E49-NewTech High Podcast, Jason Berg, Farmington

NewTech High Podcast
August 20, 2026

This morning, our podcast guest was Jason Berg, Superintendent at Farmington (MN). Farmington SD has been a leader in personal learning for nearly two decades. Jason has served various roles in Farmington during that time from AP to HS Principal to the Superintendent. This is actually his second stint at the district as it is where he started his teaching/coaching career in 1993. 

Berg is definitely a live wire any time and easy to listen to. He has a calm intensity that shows through, as well as an easy ability to smile. He is fluid in almost any educational topic which clearly comes through in the interview. He has served in so many different roles along the way and comes from an educator family. 

Jason Berg Podcast 

This podcast covered math education reform, learner-centered practices, coaching philosophy, as well as the future of high schools. Core consensus: standards should be a floor, not a ceiling; schools must shift from compliance-driven to learner-centered systems; and coaching principles directly translate to effective administration. Farmington's post-COVID trajectory reflects a move toward more systematic personalized learning after earlier grassroots innovation.

In summary, this podcast is a Masters' class in so many areas. Watch for yourself! I have as much respect for his leadership as anyone else in our sphere! Have a great weekend!

Math Education & Numeracy Reform

  • Discussed the need for attention to Math (A "Math ACT" focused on numeracy parallel to the READ Act. Math needs a defined set of fundamentals ("numeracy") guaranteed for all students, rather than dancing around the edges. Jason made a distinction between required vs.has access to: Algebra 2 and higher math should be accessible, not mandatory for all.
  • People openly admit math weakness in ways they never would for reading — symptom of how math has been taught, not student capability.

Student-Centered & Personalized Learning

  • Farmington began student-centered personalized learning under Superintendent Jay Haugen; Jason joined in Dec. 2011 and helped distribute 6,500 iPads as part of this initiative.
  • Key insight from elementary experience: kindergartners exercise more learning autonomy than high school seniors — the system progressively tightens compliance as students age.
  • COVID validated Farmington's systems — district received high family satisfaction scores during distance/hybrid learning because mindsets and infrastructure were already in place.
  • Post-COVID, desire to "regain control" squeezed time/space flexibility; district responded by systematizing rather than relying on grassroots innovation.

Coaching Philosophy & Leadership

  • Good coaching requires a coherent system (offensive + defensive philosophy aligned) — same applies to district leadership: individuals need help seeing how their role serves the whole.
  • Coaching involves direct instruction → guided practice → individual support — mirrors effective classroom design.
  • Key reframe: administrators, coaches, and officials should see their role as working with people, not managing them.
  • Coaching is process-focused, not results-focused; outcomes follow consistent process, and when they don't, reflection drives improvement.
  • Decision-making skills are the gap post-secondary institutions actually flag — content preparedness is sufficient; decision-making practice is not.
  • Students can only become good decision-makers if schools allow them to make decisions — over-structured days prevent this.

Jay Haugen's Influence

  • Haugen's strength: seeing potential others couldn't, then communicating it accessibly to people embedded in a 120-year-old system.
  • Built an admin team capable of translating vision into concrete action steps; removed roadblocks or navigated around them.
  • Shifted district culture from fear of MDE compliance to operating in gray areas — asking "how can we do this?" rather than "can we do this?"
  • Standards reframed as the floor: what every student needs to be a productive member of society, not the ceiling.

Future of High School Education

  • Essential skills AI cannot replace: time management, self-advocacy, conflict resolution, decision-making — these transcend all career paths.
  • Secondary teachers must use content as a vehicle for practicing these skills, not as the end goal.
  • Information access has fundamentally changed — students no longer need a teacher to access content, but still need a teacher to fill gaps and respond to individual thinking.
  • High schools must migrate toward personalization or risk losing market share; rigid whole-group instruction contradicts years of differentiated elementary practice.


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