his or her
speaker-0: The the advice that I would give ⁓ leaders now and all educators, it's the same advice I remind ⁓ myself all the time. It is to ⁓ never make decisions based on what's comfortable for adults. Adults, make decisions on what's best for students. ⁓ and always remember that ⁓ and and actually decide and use that as an evaluation tool. Is this best for adults? Or is this best for students? And then make that decision on what's best for students.
speaker-1: Hundred percent. Well, really well said. So ⁓ if folks can hear at home, I'm getting my outlook pings, which means it's time for us to wrap up. ⁓ note to self, turn that off in the future. Dr. Jeremy Oa, this was a pleasure. ⁓ best of luck ⁓ this coming year in Jacksonville, North Pulaski. ⁓ sounds like there's a lot of great stuff going on. Really appreciate your leadership at the national level with Is D A S C D. ⁓ as always learned so much by talking to you and I hope our audience does as well. Thank you, sir.
speaker-1: Hello and welcome to another episode of Power School's Stronger School Podcast. My name is Jesse Roy, and I'm excited to be joined today by Dr. Jeremy Oa, the superintendent of Jacksonville North Pulaski Schools in Arkansas, as well as the board president of IST ASCD. Dr. Oa, thank you so much for taking the time.
speaker-0: ⁓ thank you for having me, Jesse.
speaker-1: Now, I know you and I had a chance to catch up at the big IST AS C D conference this summer, ⁓ where you were you were presiding in your role over I think we approach about twenty thousand attendees, if that sounds right.
speaker-0: Yes, about twenty thousand, that's correct.
speaker-1: Probably more top of mind right now is your day job ⁓ as superintendent of Jacksonville North Pulaski. So I'd like to start there if it works for you and and chat a little bit about the start of the school year.
speaker-0: Yes, definitely. ⁓ starting the school year ⁓ this week with a focus on academics, behavior, and culture. ⁓ we have the mantra of learning is required. So day one, we're ⁓ ensuring that the the foundation of learning is ⁓ is started with building the relationships ⁓ between the students and the teachers and the leaders. And also ⁓ creating that atmosphere where learning is will be conducive ⁓ for this year. And then really focusing on tier one grade level instruction each and every day so that we can continue to grow our students academically but also behaviorally.
speaker-1: So at the district and and at the school site level, you know, what are some best practices that you've used or you've seen ⁓ in your staff in terms of setting those early conditions? You know, what do they focus on and and kind of how do they get there to set the stage for a successful year?
speaker-0: Well definitely look at ⁓ their ⁓ capacity as educators or leaders and and based upon that, you know, develop their professional growth plan. But what we also have done at the district level was change the way we provide professional learning. So it's not a sit and get and one size fits all type of professional development. We are offer a catalog, we call it voltage, ⁓ because our mascot is the the Titans. And so We provide a series, multiple ⁓ sessions that our educators and leaders are able to select based on where their ⁓ capacity is is currently. And then that way they receive the professional learning that's conducive ⁓ to their area of expertise, but also to their level of learning as well. And so we've definitely made a change in that ⁓ a couple of years ago and ⁓ just finished that ⁓ Last round last week with them.
speaker-1: I love that because, you know, you and I know that that best practice in in, you know, meeting students where there are this is personalizing, you know, the way we structure our lessons, the supports we give them, the accommodations we provide, identifying their strengths and needs. And it makes sense to do the same with our teachers and school leaders in terms of kind of their professional growth. It becomes, you know, from my time in the classroom doing that with students, it becomes a lot to manage. It it's worth the effort. But talk to me about the challenges of personalizing professional growth for so many staff and so many unique needs.
speaker-0: Well, it's it's definitely ⁓ challenging at times. But what we like to think of ⁓ and always keep in mind what's best for our young people, for our students, and then what's best for the people who have direct impact on them. So what's best for our educators and leaders at the school setting. And so persons ⁓ personalizing the learning for our teachers and leaders ⁓ serve as an example of what we expect for them to do in the classroom. And so it's And it's really when we talk about equitable access, that's the very essence of that, is making sure each young person, each student receives exactly what he or she needs to be successful. And so we want to be able to ⁓ emulate that at the district level too, when we provide that professional learning ⁓ to our educators.
