Route K-12 Podcast's Podcast

After several rounds of intense deliberation, we've got a Champion for our March MATHness tournament: automatic math enrollment policies out of North Carolina and Texas!Join Jim Cowen, Brenda Berg, and Bridget Worley as they discuss the huge impact automatic enrollment policies are having on Texas and North Carolina students.

Join host Jim Cowen for a special live recording of the Route K-12 Podcast with guest Vanessa Vakharia, the Math Guru and self-described Lady Gaga of Math, as they prove that everyone can and should see themselves as "math people."

Join host Jim Cowen and K-12 policy experts Chad Aldeman, Dale Chu, and Jocelyn Pickford as they announce March MATHness – a friendly competition spotlighting leading math investments and initiatives making a difference for kids.

Join host Jim Cowen and guest Shalinee Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of Zearn, as they ask what it will take to make math instruction accessible and engaging for all kids. With performance in Algebra being one of the most predictive indicators of a student's success in careers and life, says Sharma, now is the time to reimagine the nation's relationship with math.

Join Amanda Aragon of NMKidsCAN and Jim Cowen of the Collaborative for Student Success for a discussion on how they fought for strong student supports during the pandemic and improved instruction and academic opportunities as federal recovery dollars wind down.

Join 2022 Colorado Teacher of the Year Autumn Rivera for a look into the magic of her classroom. Autumn joins Collaborative Director Jim Cowen to discuss the importance of building student experiences and background knowledge and to share how she's been able to support and connect with educators and leaders from across the nation as a State Teacher of the Year.

Join us for our final episode of season 2 as Kent McGuire, program director of education at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, reflects on the first half of the 2022-23 school year—and what those in the world of education should take with them into the new year. McGuire explores how we should be judging and measuring success in schools and provides examples of innovative practices worth watching.  

Join us as Andy Rotherham, co-founder and partner at Bellwether and author of the blog Eduwonk.com, decries the lack of urgency and sustained focus on student recovery and describes practices in education recovery that are making a difference. Rotherham also pushes on the importance of visibility on how students are doing academically and the impact of today's parents' rights movement.  

North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler is back for part two of our two-part series. Baesler shares her perspective as a longtime member of her local school board and president of the Council of Chief State School Officers on the importance of quality training for school board members. She also discusses how this innovative approach may be scaled across the country.

In part one of a two-part series, North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler describes the unique aspects of learning in rural communities as it relates to education recovery. She also describes the critical role school boards play in our education system – and how we can support these leaders.

Linda Jacobson, senior writer at the 74 Million, uses her unique point of view to talk education recovery in the media—how her outlet is approaching stories about what assessment results are showing and how federal recovery funds are being spent to drive improved outcomes for students. She describes the tension between identifying the good but not sugarcoating challenges, and the importance of lifting up the voices of school leaders, students and families.

Mike Petrilli, the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, describes what's needed to make a significant and long-lasting impact on America's schools. He argues that the life-altering impact learning loss has had on students should motivate leaders to seek out the best practices and investments transforming outcomes for students.

Join Collaborative for Student Success Director Jim Cowen and our guest Maryland State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury as they discuss the toll COVID-19 disruptions had on students and how Maryland is quadrupling down on federal funding with a state investment in public schools of over $4 billion. Listen in to hear about Maryland's "very historic moment" for students and schools.

Tom Kane, an American education economist from Harvard, describes the urgent need to address pandemic learning loss while federal recovery funds are available to support states and districts. He argues that district leaders need to be transparent with parents about what it's going to take to get students caught up and discusses what research shows is effective in helping them do so.

Brad Billings, the career and technical education program administrator in Alaska, describes steps the Last Frontier has taken to bolster career and technical education using federal recovery funds. Efforts include the development of a resource clearinghouse serving industry representatives, schools, university systems and others as well as funding skills camps. Billings also tells of how career and technical education has transformed to better help students develop more advanced skills.

Austin Reid, senior legislative director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, shares the nuts and bolts on how states are distributing federal recovery funds and what role state legislators play in the process. He also dives into how labor shortages are impacting the ability of states and school districts to spend recovery funds and the need for more accurate and actional data to help shape recovery-focused decisions. 

Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker explains how Connecticut has partnered with colleges and universities to determine the effectiveness of summer school and other programs funded by recovery dollars. In turn, Connecticut has become a leader in the transparent spending of federal funds, as well as in engaging students and their communities in determining how federal dollars should be invested.  

Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn describes the "big bet" Tennessee has taken with recovery funds to address flagging literacy with high dosage tutoring. Schwinn highlights how the pandemic allowed parents to more meaningfully engage in schools and gives a preview of what's next for Tennessee's schools.

To kick off our series, Jim Cowen sits down with Chad Aldeman of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University and Christine Pitts of the Center on Reinventing Public Education to discuss highlights and concerns they're seeing across the nation as they research K-12 recovery efforts. The group also respond to a question from Pennsylvania parent Jocelyn Pickford about how parents can engage more in local school funding decisions. 

The Route K-12: Exploring Education Recovery podcast is for those engaged in education issues and that are looking to learn more about education recovery efforts. Hosted by Jim Cowen from the Collaborative for Student Success, this podcast focuses on emerging practices around the country that are funded by federal recovery dollars and that are reshaping America's schools. Join the Collaborative for a road trip around the country to explore education recovery.