Season 5 Trailer

Your child shouldn’t have to earn their place in the classroom. We start with a true story that still makes my stomach drop: I walk in for pickup and find my son sitting at his desk in the hallway, separated from his classmates. The reason sounds practical on the surface, but it reveals a bigger problem in K-12 public education decisions can be made without considering a child’s dignity, belonging, and sense of self.

I’m Dr. Kim J. Fields, and this podcast lives at the intersection of educational research and parental actions. I share what I learned through hard, frustrating interactions with teachers and administrators, plus the microaggressions I faced as an African-American mom navigating the public school system. Then I translate the trends, topics, tactics, and theories into clear, usable strategies you can apply right away to support your child’s academic achievement, well-being, and equitable treatment.

You’ll also hear the bigger arc of what we cover across the show: racism and desegregation in today’s schools, the soft skills students need to thrive long after graduation, the impact of digital devices and AI on student achievement, and why strong writing skills matter as much as reading and early math. Season 5 brings updates on civil rights protections, district liability, discipline rules, course access including CTE programs, federal equity centers, and more issues that shape what happens to our kids every day.

If you want to advocate with more confidence and less guesswork, subscribe, share this with another parent, and leave a review so more families can find practical K-12 education insights. What’s the school moment that pushed you to speak up?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Imagine you're going up to the school to pick up your child from his classroom and find that he's sitting in his desk outside in the hall. You immediately become alarmed and ask his teacher why is he sitting outside? Her explanation to you is that his desk is so messy in the classroom that when she walks around it, she has

A Child Sent To The Hall

SPEAKER_00 1:00

a fear that she's going to fall. I said that's understandable. However, did you think about the child's sense of self as he sits in the hall separated from his classmates? She said no. She didn't think about that. She was only thinking about his messiness and the probability that she might fall. I told her that she and I needed to have a discussion with her principal today because this was unacceptable. I told her that tomorrow, when I come up here to pick up my son, his desk and he had better be in the same way than he was always inside the classroom, or we're going to have a bigger issue. When I spoke to the principal about this, she understood what I was telling her in conveying this story. And the next day, when I picked my son up from his classroom, he and his dads were in their rightful places inside the classroom. This isn't an imaginative story, but an actual

Taking The Issue To The Principal

SPEAKER_00 2:17

experience. One of many that I had over the years my children were in the K-12 Public Education System. My name is Dr. Kim J. Fields. And I'm the host of the K-12 Public Education Insights, Empowering Parents of Color podcast, the podcast that converges at the intersection of educational research and parental actions. It's about making the trends, topics, tactics, and

Why This Podcast Exists

SPEAKER_00 2:52

theories in public education understandable so that you can implement them into practical, actionable strategies that work for your children's academic progress. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African-American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. And I got a bird's eye view of how teachers were trained when I worked on my doctorate in education. Once I gained the information and insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. This battle-tested experience is what I provide as action steps for you to take. It's like enjoying a bowl of educational research with a sprinkling of motherwit wisdom on top. This podcast is all about the convergence of educational research with parental actions. If you're looking to find out more about the current trends, topics, and issues in K-12 public education that could affect you or your children, and the action steps you can take to give your children the advantages they need, then this podcast is for you, especially if you've had similar experiences and frustrations in your interactions with your children's teachers, administrators, and staff, and you want to know what you can do about it in an assertive way. Each weekly episode of the K2L Public Education Insights, Empowering Parents of Color podcast, explores relevant topics such as the rise of racism in today's public schools and the move toward desegregation. The critical soft skills students need to succeed in the 21st century.

Season Topics And What’s Next

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Because here's the thing schools teach students how to get a job, but they don't teach them the soft skills that are necessary to keep the job. Other topics include the impact of digital devices and AI on student achievement. Why writing skills are just as important as reading and early math literacy skills and more. These were just some of the topics I discussed in season four. Each week I share the latest discourse on K-12 Public Education Research, break it down so that you can see how it affects you and your kids, and give you action steps that you can practically implement right away. My aim is to arm you with the information and or resources you need to confidently advocate for your child's academic achievement, well-being, and equitable treatment in the K-12 public education school environment. Because you arm your child's best advocate after all. No one knows your child better than you. Season 5 is set to explore updates on these issues as well as other areas, including why school districts will no longer be liable for discrimination rules and discipline, course access or CTE programs, how federal equity centers that protect students' civil rights are just fighting to stay open, why looping in pre-K helps kids and other topics that are most relevant for you. Whether you're a first-time listener to the K-12 Public Education Insights Empowering Parents of Color podcast, or you've been an avid fan since season one, the goal and mission of the podcast remains the same to provide pertinent information that affects parents of color with children in the K-12 Public Education system so that you stay informed and motivated into action. All previous episodes are freely available at K-12 PublicEducation Insights.buzzprout.com. Together, let's build a community that ignites a movement that transforms what our children learn, why they need to learn, and the value of becoming lifelong learners.

Subscribe And Join The Community

SPEAKER_00 8:00

So be sure to subscribe on whatever service you listen to this podcast, including Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Echo, and YouTube, so that you don't miss a single episode. It's going to be another insightful and exciting season. So stay tuned.