speaker-1: And I want to imagine and and I'm not sure if if you measure this in the district, but I think I think research also bears this out that that this has positive impacts on school culture, on retaining high quality staff when you're able to personalize their experience and provide support that's kind of most relevant to their journey in the school or the classroom.
speaker-0: Yes, definitely agree. And just, you know, so we have the data quantitatively, ⁓ that shows ⁓ how ⁓ teachers are being retained and but the qualitative data is also important because the feedback and the response that we receive from our staff has been positive on how we have ⁓ changed the professional learning and they appreciate s not sitting in a room getting a sitting get PD that they don't need or won't put be put to use.
speaker-1: 100%. I wanna I wanna double click into this idea of of supporting staff and and I wanna take two additional lenses to it. One, the start of the year, and two, the early experience or the onboarding or induction of teachers who are new to the district, because undoubtedly, you know, you have any number of new folks in either new positions or new buildings or just new to the district entirely. How do you work? How do you do early work or how do members of your staff do early work to support your new teachers in being successful sooner.
speaker-0: So what we do, we strategically ⁓ partner the new teachers with mentor teachers, so experienced teachers. ⁓ so that's what we have done ⁓ for the most part with all of our ⁓ new teachers, but we also have a partnership with UA Little Rock a ⁓ local university here where we have a paid teacher residency. And so those teacher interns during that entire year of their residency program. are paired with a mentor teacher ⁓ who teaches and supports alongside with them. So when they when we're able to hire them as new teachers of teachers of on on of record the next year, those mentor teachers continue to mentor them. And so they have built those relationships ⁓ back and forth and they're able to continue to grow as new teachers. But we also have ⁓ other ⁓ Teacher supports throughout the year where the leaders ⁓ check in within my curriculum and instruction team, ⁓ meet with the ⁓ team members, meet with the new teachers, novice teachers, ⁓ as well as a lot of the leaders just to have that ongoing support ⁓ each year. And I will tell you, Jesse, we also have ⁓ curated ⁓ professional learning that's geared just to new teachers as well, so that they are in the environment with other people who are in the same situation as them. And so is it removes that intimidating ⁓ type feeling ⁓ that they may have by sitting in PD with tenure teachers.
speaker-1: Kind of kind of a cohort model, which which I really like. Yeah. You mentioned so this idea of your partnership with the university. And and I love this idea of kind of the longer runway it creates, where, you know, young novice teachers are engaging with the folks who will continue to support them when they're, you know, ultimately in seat earlier, more frequently. That seems unique to me. Is is that is that something that you think or in your experience is unique to Jacksonville, North Pulaski, or are we seeing this model in other places?
speaker-0: I will say it's no longer. We started this about three years ago and it was fairly new, a fairly new process ⁓ here in the state of Arkansas for sure. ⁓ but we've seen more districts to partner with universities to ⁓ with residency programs. ⁓ and we've also seen ⁓ the uptick in a number of districts outside the state of Arkansas who have started to ⁓ to partner with ⁓ educator prep programs so that one, it's an advantage for the district because that's a direct pipeline for ⁓ personnel employment. But also it's really impacting the education profession as well because we're growing teachers. I mean, you you think about the advantage of having a year long residency in a school, when you start at at being the teacher of record the next year, you don't have those new teacher jitters or that that ⁓ that phase where you're just learning the ropes, you've already built those relationships, already understand the district policies and procedures. So you have you're better prepared to start providing a sound instruct teaching and learning experience for your young people the first week of school instead of three or four weeks out.
speaker-1: It it makes so much sense. And and I'm glad you you pointed to this idea of of teacher pipeline as well, because because we know that's a challenge. Teacher pipeline, school leader pipeline. ⁓ and this idea that not only are you preparing teachers to be successful earlier, but you're also engaging with potential teaching candidates for your district, you know, a year in advance. ⁓ you know, I know when I was student teaching, you know, you did not necessarily do your student teaching, which was typically not a full year, in the same place that you're going to be teaching. You know, you go out and search for a job. But this almost becomes like a version of of grow your own.
