Episode Details

If we try to make schools in the US more like schools in other countries, will that result in more effective practices?

Why do policies work in some districts, but not others?

Many ideas sound good on paper; but the people working with students or leading schools are telling a different story.

That’s why I invited reading specialist Jalita Johnson to episode 151 to share her expertise on these topics.

Jalita Johnson is a reading specialist in the Northern Virginia area and is also a veteran, wife and mom of 4. She completed her undergrad studies at Fayetteville State University, an HBCU near Ft. Liberty (formerly Ft. Bragg) North Carolina. She holds a Master's Degree in Elementary Reading.

​​She is currently enrolled in a Doctoral bridge program at George Mason for Educational Leadership. Over the years, she has come to realize that she committed to being a lead learner.

In this conversation, she shares:

✅Being an agent for change: Why her military background gave her the skills and experience to lead reform initiatives in education 

✅Syntactic complexity, and the disconnect between decoding/encoding and language comprehension

✅Professional development and learning communities: Does one size fit all?

✅What challenges come up when federal, state or district-level reform initiatives are modeled off of policies from other countries or states? 

The following resources were mentioned in this episode:

“Hacking School Leadership: What makes Teachers Happy and Why it Matters to Students” by Erika Garcia-Niles (Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Hacking-School-Leadership-principals-happiness/dp/1956512446/ref=sr_1_1?crid=OW0WCCPY7Q3F&keywords=hacking+school+leadership&qid=1699901781&s=books&sprefix=hacking+school+leadership%2Cstripbooks%2C87&sr=1-1)

Stacy Roberts, M.Ed, CCC-SLP, from Explore to Express (Link here: https://www.exploretoexpress.com/)

In this episode, I mention Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that helps SLPs create a system for language therapy. You can learn more about Language Therapy Advance Foundations here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/

I also mentioned The School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers guide their teams to support students’ executive functioning across the day. This program will help you plan direct therapy, but will also help you lead change management on your team, no matter your job title. You can learn more about the School of Clinical Leadership here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks, IXL and Renaissance:

Learn more about Renaissance:

As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic abse