Professional Growth

3 min. read

Talk Data to Me: Professional Development Activity Trends

Kevin Agnello

Product Manager, Human Capital Analytics

Business

Evaluating Key Data to Ensure Long-term Fiscal Strength for K-12 School Districts

In the increasingly complex world of K-12 school district administration, robust fiscal management is critical. However, achieving long-term financial sustainability requires more than a keen eye on the bottom line. It necessitates a detailed and thoughtful understanding of key data points, as well as how to effectively interpret and utilize that data to make informed […]

Taylor Plumblee

Manager of Solution Marketing

Business

The Role of Data-Based Decision Support Systems in Improving Collective Bargaining and Teacher Negotiations

Data-Based Decision Support Systems (DSS) play an essential role in collective bargaining and teacher negotiations by providing access to accurate and relevant data to inform these negotiations. Collective bargaining is a process where representatives of teachers and school district officials negotiate the terms and conditions of employment, including salaries, benefits, and working conditions.   In […]

Taylor Plumblee

Manager of Solution Marketing

Business

What’s left in the Tank: Budget Quiz

As a school district finance leader, managing your budget can be a complex and daunting task. However, it’s essential to ensure that your district’s resources are allocated effectively to provide the best possible education for your students.   That’s why we’ve created a simple and informative quiz to help you assess the health of your […]

Elise Ozarowski

Business

Providing Structure to an Unstructured Data Environment

Big data is nothing new in education. Districts grapple with disparate datasets living in various places both at the district office and within each individual school, all with the objective of making sense of so many data elements. From state data sources to vendor data extracts to local data sets, collecting and organizing the vast […]

Dr. Adam Cibulka

Business

How District Leaders Can Address Challenges with the Power of Analytics

In today’s K-12 landscape, school leaders face a host of challenges that seem to have only been exacerbated since the pandemic. Ongoing barriers to a quality education workforce, interrupted learning and widening academic gaps, increased social emotional need, inequitable access to opportunity, uncertain stimulus-boosted budgets and heightened pressure to demonstrate meaningful growth and change are […]

Ryan Ghizzoni

Director of Analytics

Business

5 Steps to Forecasting in Uncertain Times

Long-term planning has always been a key responsibility for school business officials. But in the wake of the pandemic, this planning has taken on not only a new level of importance, but also a new degree of complexity. It isn’t enough to assume that a plan or budget will continue to work just because it […]

Kyle Greco

Business

Cash Flow Monitoring for Long-Term Solvency

Why SBOs should consider implementing cash flow monitoring as a long-term solvency solution Beyond ensuring monthly liquidity for operations, why should SBOs consider implementing cash flow monitoring as a long-term solvency solution? Knowing how your district’s monthly revenue and expenditures are trending supports healthy cash reserve planning and timely monitoring of your financial forecast. Strong […]

Frontline Education

Business

Effective Dating & Conditional Workflows in Position Management

Behind the scenes at any school district, there are playmakers at work — including business officials who keep the gears moving. And behind those people? Their systems and processes. Tried and true methods get the job done, but innovations save time and elevate professionals in HR, Finance, and Payroll to higher-level insights, strategy, and stewardship. […]

Meg Kende

Business

5 Ways Collaboration Between Tech and Finance Departments Can Create an Impact

Friction between tech and finance offices has historically stemmed from the business office’s need to maximize the use of any funds available to the greatest educational gain to support learning and teaching, while technology departments often found it difficult to prove the return on investment — to show explicitly that the purchase of a laptop […]

Megan Wilburn

Talk Data to Me

A data-centric view on the challenges facing school districts

Recruiting & Hiring

Talk Data to Me: Hire Rates

According to a 2021 Frontline survey, about two-thirds of over 1,200 school and district administrators reported having a teacher shortage. Some districts experienced the teacher shortage worse than others. About half of the respondents reported difficulty filling jobs across all grade levels and subjects while the other half felt the effects of the shortage in […]

Kevin Agnello

Product Manager, Human Capital Analytics

Teacher Absences & Subs

Talk Data to Me: Trends in Absence Management and Substitute Pools

Troubled by substitute shortages and low fill rates? You’re not alone. These are challenges faced by many districts, and for good reason. Substitute management is no walk in the park: a lot of different elements go into maintaining and managing a healthy substitute pool.   To overcome the challenges associated with the substitute shortage, districts […]

Kevin Agnello

Product Manager, Human Capital Analytics

Recruiting & Hiring

Talk Data to Me: The State of the Instructional Teacher Shortage

The Frontline Research and Learning Institute recently published a research brief called “The State of the Instructional Teacher Shortage”. Following a basic supply and demand economic model, the analysis investigates the quantity of candidates applying for jobs (supply) as well as the availability of open positions (demand). Trends show changes to both sides of the […]

Kevin Agnello

Product Manager, Human Capital Analytics

Student Data

Talk Data to Me: Supporting the Health Needs of Students and Staff

In early April, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that schools should be reopened and “full-fledged in person” come fall 2021, regardless of vaccination status. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona echoed this in early May, saying that he expects a full return for all students in the fall. With most states no longer placing restrictions on school […]

Kevin Agnello

Product Manager, Human Capital Analytics

Front & Center

A series showcasing various leaders in the K-12 space

Frontline

Front & Center: Superintendent James Craig

Our formative years in school look different from person to person, but one thing is true for all of us: we owe a hard-to-quantify debt to the people who work in education. For most of us, teachers immediately spring to mind — and rightly so! Yet countless others also work to make sure schools can […]

Frontline Education

Frontline

Front & Center: Michele Trongaard

If you don’t work in the field of school business in Texas, it’s understandable that you might not know who our guest today is. But within the Lone Star State, inside school business offices, her credentials and experience speak for themselves, and she was kind enough to share some of her thoughts for our “Front […]

Frontline Education

Frontline

Front & Center: Lourie Larcade

Lourie Larcade is a Business Services Specialist with the Tehama County Department of Education in northern California. With 10 years of experience in school business and still more experience before that in the private sector, we’re thrilled to highlight Lourie in this edition of “Front & Center”. Tell us about yourself! I have been married […]

Frontline Education

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