speaker-0: Exactly. And yeah, it and that's actually what it is, is growing our own and really focusing on equitable access for our young people because we know that ⁓ when we grow our own, when we participate in this teacher residency, our ⁓ teachers are better prepared to teach our community of students and which means that students are achieving more and growing more.
speaker-1: Right. Right. That that context matters. ⁓ you know, the the function of a district or a specific building, the population you're going to be working with, the expectations of the community, like that varies from place to place. So what a what a great advantage to those to those early teachers. I wanna I wanna stick with the start of the year, but I actually I wanna get back to something you and I chatted about at ISTE and something you were clearly really passionate about, Dr. Ella, and something that I know is so fundamental to so many different student outcomes. And that's the partnership between school and home or school and families. Talk to me about this time of year, early in the school year, and how you start off on the right foot with kind of that homeschool partnership or homeschool communication, either at the district level or the school level or even the classroom.
speaker-0: Well, it's definitely ⁓ important to start like you mentioned, Jesse, at the front of at the beginning of the school year because that's where you really set the tone. And if you don't establish a positive connection ⁓ with families, that could really change the dynamics of that school year. And so we do a lot of communication and and somewhat even over communicate with our parents with the information. And then when we ⁓ have dropped the ball or if there's been some hiccups ⁓ during the start of the school year, we immediately address those and acknowledge and correct those ⁓ those ⁓ those hiccups or those those issues that ⁓ we had at the beginning. And so it's just having that ongoing ⁓ conversation and then establishing ways for parents to share their ⁓ their concerns or feedback. So that open line of communication ⁓ in a multiple ⁓ of ways. So just not via ⁓ email or social media, but making sure parents have access to all the leaders, all the support ⁓ team members throughout. And so we we definitely made sure we have that focus of engaging our pe our families, our parents, ⁓ community members at the very beginning, ⁓ even with our open houses, ⁓ and setting that tone. ⁓ of making sure parents know that they feel welcome and that we want them ⁓ part of our ⁓ educational environment.
speaker-1: I I love that last sentence because I think, you know, in my time in education or even when I was a student, we we have evolved from communication with parents, which can feel sort of monodirectional, to engagement with parents, which was maybe a next step towards making it a little more balanced, to now like true partnership, like honoring and accessing and respecting the important knowledge and understanding and roles and challenges and strengths of our parent partners in supporting, you know, the students that they have the most insight around. How do you, how do you support engaging as or or partnering with as many parents as possible? Because we know, you know, there's a a diversity of ability, there are language barriers sometimes. There's just, you know, the challenges of working several jobs. What happens in North Polask year? What are some good examples of approaches that you've all used to make sure as many parents are able to participate in the process as possible?
speaker-0: So we have a variety of ways that ⁓ we partner with parents. ⁓ we have ⁓ in-person events, ⁓ both academically and socially. So when we ⁓ have student performances, ⁓ we invite parents out and we use those ⁓ opportunities to also share ⁓ academic information or updates with our parents. But we also have ⁓ opportunities where we have virtual ⁓ events and meetings where parents who may not be able to come in person, but they're able to ⁓ join a meeting or an event virtually. ⁓ we and it's just a variety of ways that parents can come in. We have small intimate events or we tack on to like athletic events and create larger events so that we can make sure that we engage as many parents as possible. We've also launched ⁓ this feature called rooms through aptogee where it increases the communication opportunity between ⁓ students and teachers, teachers and parents, ⁓ athletes and coaches or ⁓ club members and sponsors, leaders. And but it's all ⁓ operated ⁓ under the district's operational system. So parents don't have to feel like they just ⁓ they have to go to social media or to any other ⁓ communication tool. We have a actual a tool specified for all types of communication and updates.
speaker-1: Now talk to me a little bit, you know, Jacksonville North Pulaski, as I recalled forty five hundred students approximately. Talk to me a little bit about the community and and sort of the important relationship between the district and the community and how one sort of elevates the other.
