Davey and Angela outline Dr. Howie Knoff's May 11, 2024 Blog and his critique of ineffective Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) practices in education. Dr. Howie argues that many companies market MTSS services without sufficient evidence of their effectiveness, comparing this to medical malpractice. Your Hosts describe the Blog's MTSS "First Things First" protocol, emphasizing the comprehensive collection of data before intervention are designed and implemented--similar to how a doctor obtai...
May 12, 2024•28 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Angela and Davey reflect on Dr. Howie Knoff's April 27, 2024 Blog that uses the parable of the Sword of Damocles to illustrate the potentially devastating consequences of uncontrolled social media use. They discuss how Dr. Howie details a colleague's public relations disaster stemming from an ill-advised social media post, highlighting the importance of humility, self-control, and thoughtful communication. Your hosts offer five key takeaways for safe social media practices and discusses the role...
Apr 28, 2024•17 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Dr. Howie Knoff's April 13, 2024 blog post details a day in his life as an educational consultant, reflecting on observations from a laundromat revealing the complex lives of students and their families. He also discusses his work as an expert witness in special education cases, highlighting the challenges of supporting students with autism. Listen to Angela and Davey as they reflect on the pervasive issue of learning loss and the overwhelming pressures faced by educators in under-resourced scho...
Apr 14, 2024•18 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Davey and Angela reflect on Dr. Howie Knoff's March 30, 2024 blog post (from Project ACHIEVE Educational Solutions) exploring how cognitive biases influence perceptions and decisions within educational settings. Your hosts define cognitive biases and their relationship to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination--providing examples of eight common biases. These biases are categorized by when they impact decision-making: before, during, and after. Davey and Angela--through Dr. Howie--also offer...
Mar 31, 2024•15 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Davey and Angela use Dr. Howie Knoff's March 16, 2024 Blog to address the challenges schools face in selecting and implementing evidence-based programs. They highlight five common mistakes educators make when evaluating programs, emphasizing the need to move beyond simplistic metrics like effect sizes and to critically examine the research methodology. They also advocates for replacing the terms "best practices" and "pilot projects" with "effective practices" and "field-tested," arguing that the...
Mar 17, 2024•17 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Based on Dr. Howie Knoff's February 24, 2024 Blog, Davey and Angela examine the importance of media and product literacy for educators, drawing parallels between Super Bowl commercials' persuasive techniques and the marketing of educational products. They emphasize the need to critically evaluate marketing claims, particularly the terms "scientifically-based," "evidence-based," and "research-based," by examining the underlying research methodology and its applicability to specific contexts. Thei...
Feb 25, 2024•10 min•Season 2Ep. 4
On February 6, 2024, Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter for allowing her son to bring a gun to school where he killed four and injured seven others. Facing up to 60 years in prison, Davey and Angela discuss Dr. Howie's Blog on this situation, analyzing the case and asking: Will this decision move the pendulum toward greater parental accountability when schools recommend outside supports to address their children’s significant health, mental health, and ...
Feb 11, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Many challenging, controversial, and emotional social issues have impacted the climate and interactions across students, staff, and schools. To ensure that discussions around these issues are safe and productive, staff need to be trained to teach and guide students in the necessary discussion expectations, ground rules, and conflict prevention and resolution strategies. Davey and Angela unpack Dr. Howie's Blog on this topic. The conversation offers strategies for leading productive classroom dis...
Jan 28, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Davey and Angela analyze Dr. Howie's first Blog of 2024. The Blog reviews a major study demonstrating that high school grades across the country have been inflated from 2010 through 2022. At the same time, it emphasizes that grades are less important than the mastery of specific academic skills when predicting success in the next course, the next level of education, or a graduate’s performance once employed. Davey and Angela discuss a study revealing significant grade inflation in high school, p...
