Frontline Blog

An Individualized Education Program has the potential to “tell the right story” for each student with a disability — to describe the student’s strengths and assets, identify areas of need and chart a pathway for a successful school year.  But to be relevant and meaningful, the IEP must be based on current, reliable and valid information.  

From the classroom to the business office, schools generate loads of data year-round. Adding technology to automate tedious tasks and improve processes has been on the top of many administrators’ “to-do” lists in recent years. However, it’s due to the sheer volume of these critical data points, and how rapidly they change in school districts, that makes changing software providers feel like an impossible undertaking.

It is my pleasure to announce the publication of Issue 5 of The Line, in which we consider a key question: Are we delivering on the promise of education? To answer that question, we must each delve to the root of what exactly we believe the promise of education is, who it is for, and how it ought to be turned from dream to reality. And, of course, the nuanced answers to those questions are as diverse as the educators answering them. But that’s exactly why The Line exists.

Where can you hear real-life strategies from other districts, learn about new Frontline product features that could save you hours, network with hundreds of peers, get 1-on-1 help, AND come away inspired?

Here’s something obvious but important: there’s a real difference between simply showing up and truly buying into the mission and vision of your organization. It’s true in business, and it’s true in schools. And in schools, cultivating employee ownership for that mission has an equally important partner: ensuring students are invested in their education.

Technologies with the potential to improve the school experience are popping up left and right. Some of that technology is for students. Some of it is for educators. Some of it is for the athletic coaching staff. But no matter who is using the technology, its management and upkeep usually fall to the person with District Technology Director or CTO in their email signature.

For K-12 Human Resources offices, the task of staffing the district for another school year needs to be a two-sided coin, one side focused on getting (recruiting and selection), and the other side focused on keeping (onboarding and retention). Finding the top employees for your district is a complex and time-consuming project, but it is only part of the job. It’s just as important to focus on keeping your district’s top employees engaged and satisfied with their position at the district.

Focus groups (FGs) -- essentially interactive, conversational group interviews -- are an underappreciated data collection strategy. When used well, they can provide rich, nuanced and actionable data for your professional development program evaluation. They are fairly easy to add to your repertoire and don’t require extensive planning or resources to carry out. They are often used in other contexts (e.g., market research, usability research) and are flexible enough to be used for different purposes (e.g., to inform the design of a product or service, to collect feedback about a website, to test potential survey questions or dig deeper into survey responses). FGs are best used along with other data collection strategies, such as surveys or interviews.

Being connected doesn’t mean relinquishing your control. Even though it’s common for school district HR to operate separately from school Finance, there’s still so much they depend on each other for.