How We Teach This: Season Six
Season 6 of How We Teach This has a wide range of guests and topics - including a follow up on how some districts are implementing strategies from the Teacher Retention Survey, reaching students that are under represented, standards based grading, talking with teachers about effective strategies, and more.
Season 6, Episode 4 - March 1, 2023
Panel Discussion: Recruiting and Retaining Quality Teachers Based on Data
Listen as guests with different roles in education share what they have learned from the recent Kansas Teachers Retention Initiative Survey. These education professionals looked at the data and made decisions based on what they learned from their own district data. The panel also discusses the bigger picture of keeping quality teachers in the classroom.
Guests on this episode share about their role in improving teacher retention in Kansas
Dr. Bret Church
Associate Professor
Emporia State University
Co-Author of the Survey
Dr. Luke Simmering
Industrial/Organizational Psychologist
Sand Creek Advisors
Co-Author of the Survey
Jessica Dain
Superintendent
Piper School District
Shannon Kimball
President
USD 497 Lawrence Public Schools Board of Education
Kevin Riemann
Executive Director
Kansas NEA
Watch for part 2 of this interview, coming soon. - The same panel of professionals continues the conversation and gives ideas to other administrators, school board members, and district-level administration on how we can improve education overall in Kansas.
View the links below to see the data
KS Educator Engagement and Retention Study 2022.pdfResources:
Meet the Guest Speakers in the Panel Discussion
Dr. Luke Simmering
Co-Author of the Study
Principal, Sand Creek Advisors LLC, Newton, KS
Owner, Educational Perceptions and Insights Center, Emporia, KS
Adjunct Professor, Newman University, Wichita, KS
Luke is an experienced Industrial/Organizational Psychologist with over 15 years of experience leading talent assessment and development objectives for global organizations across multiple industries. With a focus on leadership development and coaching, Luke strives to help people realize and unlock their potential through interactive data and driven discussion that adapts to each individual’s goals, needs, and motivations. Prior to leading his own advisory practice, he spent several years as an internal consultant within a Fortune 100 organization then serving within a global advisory firm. He also has extensive training and experience working with family-owned organizations, helping leaders navigate the unique dynamics in that system. Luke serves as an adjunct professor within an MBA program at a local university where he developed the curriculum and delivered instruction for multiple courses. With a passion for education, he recently created a center focused on amplifying the voice of educators and delivering data-driven solutions, advising school administrations on how to better engage and retain their teachers.
Dr. Bret Church
Co-Author of the Study
Associate Professor of School Leadership - Emporia State University
Owner - Educator Perceptions and Insights Center
Dr. Bret Church is an Associate Professor of School Leadership at Emporia State University, in Emporia, Kansas. His research focuses on measuring educator perceptions to improve educator engagement and retention. Dr. Church is committed to leveraging the insights, identified through his work, to help states and districts take action to improve educator engagement and retention. He has spent his career focusing on how to improve education as a teacher, building administrator, and district leader, and now through his work in higher education.
Shannon Kimball
President, USD 497 Lawrence Public Schools Board of Education
Past President, Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB)
Shannon Kimball has worked for over a decade as an advocate for public schools in Kansas. Shannon has served as a member of the USD 497 Lawrence Public Schools Board of Education since 2011. She is the immediate past president of the Kansas Association of School Boards. Her education advocacy work has extended to service on the NSBA Policies and Resolutions committee, the board of directors of the National School Boards Action Center, as well as leading KASB’s Legislative Committee work for the past three years. In the fall of 2019, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly appointed Shannon to represent the education community as a member of the Governor’s Council on Tax Reform. She also currently serves on the Kansas Attorney General’s Open Government Training Advisory Group.
Born and raised in a small farming community in western Kansas, Shannon earned her B.A. with Highest Distinction in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Kansas, and her Juris Doctor Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan Law School. After clerking on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for two years, Shannon worked with public schools as an attorney in private practice and later as a policy specialist at the Georgia Department of Education.
Shannon and her husband, Jason, a hospitalist in Lawrence, Kansas, have three children, all of whom are current students in Lawrence Public Schools.
Connect with Shannon on Social Media
Kevin Riemann
Executive Director
Kansas NEA
Kevin Riemann proudly serves as Executive Director for Kansas NEA. He formerly served as Associate Executive Director, UniServ director, and Director of Organizational Development.
As the official agent of Kansas NEA, his primary responsibility is to implement the policy and program of the Association as well as being the chief staff administrator.
Riemann grew up in Norton, earned his undergraduate degree in history from Fort Hays State University, and his master’s in Educational Administration/Leadership from the University of Kansas. A secondary social studies teacher for nearly 20 years, he spent most of his career at Lansing High School, where he coached numerous sports and student activities. As a teacher leader, Riemann held several local offices, including president and chief negotiator, and was active in the Pony Express UniServ and served on the KNEA Board of Directors.
“My success as an educator can be directly linked to the efforts of my fellow teachers and members of the Lansing Education Association,” Riemann said. “It is my goal to ensure each local association in Kansas has the tools to provide similar support to each member.”
Riemann’s immediate and extended family includes many educators, including his wife, two sons, and a daughter-in-law. He enjoys most outdoor sports and activities, including hunting and fishing.
Jessica Dain
Superintendent
Piper School District
Jessica Dain grew up in Emporia, Kansas graduating from both Emporia High School and Emporia State University but has lived in the Kansas City Metro Area since 1995. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from ESU majoring in both English and Physical Education. She also completed her Masters Degree from Emporia State University in School Administration, and completed her Doctorate from St. Louis University in Educational Leadership.
Jessica has taught English at both the middle school and high school levels and has served as a school administrator and/or principal at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. At the district level, Jessica has worked as a Director and Assistant Superintendent in the Teaching & Learning Department and as an Assistant Superintendent of both Administrative Services and Support Services. Currently, Jessica is serving as the Superintendent of the Piper School District.
Jessica and her husband, Todd (Principal at Shawnee Mission South High School), have a son who attends Metropolitan Community College, one daughter who attends Northwest Missouri State University and plays soccer, and one daughter who an elementary special education teacher in the Shawnee Mission School District. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, attending her children’s extracurricular activities, traveling, working-out, and reading.