The School Perceptions Podcast
A place to share the inside scoop on the successful things schools are doing to confront their most pressing challenges.
Episodes
Elise Murn and Kevin Mullen, of Baird’s Wisconsin School Financing team, join us to share their experiences and advice when it comes to informing concerned citizens about districts' financial situations. Hear about:
- Topics, questions, and responses that can derail community conversations
- The nuts and bolts of estimating tax impacts
- How property reassessments interact with school referendums.
- How to educate the public on the fun...
In which Anne tells us all about what's new and different in Wisconsin's new biennial budget, what it means for schools and taxpayers, and what kinds of topics of conversation we can expect to hear popping up in communities around the state. For more on WASBO, where Anne is the Research Director, see their website. You can also see our own data on the history of Wisconsin school referendums here.
Wendell Quesinberry, Administrator of Tomahawk School District, sits down with Derek to talk details about how Tomahawk improved staff and student perceptions of school discipline policies over the past few years. It involves strategic planning, cascading leadership, and of course lots and lots of listening.
To keep up with the patterns we're seeing as we survey schools and districts around the country, visit our resource center...
Wade McKittrick, of Montevideo Public Schools and BetterU Solutions, shares how his Minnesota district flipped the script on school improvement. From student-led healthcare pathways and a thriving welding academy to community mental health initiatives that changed lives, Wade walks us through how authentic listening and small-town collaboration can lead to big-league innovation.
Visit our website to see our suite of Iistening tools,...
McFarland’s Aaron Tarnutzer joins us to discuss how, why, and with whom to take the summer months to analyze and plan for the future.
Find more of our, well, findings at our Resource Center, and see our website for more information on the survey tools we offer.
Our VP of Research joins us once again, this time to talk about what we've learned from analyzing ALL of the staff, student, and parent surveys we conducted over the 2024-2025 academic year. There's good news, there's a little bad news, and there's some weird news, too.
Subscribe to our Resource Center to stay on top of future analyses, visit our website to see all of our survey tools, and use our contact form to reach out with any ...
In this second half of my conversation with Ted Neitzke, we talk about the educator career ladder, managing conflict within systems, avoiding the dynamics of "reform churn," and so much more.
You can hear more of Ted on his Smart Thinking podcast, you can subscribe to our own newsletter for our the latest research we put out, and you can check out our leadership survey tools to help you in your own strategic planning proce...
In part one of this two-part episode, leadership expert Ted Neitzke sits down with us to talk about the Baldrige Excellence Framework, the human need for structure and status, and how to draw upon "legacy experts" in the developing a strategic plan.
Give Ted's Smart Thinking podcast a listen, if you haven't already; subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of the resources we have to share; and take a look at our leadership survey...
The School District of Rhinelander's Eric Burke and Lexi Allen join us to talk about how they're expanding postsecondary pathways.
Learn more at their Academic and Career Planning website, and find additional information about their Partners in Education program here, too.
To stay on top of what we at School Perceptions are discovering through our survey work, sign up for our newsletter!
Under Kim Smessaert's guidance, Slinger's school store, the Rookery, has become so much more than an extension of DECA. Hear how Slinger is opening doors for its students, equipping them with the skills and experiences they'll need in their early jobs--and building community cohesion all the while!
For our next live recording, join us here at this link TOMORROW, May 21st, 11:00am central time, to hear Eric Burke and Lexi Allen talk ...
Gail Gilman of the Minnesota School Boards Association and Chris Thompson of the Unified School District of De Pere sit down with us to talk about how and why to do strategic planning right.
Subscribe to the School Perceptions blog for information on upcoming live recordings. And visit our website to see what our community planning surveys can do for you!
Lake Mills Area schools received five times the expected number of applications for an open teaching position. What is going on there that makes the district one that staff want to join and stay in?
Subscribe to the School Perceptions blog for information on upcoming live recordings. And visit our website to see what our staff surveys can do for you.
LINKS to cited sources in early going:
Tuan Nguyen, et al. (2019), "Factors of T...
Our own Scott Girard and Rob DeMeuse help us think through the Wisconsin school referendum results from April 1st. It's a wide-ranging conversation
1.) How did April 1st fit into historical trends in the state, and what is driving those trends?
2.) How does community conversation -- the information school districts share with their constituents and the way districts listen to voters -- affect the final vote?
3.) What can schools and c...
School Perceptions is in the business of helping schools do their jobs well. Every school wants to help kids plan for and access opportunities after graduation. Our founder, Bill Foster, joins us today to talk about our new "Opening Doors" project, which shares concrete examples of schools and communities doing innovative and successful things in this space.
Visit our Opening Doors page for more information!
Dr. Rachel White, founder of the Superintendent Lab, joins Derek and Dr. Rob DeMeuse to talk about what's driving superintendent transitions, who's filling those openings, and whether it's even a good idea for a new superintendent to try to "hit the ground running."
Rob mentions our "pulse-check" tool for superintendents and boards, as well as our staff surveys, so I'm linking to them here, as wel...
What does it take to step out of or into the superintendency well?
Edgerton's Dennis Pauli and Glendale River Hills's Anna Young sit down to talk about how they prepared to exit and to enter the superintendent position.
LINKS:
Our Resource Center
The School Perceptions suite of leadership tools
Visit our website (SchoolPerceptions.com) to learn more about our work!
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.