speaker-0: Yeah, approximately. Yeah. Yeah, we discovered ⁓ Jesse when we first started, ⁓ we're actually celebrate celebrating our ten years of operation this year. Right. And we ⁓ started ⁓ this district knowing that we really could not have the impact on our young peoples academically or behaviorally without a strong partnership with the community. ⁓ we also are the home of the Little Rock Airport space and we realize that ⁓ we have to have a strong relationship with those partners as well. And so we've made a concerted effort in ⁓ within our strategic plan, ⁓ any of our ⁓ school district events, we ensure that we have community partners come in. But also as a part of my job as superintendent, I participate in several community organizations and events as well. And then I'm able to share updates. ⁓ for instance, our local chamber of commerce. I'm a ⁓ ex officio board member there. So every meeting. I'm able to share updates on what's happening at our schools and our districts to all of our chamber members too. So just being an active participant ⁓ in in multiple ways within our community ⁓ will keep them informed.
speaker-1: I l I love this idea and and you've really sort of embodied this in some of the other hats you've worn up, but you know, you don't have enough going on already. But you know, the idea of the superintendent as a community leader. Because a we know, you know, education is is, you know, such an important asset to a community, to a state, ⁓ generally. Also because, you know, so much of your job is facing upward and outward. You know, as much as you are a support for your cabinet, for your s for your school leaders. Your job is to be an advocate and someone with the finger on the pulse of the expectations and the needs of the surrounding community that that supports you all and sends their students to be educated by you. ⁓ so so I I really appreciate that you blur the line, so to speak.
speaker-0: ⁓ yeah. I mean, it's definitely even when it comes to our legislative session for the state of Arkansas, it's important ⁓ that I'm there and and participating in that session because then I can come back to our district and share the updates with my staff, with my parents, with my board members, and even with the community, so we can actually be more engaged citizens in that work that happens at the state capitol.
speaker-1: Let me let me sort of follow your lead here and zoom out a little bit and pull in this other piece, which is you as the president of the board for ISTASCD, which it not hard to argue, you know, makes you one of the most prominent ed tech thought leaders in the country and and probably even globally, which, you know, I try not to overstate it too much more. And I don't expect you to say anything, but like, you know, what you do is really essential to the future of education. How do you Or how do you encourage or what should the expectation be for district leaders to be advocates to legislative bodies or to their communities around pressing issues in educational technology right now? Because we know right now it feels a little thorny. You know, there's a lot of misinformation out there. There's a lot of strong stances using partial information right now around things, and I'll be specific, like screen time or ⁓ artificial intelligence in districts. What is the role of someone like yourself who's a superintendent? Or someone in a policy organization to stand up and say, Hey, this is what I experience every day, or this is what my staff members experience, and help the community or a legislative body understand, you know, the nuances of something like this.
speaker-0: If ⁓ just it's it's it's imperative ⁓ that ⁓ educational leaders ⁓ are a part of that conversation and take lead in that conversation. I mean, if there's an e expert in on any of those ⁓ topics that you just mentioned, ⁓ it's the it's really ⁓ those are the educational leaders who are the experts because they ⁓ they vet the potential educational partners. They put ⁓ they attend the professional learning experiences and and they stay well informed. So and and that's another, you know, it's a two-edged sword because as educational leaders, we have to make sure we stay abreast with the current trends and issues that are impacting education so that legislators, parents, community leaders, members, see us as that thought partner or that source of ⁓ educational information. And then we have to proactively participate in those ⁓ discussions and not wait to be asked to join. ⁓ when when we know that there's legislation that could potentially harm ⁓ our school districts, our schools, our students, our educators, then we need to proactively arm our legislat ⁓ legislators with the right information, both at the state level and the federal level. And so we have a a important responsibility in making sure that we fill those gaps with the right information, the correct information, and the timely information that will inform their legislative ⁓ decisions. And and it takes away the excuse that they don't know or they didn't know or they they didn't hear about it, because now once we are proactive in sharing the information, it is up to them to decide what to do with the information, if they use it or not. But we need to be able to be proactive in sharing the information.
