Status Quo? No! Delaware Finds Creative Approaches to Improve Pre-School Environments Data

Episode 25

Release Date: May 25, 2023

Guests: Cindy Brown, 619 Coordinator, and Bob Sabolcik, Part B Data Manager with the Delaware Department of Education 

In Delaware, they're doing it differently, at least when it comes to Indicator 6. It’s our second date in the First State, and on this episode, Amy Bitterman is talking with Delaware Department of Education’s 619 coordinator, Cindy Brown, and Part B data manager, Bob Sabolcik. Listen in as they discuss changing trajectories on preschool environments data, asking districts that are doing well to share their strategies with others, and just generally saying no to the status quo.

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Slow Dance With Stakeholders: Setting the Pace in North Carolina, Part Two

Episode 24

Release Date: May 11, 2023

Guests: Kelley Blas, Part B Data Manager and SPP/APR Coordinator, and Lauren Holahan, SSIP Coordinator, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 

When you learn a new dance, you don’t learn it all at once. It’s a process. It’s one step at a time. Left, right, left, right. In the second of this two-part A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman continues her discussion about how North Carolina is engaging its stakeholders through a measured, beat-by-beat strategy that leaves no partner behind and creates poetry in motion. Tune in for the big finish.

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Slow Dance With Stakeholders: Setting the Pace in North Carolina, Part One

Episode 23

Release Date: April 27, 2023

Guests: Kelley Blas, Part B Data Manager and SPP/APR Coordinator, and Lauren Holahan, SSIP Coordinator, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 

Leading a dance is a lot of responsibility. You must send clear signals to your partner, keep the rhythm, and make sure not to step on anyone’s toes. Similarly, even for experienced practitioners, the pace and rhythm of incoming data can feel a lot like a complex and delicate dance. For stakeholders, it can be positively overwhelming, leading to confusion, frustration, and a lack of engagement. In the first of this two-part A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman learns more about how North Carolina is trying to be a good dance partner to its stakeholders by putting in place a structured process for engagement, responding to feedback, and learning the value of taking things slow. So put on your dancing shoes and join us, won’t you?

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Stakeholders on Their Minds: Growing Lasting Relationships in Georgia, Part 2

Episode 22

Release Date: April 13, 2023

Guests: Dawn Kemp and Dominique Donaldson, Part B Data Managers, Georgia Department of
Education

Georgia, Georgia, the whole podcast through. In this second segment of our two-part A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman continues her exchange with Part B data managers Dawn Kemp and Dominique Donaldson about their ongoing efforts to keep stakeholders on their minds by evaluating progress toward targeted goals and creating spaces for consequential partnerships. It's the end of that old sweet song, so don't miss out.

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Stakeholders on Their Minds: Growing Lasting Relationships in Georgia, Part 1

Episode 21

Release Date: March 23, 2023

Guests: Dawn Kemp and Dominique Donaldson, Part B Data Managers, Georgia Department of
Education

New relationships are great, sure, but what most of us strive for are long-lasting, meaningful connections. That’s the goal in Georgia anyway, where Part B data managers Dawn Kemp and Dominique Donaldson are keeping stakeholders on their mind as they implement strategies to improve and expand stakeholder engagement. In part one of this two-part A Date with Data, they share all with host Amy Bitterman, including their strategies for maintaining stakeholder feedback, evaluating progress toward targeted goals, and creating spaces for consequential partnerships. Join us to hear Georgia's sweet song about building stakeholder connections that last.

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Just the EDFacts, Ma’am: IDC Demystifies EDFacts Modernization

Episode 20

Release Date: March 9, 2023

Guests: Audrey Rudick, IDC

Flustered by EDFacts? Mystified by modernization? If so, this episode of A Date with Data is for you. Join host Amy Bitterman as she sits down with IDC’s own Audrey Rudick to talk about the facts, the EDFacts that is. Audrey gives listeners a broad overview all things EDFacts modernization, including what it is, what’s about to change, and what’s ahead with the upcoming EDPass system. Join us, and by the end of the program, all you'll know are the facts.

