SWPR Group

We help education organizations blow past their competitors with strategies that make an impact. Learn more about who we are at http://www.swpr-group.com/.

We think beyond traditional press releases and generic communication tactics and seek out big, bold ideas to create meaningful results for our clients. Are you an education nonprofit, startup, think tank, research institute, or school looking to get the word out about your organization, but you don't know where to start, or you can't find the time to make any progress with PR? Or maybe you are jus

t looking to refine and develop your existing PR program. Understanding what strategies are the most effective - and how to execute on those strategies - is where we come in. We help education organizations launch their own PR programs, streamlining the process to yield the biggest impact. We help you build the foundation to create press releases, conduct media outreach, develop powerful case studies and land key speaking engagements that will create a launchpad for your organization - building your credibility, increasing your profile and growing your business. Grab our free guide on How to Launch a Killer Case Study: https://casestudy.swpr-group.com/. Learn more about how how to humanize your brand in our latest podcast episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1350046/5578141.

09/02/2026

Are the leaders in your local district doing too much? A powerhouse trio of experts bets they are — and they wrote about the problem for THE Journal, offering three ways school technology leaders can reclaim strategic focus:
1️⃣ Assign clear ownership across district technology work.
2️⃣ Define the role of the K-12 technology leader.
3️⃣ Build a legacy, not a kingdom.

The trio who synthesized this guidance from their own experiences includes Matt Holley, director of emerging technologies at Lubbock-Cooper ISD in Texas; Dr. Chantell Manahan, director of technology at The Metropolitan School District of Steuben County in Indiana; and Dr. Matthew X. Joseph, assistant superintendent of technology and learning at New Bedford Public Schools in Massachusetts.

Read their full piece at: https://thejournal.com/articles/2026/08/12/k12-technology-leaders-are-doing-too-much-3-ways-to-reclaim-strategic-focus.aspx

Kudos to our partners at Follett Software for inviting these insightful leaders to share their knowledge!

Technology directors touch nearly everything that happens in a school system. Here are three strategies these IT leaders can use to navigate their many duties without losing strategic focus, influence, or sustainability.

08/26/2026

The can-do attitude that powers small teams when budgets are tight is fantastic — but too much reliance on patchwork systems can open schools to vulnerabilities over time. In the long term, investing in automation is both more secure and more cost-effective.

In their new piece for District Administration, experts Carl Ho**er, Dana Castine, and Braden Herring explain how small teams can move from reactive to strategic mode by communicating effectively about the need in order to build sustainable systems.

Read their piece "Small IT teams: How to scale support without adding staff" at: https://districtadministration.com/opinion/small-it-teams-how-to-scale-support-without-adding-staff/

Our partners at Follett Software always stay abreast of the most important issues impacting , and it is an honor to partner with them to share on-the-ground insights.

IT work isn’t really about devices, software or networks. It’s about protecting instructional time and ensuring access.

08/18/2026

is a fantastic tool for certain tasks. But AI cannot cultivate meaningful or establish a strong classroom . Trained teachers are essential for creating the environments where students can devote their full cognitive resources to .

As the new school year begins, an EdTech Digest column from Christopher Hull, President and Co-Founder of Otus, reminds us that “teachers are still needed to foster curiosity, encourage peer collaboration, help ideate and plan next steps, and monitor performance holistically.” Chris encourages school leaders to provide an backbone that supports both human-centered and AI-powered learning.

Read the full piece “In the Debate Over Whether Teachers or AI Accelerate K–12 Achievement More, What If the Answer Is Both?” https://www.edtechdigest.com/2026/07/29/in-the-debate-over-whether-teachers-or-ai-accelerate-k-12-achievement-more-what-if-the-answer-is-both/

AI can accelerate instruction, but teachers remain essential for creating the relationships, structure, and learning environments where students thrive. GUEST COLUMN | by Chris Hull Eleven years in the classroom taught me the importance of cultivating relationships and establishing a strong classroo...

08/04/2026

We’re excited to share another piece about the Rural Alliance Zone-32 in Indiana, where six neighboring districts share classes, instructors, and resources so students can take career-focused courses at any participating school.

In this new piece for The 74 Media, Superintendent Neal Adams, the co-founder and board president of the RAZ-32 Collaborative, explains, “What began as a partnership between three neighboring districts — Randolph Eastern, Monroe Central and Randolph Central — in 2024 has grown into a regional example for expanding . By creating a formal agreement that allows students to criss-cross district lines, the schools opened the door to opportunities that no single campus could offer on its own.”

Read the full piece at: https://www.the74million.org/article/rural-districts-in-indiana-join-forces-to-provide-career-training-for-students/

SWPR Group looks forward to continuing to challenge the stereotypes about districts and highlighting successes like RAZ-32 with Superintendent Adams and his fellow leaders.

Adams: A regional alliance allows students to cross school district lines for specialized career and technical education coursework.

07/29/2026

After just one year, the “Takeoff with Wayne County” initiative in the Detroit metro area has already engaged 177 students in state-of-the-art and an FAA drone licensure program—giving them a cost-effective path into an industry where demand for workers is soaring.

Superintendent Dr. Daveda Colbert of Wayne RESA, Michigan’s largest Intermediate School District, explains how the initiative got off the ground in this new op-ed for District Administration. https://districtadministration.com/opinion/how-one-cte-system-propels-the-new-aviation-workforce/

The 260,000 students within the 33 districts and 97 public school academies supported by the Wayne County Regional Education Services Agency can choose to participate in the initiative, which partners with three regional airports. Dr. Colbert sees tremendous potential for growth both within Wayne RESA and at other districts across the country as the aviation industry seeks to fill a projected 1.5 million jobs worldwide in the next eight years.