speaker-1: So I I think this is just me soapboxing for a second. Sometimes educators as the experts, that that idea is overlooked a little bit, or or you know, the the possibility or potential there can be a little diminished, you know, by, you know, various political, you know, statements or slings and arrows or whatever. I'm not gonna dig too deeply into it. But I love what you're saying that it is important that we assert ourselves as experts, that we that we build the trust that will lead to being getting the attention we deserve in helping to guide policy, ⁓ be it federally, be it at the state level or even in our communities. ⁓ I think it's it's such an important role that all of us need to get more comfortable or be more willing to play. And I and I speak for vendors as well. You know, I I think, and maybe you've got an opinion on this, so I'll turn this into a question when I'm done, when I'm done soapboxing. So much of what we do as a district right now depends on technology. And so what is your thought on a vendor's role in also being an advocate and being a partner in steering the conversation in ways that are most advantageous to practitioners like yourself? Because w I I'm feeling strongly like it's important not to just sit on the sideline as sort of the third leg of the stool when it comes to this conversation.
speaker-0: Well, I I think it's important for vendors, ⁓ and I always like to call them potential partners, to realize that's really what the goal is to partner with ⁓ educational entities, ⁓ educators and leaders on enhancing the classroom instruction, the classroom experience. ⁓ I think if what we see now is that relationships really do matter. So if if a vendor Or a potential partner comes in and has not built relationships with those educators or those leaders or the parents, then it's it's not going to ⁓ farewell. It's not going because it's you're trying to sell me a product or have me sign a contract without really knowing what our needs are. And I think a true partner will take the time to get to know the educators, the leaders of the educational entity and to learn what the needs are. And if their services or resources could fill the gaps, then they organically show them how they can ⁓ work together. But just those hit or miss emails or those cold calls, ⁓ those those ⁓ types of communications really doesn't ⁓ do not work with a lot of the leaders, ⁓ especially not me. ⁓ I I really believe in taking the time to get to know ⁓ potential partners, ⁓ community partners, vendors, you know, so that we can have a discussion on what it looks like ⁓ to force to support the teaching and learning that's take place that takes place in the schools.
speaker-1: It's excellent advice. And and, you know, I would echo, you know, as much as I can objectively from the vendor side the importance of exactly what you're describing, you know, understanding the local context, ⁓ you know, being a listener as much as, you know, a seller and and making sure that we are being good stewards of, you know, the critical role we now play in your daily operations, instruction, homeschool communication, et cetera. So so I really I appreciate that. Let me let me ask you a question that that will Involve you taking one hat off and putting the other on. At the national level, and then I'm gonna ask you the same for Jacksonville North Pulaski, at the national level, in coming off the conversations we all just had to see, what are you feeling most excited about in the evolution of education?
speaker-0: Well, what what I really love is that ⁓ there's a lot of conversation. Even though we hear a lot of noise about screen time, we see more educators who understand the importance of innovation and not shying away from it. But also the conversation that says that AI or innovation will never replace a an effective teacher. You'll never replace that those relationships that are built. But innovation is also needed ⁓ to enhance the instruction. And so we have to not run away from it, but really embrace it and to be able to vet it. So it's really not about screen time, but screen quality, the quality of the tools that are using. And if those tools are enhancing ⁓ the learning experience, the learning and teaching, teaching and learning experience. And if not. then we don't need to ⁓ waste resources on it. And so that's where the human factor really ma ⁓ matters a lot is because you can never replace the vetting and and the human aspect and the qualitative piece of ⁓ implementation. And and I love the fact that that conversation is growing and and definitely ⁓ you hear more about though that type of conversation than you really do about screen time. And I think people are really pushing back on the negative talk about screen time because one of the things that's important is that we do not shy away from innovation because that's not really that won't prepare our young people ⁓ for the next five, ten, ⁓ ten years from now.