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Support Group: IDC TA Providers Talk Differentiated Monitoring and Support (DMS) 2.0

Episode 19

Release Date: February 23, 2023

Guests: Mary Watson and Amber Stohr, IDC

Support is a critical component of success. In practice, support means having a group of trusted partners who are there when you need them and who provide help and insight when asked. On this very special episode of A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman sits down with her IDC colleagues Mary Watson and Amber Stohr, who share their experiences as TA providers supporting Cohort 1 states through DMS 2.0. Join us as Mary and Amber share tips, perspectives, and a thought or two about how IDC supports states, helping prepare for onsite or virtual visits. This is one support group you’ll definitely want to join.

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Success Comes Naturally: Arkansas and DMS 2.0

Episode 18

Release Date: February 9, 2023

Guests: Matt Sewell, Director of Special Programs; Yvonne Greene, Administrator of Monitoring and Program Effectiveness; and Jody Fields, Part B Data Manager, Arkansas Department of Education

Dateline Arkansas, the Natural State: As a member of Cohort 1, Arkansas is among the first in the nation to complete the first two phases of OSEP’s Differentiated Monitoring and Support (DMS) 2.0. Naturally, Arkansas education officials have stories to tell and insights to share, and naturally, they sat down with host Amy Bitterman to discuss the crucial steps of their DMS 2.0 experience. This included pulling together an effective team, updating state procedures (and online information), and working with technical assistance (TA) experts to ensure the most successful possible outcomes. It’s an insider’s look you’ll only find on this episode of A Date with Data, naturally enough.

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Nothing for Granite: New Hampshire Takes the Long View on Indicator 8 Data Quality

Episode 17

Release Date: January 26, 2023

Guests: Mary Lane, Education Consultant with the New Hampshire Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education Support, and Michelle Lewis, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Parent Information Center

Sometimes an up-close perspective requires us to step back and take in the long view first. That’s what happened in New Hampshire, the Granite State, where Mary Lane, Education Consultant with the New Hampshire Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education Support, and Michelle Lewis, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Parent Information Center, were on a mission to improve the quality of their state’s Indicator 8 data. In this episode of A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman learns more about how their process of capturing the close-up family perspective first required them to step back to consider the “why” behind this indicator.

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Data Informed Decisionmaking Is Evergreen: A Date with Data in Washington State

Episode 16

Release Date: January 12, 2023

Guests: Julie Dean, Early Childhood Special Education Inclusion Specialist;  Ryan Guzman, 619 Coordinator and SSIP Lead, with the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Kathy Lenihan, Inclusionary Projects Coordinator with ESD 105

How states go about data informed decisionmaking is as diverse as the states themselves. In this episode of A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman chats with Julie Dean, Early Childhood Special Education Inclusion Specialist; Ryan Guzman, 619 Coordinator and SSIP Lead with the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Kathy Lenihan, Inclusionary Projects Coordinator with Educational Service District 105.  Join them to learn more about their State Systemic Improvement Plan’s (SSIP) unique focus on social emotional learning in early childhood.

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A Heartland Heart-to-Heart: A Date with Data in Nebraska

Episode 15

Release Date: December 22, 2022
Guests: Kelly Wojcik, Director of Accountability, and Jamie Chambers, Part B Data Manager, with the Nebraska Department of Education

Nebraska. The Cornhusker State. Where wide-open spaces and big ideas go hand-in-hand. In this episode of A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman has a heartland heart-to-heart with Kelly Wojcik, Director of Accountability, and Jamie Chambers, Part B Data Manager, with the Nebraska Department of Education. Join us to learn more about their hopes and dreams for the state’s data processes and their plans for moving beyond a “that’s how it’s always been done” mentality to one as wide-open as the Nebraska plains.

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Data Without Borders: A Date with Date in American Samoa

Episode 14

Release Date: December 8, 2022
Guests: Herbert Boat, Assistant Director, and Jessica Tuu, Data Manager, with the American Samoa Department of Education’s Special Education Division

One thing we’ve learned: The search for high-quality data is bound by no border, no distance, no ocean. In this far-flung episode of A Date with Data, host Amy Bitterman travels to the heart of Oceania to sit down with the American Samoa Department of Education’s Herbert Boat and Jessica Tuu for a chat about challenges, triumphs, and their own unique journey toward becoming data-quality influencers.

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