At SWPR Group, we are excited about the opportunity to share promising stories about from visionary leaders like Dr. Colbert.

Despite the demand for pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and technicians, CTE for future aviation professionals has yet to take off.

07/23/2026

Leaders coming into a school district to take control and manage the system are in for a surprise awakening. As Dr. Adam Larsen of Peoria Unified School District in Arizona explains, is actually about showing courage, taking responsibility, creating clarity, and elevating your team.

In a new piece for eSchool News, Dr. Larsen shares lessons he learned as the district’s Executive Director of Maintenance and Operations, with 42 campuses within his jurisdiction. He believes “the best leaders understand that their role isn’t to control every detail, but to empower the people around them, provide clarity and purpose, and guide teams toward shared goals.”

We’re grateful to our partners at Follett Software for elevating Dr. Larsen’s insights. Read the full piece “Lead with purpose: 3 ways courageous K-12 leadership builds real impact” at this link: https://www.eschoolnews.com/educational-leadership/2026/07/15/lead-with-purpose-3-ways-courageous-k-12-leadership-builds-real-impact/

Here are practical strategies for K-12 leadership staff to inspire teams, simplify systems, and elevate impact.

07/15/2026

The presence or absence of screens is not the ultimate indicator of the quality of experiences. Instead, cognitive neuroscience tells us children need to do the hard work of actively retrieving what they know, exercise the skill they’re learning, engage in the right amount of productive struggle, and receive timely feedback.

Dr. Ran Liu developed her understanding of learning science at Carnegie Mellon University, where she contributed to the decades-long Project LISTEN research. In this episode of EdTech Insiders, host Alex Sarlin talks with Dr. Liu about how the intelligent reading tutor from Amira Learning draws on this interdisciplinary research project.

“When most people hear , they picture generative AI or large language models,” Dr. Liu says. “But not all AI is that. The most foundational student-facing AI in our product at Amira uses a large collection of specific, purpose-built, non-commercial models that are built in-house and really designed to fit a pedagogical experience that we want to create for kids to read out loud and to receive the just-in-time feedback and support that they need.”

This episode goes deep into the science—and we’re here for it! Much appreciation to our partners at Amira Learning and to Dr. Liu for making their extensive research approachable for everyone.

Hear the full episode at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1877869/episodes/19423122, starting at 59:45. For an experience that engages more of your own cognitive muscle, click on the transcript tab to read along.

Join hosts Alex Sarlin and special guest host Daniela Pico, Head of Platform at Forum Ventures, as they discuss the AI backlash, workforce transformation, AI literacy, social media regulation, and the evolving future of education technology.✨ Epis...

07/07/2026

In DeKalb Community Unit School District 428, a public district in Illinois, saw a 210% increase in multilingual students between 2007 and 2025. Today nearly 20% of DeKalb students are English learners.

In 2019, the district set out to strengthen English learners’ academic achievement through a two-way dual language program where outcomes are a focus for English learners and native English speakers alike.

DeKalb’s multilingual programs coordinator AJ Crook shares the positive results — for students and for educators — in the District Administration piece "How two-way dual language learning boosts reading rates for all learners." https://districtadministration.com/opinion/how-two-way-dual-language-learning-boosts-reading-rates-for-all-learners/

We are grateful to our partners at Amira Learning for spotlighting what’s possible when multilingual foundational strategies centered on language development, comprehension, , and fluency intersects with an learning agent and assessment platform.

Simply by listening and imitating, a second language can feel as natural as one's first. Learning how to read in two languages is a bit more complex.

07/01/2026

“It’s super important to distinguish between technology that is built for the sole purpose of helping kids learn and technology that’s built for recreation. Our goal is one thing: to help kids build reading skills.”
— CEO and Co-Founder Mark Angel of Amira Learning

When Omar Jimenez of CNN interviewed Mark Angel during a recent segment, the journalist did not hold back. He gave voice to parents’ concerns about in the classroom, data privacy, and other topics that have been making news in .

Mark’s message was straightforward: Amira helps with . No chats. Tight data management. Plenty of guardrails. See the full conversation at: https://vimeo.com/1205324670

We’re grateful for the opportunity to partner with Amira Learning as they work to increase achievement through neuroscience-based dynamic assessments, productive practice, and tailored tutoring.

This is "CNN-Amira Learning: AI In the Classroom" by Amira Learning on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

06/24/2026

When administrators and teachers at Westmont Community Unit School District in Illinois meet for focused discussions about this summer, they won’t be starting from scratch. The district of 1,300 students is already on the cutting edge. One example: Teachers used AI-powered tools for enhanced analysis of more than 130,000 assessments during the past academic year.

Dr. Carla Braun, the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, says the AI technology built into their comprehensive data platform from Otus has been essential in reducing administrative burdens on busy teachers and putting clear, easy-to-understand data at their fingertips.

“This readily accessible information has become a catalyst for more results-driven discussions,” Dr. Braun explains in a recent piece for eSchool News. “The system can also recommend targeted interventions and resources if needed, helping teachers move quickly from data analysis to an action plan.”

Read more about how Westmont’s experiences are shaping its current stance and defining its approach moving forward: https://www.eschoolnews.com/digital-learning/2026/05/27/how-ai-helps-teachers-spend-less-time-on-assessments-and-more-time-on-impactful-instruction/

We appreciate our partners at Otus for showcasing the behind-the-scenes work of — and highlighting the contributions of future-oriented educators like those at Westmont.

AI should never replace teachers in collaboration or expertise, but should shine a light on the insights that spark deeper conversations.

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