speaker-1: Well, you and I spoke early about the promise of personalization and also the challenge, ⁓ you know, that that comes with differentiating approaches or instruction, the, you know, essential role that data plays in our decision making. And all of these things are underpinned by educational technology. It's not just, you know, a piece of instructional software that is that is directly student-facing. It's about in some ways doing more than less, about saving staff time to focus on priority work or making better decisions with limited resources, you know, in and I think you're speaking to some of that nuance that's really important in the conversation and those value propositions that maybe don't get talked about enough. Ed tech is not just about a student staring at a Chromebook and clicking. It's it's about so much more in the districts we run today.
speaker-0: Well, it is, because if you take a paper worksheet and just put it on a device, it's still a worksheet. Right. And it's still not going to enhance that instructional ⁓ practice. But ⁓ and so you it's you really have to take the time and take a step back and really vet what you using and put and in front of our young people. ⁓ and and even when they're writing essays, if they're just using ⁓ a device to type an essay. That's not innovation. And so we we as the educators, as as the leaders, really need to take time and understand how what innovation is and how it enhances the educational experience on both sides, the student l side and the teacher side. And until we really invest in that as leaders, we're still gonna have a lot of the debate on it because ⁓ those who are using devices. ⁓ inappropriately or and just as a device, then they're impacting negatively the whole concept of innovation. And so we're having to fight against that too, because they're not using it properly. Right. And ⁓ and and and ineffectively. So ⁓ so we need to make sure that we challenge those as leaders to ensure that our educators and our staff members are using technology or any type of innovation appropriately in the educational realm.
speaker-1: A hundred percent. It's like any other tool, right? You know, I can use a hammer to put a hole in the wall or I can use a hammer to build a piece of furniture that's, you know, right beautiful and in worth building. ⁓ so so I I really appreciate you kind of explaining the differences there. What about locally? ⁓ in your district, what are you excited about at the start of this year?
speaker-0: Well, I'm s I I'm excited about where we are as a district. We are one of the things that we have agreed upon and accepted that we're going to prepare our students ⁓ for opportunities, real life opportunities, ⁓ after their twelfth grade year. And we're preparing them starting at pre-K through twelfth grade. We have a portrait of a graduate and we know lived experiences are important. We know that ⁓ innovation is important, and so we want to make sure we continue To ⁓ develop and provide those opportunities for our young people and then ⁓ prepare them for those opportunities. And so we're we're moving forward with innovation. I'm excited about our staff. I'm excited from our professional learning aspect and how we prepared ⁓ the resources that we've given our educators and prepared them for this year. And I'm excited to see their excitement because I know if if we exemplify the excitement. They will the educators and leaders will do that. And then they'll ⁓ they'll transfer over to our young people too, because that's really what's important. We want our we want the joy of learning to spill over into our young people and for them to be engaged and and take ownership of their learning. And so, but we have to make sure we provide the right resource supports to the people who are directly impacted.
speaker-1: I mean two critical words though, right? Engagement and ownership. And in this idea that it can be inspired by, you know, enthusiastic, supported educators. Dr., you know, you've been so generous with your time. ⁓ second, it ⁓ pleased to be able to speak with you, you know, twice in in approximately a month. So so let me hit you with our last question, kind of the theme of the podcast, Stronger School. What advice would you give to a district leader right now seeking to build A stronger school or stronger schools in his or her
speaker-0: The the advice that I would give ⁓ leaders now and all educators, it's the same advice I remind ⁓ myself all the time. It is to ⁓ never make decisions based on what's comfortable for adults. Adults, make decisions on what's best for students. ⁓ and always remember that ⁓ and and actually decide and use that as an evaluation tool. Is this best for adults? Or is this best for students? And then make that decision on what's best for students.
speaker-1: Hundred percent. Well, really well said. So ⁓ if folks can hear at home, I'm getting my outlook pings, which means it's time for us to wrap up. ⁓ note to self, turn that off in the future. Dr. Jeremy Oa, this was a pleasure. ⁓ best of luck ⁓ this coming year in Jacksonville, North Pulaski. ⁓ sounds like there's a lot of great stuff going on. Really appreciate your leadership at the national level with Is D A S C D. ⁓ as always learned so much by talking to you and I hope our audience does as well. Thank you, sir.
