DatabasED Podcast
Today's educators work in data rich environments. They interact with multiple systems in any given day, and often have questions about how this data can be used or moved but lack the time to delve into the details. DatabasED distills the complexities of data processes and analysis into terms and concepts that educators are familiar with and can connect with their day to day practice (and will occasionally provide a venue for data nerds to nerd out over related topics).
Recent Episodes
EA Stack Series Part IV: Giving District Data a Platform with Podium with Katie O'Brien
In the latest episode of the DatabasED podcast, co-hosts Molly Stewart (Senior Project Manager) and Rosh Dhanawade (VP of Product) sit down with Katie O'Brien (Senior Product Manager) at Education Analytics to explore Podium, EA's data visualization platform built for education leaders.
Katie shares how Podium helps districts, schools, and state agencies answer the big questions they face every day, from tracking chronic absenteeism to understanding student behavior and enrollment trends. The conversation dives into how Podium's core dashboard suite provides quick, reliable insights while also giving districts the flexibility to build custom dashboards tailored to their unique initiatives.
The episode also unpacks the technical side of building a scalable business intelligence platform in education. Katie discusses how EA leverages tools like Apache Superset (via Preset), Ed-Fi data standards, and the Stadium data warehouse to deliver secure, multi-tenant data access across districts and states. She also highlights the challenges of adapting traditional BI tools for education use cases, including differences in school calendars, data privacy requirements, and complex user structures.
Economists of Scale: Using Interoperability Technologies for Efficient Research with Large Datasets with Michael Christian and Sara Hu
In the latest episode of the DatabasED podcast, co-hosts Molly Stewart (Senior Product Manager) and Rosh Dhanawade (Vice President of Product) chat with Mike Christian, Principal Researcher, and Sara Hu, Research Scientist I, at Education Analytics. In this episode, Mike and Sara share how interoperability technologies are transforming research in the education sector. They also dive into their experiences using Ed-Fi data, Snowflake, SQL, and dbt documentation to conduct large-scale, efficient research at EA, along with the learning curve researchers face when moving from traditional flat files to modern data warehouses. This conversation highlights how bridging research, data engineering, and educational practice enables faster analysis, resulting in better outcomes for students and education stakeholders.
What’s the Deal with Standards? A Conversation with Eric Hilfer From 1EdTech
In the latest episode of the DatabasED podcast, co-hosts Molly Stewart (Director of Research & Analytics Services) and Rosh Dhanawade (Vice President of Interoperability Solutions) chat with Eric Hilfer, Chief Technology Officer at 1EdTech, to discuss the importance of bridging communication gaps among different sectors in education, including databases, teaching, and research. They welcome Eric Hilfer, CTO of 1EdTech, to discuss interoperability standards and 1EdTech's role in standardizing educational technology. Eric shares his background in research, teaching, and EdTech, emphasizing the need for nuanced approaches to AI integration in education. The conversation also touches on the practical aspects of integrating OneRoster with Ed-Fi and the importance of community involvement in standard-setting.
Coding (B)Rules! Understanding the Importance of Business Rules with Kayla Bollinger
Co-hosts Molly Stewart (Director of Research & Analytics Services) and Rosh Dhanawade (Vice President of Interoperability Solutions) chat with Kayla Bollinger, a Senior Research Analyst at Education Analytics, to explore the hidden power of business rules in education data analysis. From defining what qualifies as "continuously enrolled" to choosing the right test score, Kayla breaks down how these often-invisible choices shape meaningful insights. We also dive into documentation practices, the impact of shifting policies, and the balance between data access and risk—especially in an era of AI and self-service analytics.
EA Stack Series Part III: Easing Data Analytics by Leaps and Bounds with Erik Joranlien
Co-hosts Molly Stewart (Director of Research & Analytics Services) and Rosh Dhanawade (Vice President of Interoperability Solutions) chat with Principal of Technical Product Strategy Erik Joranlien about running EA's Stadium, a data warehouse product. Throughout the episode, Erik discusses how Stadium integrates seamlessly with StartingBlocks or any Ed-Fi API, and it can be hooked up to Podium or other dashboard tools.
EA Stack Series Part II: Moving Mountains of Data at The Speed of Light With Tom Reitz
Co-hosts Molly Stewart (Director of Research & Analytics Services) and Rosh Dhanawade (Vice President of Interoperability Solutions) chat with Staff Data Engineer Tom Reitz about EA's tooling, Earthmover and Lightbeam. Throughout the episode, Tom discusses the roadblocks he and the team encountered while building Earthmover and Lightbeam and how they overcame them, the resources she would recommend to people interested in learning more about Earthmover and Lightbeam, and what is next for the tools.