Jan 14, 2024•11 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Davey and Angela end this year (and Volume) by reviewing the critical issues that highlighted the 2023 calendar year. Guided by Dr. Howie Knoff's year-end Blog--summarizing all of his 2023 Blog posts-- your Hosts tackle the persistent challenges faced by virtually every educator. Five key themes are examined: (a) Hiring, Supervising, Supporting, and Retaining School Staff; (b) Encouraging Effective and Eliminating Ineffective Staff Policies and Practices; (c) Special Education Services for Stude...
Dec 31, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Angela and Davey discuss the essence of Dr. Howie Knoff's December 9, 2023 blog which critiques the oversimplification of educational solutions to address students' complex mental health issues. Knoff argues that diluting sophisticated interventions within the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) undermines their effectiveness, delays appropriate help for students, and may actually make the original problem worse. Your Host provide analogies to illustrate how simplifying complex processes in o...
Dec 10, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Davey and Angela talk about the importance of teaching students how to control their emotions, and yet many schools are teaching these emotional self-control or self-regulation skills in ways that ignore the neurobehavioral and psychological research-to-practice. Their discussion is anchored by a Blog post by Dr. Howie Knoff on effective social-emotional learning (SEL) in schools. This post--and your Hosts' discussion-- details the correct science-to-practice blueprint needed to teach emotional ...
Nov 26, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Angela and Davey discuss Dr. Howie Knoff's recent blog post, discussing twelve elements that are essential for continuous school improvement. They highlight a current trend in education where school leaders focus more on motivating staff and students that identifying and addressing systemic deficits in curriculum, instruction, and support services. Three school-specific case studies illustrate what happens when schools either neglect their deficits or identify the weaknesses. . . implementing si...
Sep 24, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Angela and Davey reflect on a recent blog post by Dr. Howie Knoff who is concerned about the increasing likelihood of special education litigation stemming from pandemic-related service disruptions. Dr. Knoff has been an Expert Witness on over 25 different federal special education or school law court cases since 1993. Your Hosts then move on to discuss Dr. Howie's experience that some school districts often prioritize short-term legal victories (i.e., winning their case in Court) without consid...
Sep 10, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Davey and Angela begin this Podcast by discussing Sesame Street and the broadcast's commitment to only airing evidence-based instructional approaches. They then contrast this with the dangers of implementing untested educational programs that are based on popularity rather than evidence. Based on a Blog by Dr. Howie Knoff, your Hosts then outline the lack of empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of the very popular growth mindset interventions being implemented in schools across the co...
Aug 27, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Angela and Davey examine the detrimental effects on students when there are inflexible state education policies that force schools into "one size fits all" processes. The specific example discussed focuses on how many state departments of education evaluate districts on the percentage of students who graduate in four years. The discussion is grounded on a blog written by Dr. Howie Knoff who argues that prioritizing timely graduation over students' academic mastery and proficiency forces schools ...
Jul 23, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Davey and Angela discuss Dr. Howie Knoff's July 8, 2023 blog that analyzes current research, concluding that Restorative Discipline (a) has largely been a media-fed bandwagon that (b) has never been validated through methodologically-sound research, (c) included many past, effective classroom management strategies in its branding efforts, and (d) has been maintained by a “group contagion bandwagon” buoyed by five dynamics that are discussed further in the piece. Your Hosts discuss Knoff's analys...
Jul 09, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Davey and Angela examine the long-standing issue and reality of the disproportionate school disciplining of Black students. Reflecting the analyses and thoughts of Dr. Howie Knoff, a key finding is that teacher bias, particularly among less experienced white teachers in schools with high minority populations, contributes significantly to this disparity. Your Hosts review two new research studies, highlighting the role of implicit bias in the discipline referrals of Black students, and how teache...
Jun 24, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Angela and Davey continue their recent discussions on teacher training, coaching, supervision, tenure, and post-tenure activities. Today, the focus is on keeping post-tenure teachers actively involved as leaders in schools' continuous improvement processes. Based on Dr. Howie Knoff's recent blog post, your Hosts outline seven interdependent areas crucial for continuous school improvement. These areas, focusing on classroom instruction and multi-tiered student support, provide opportunities for p...
May 27, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Angela and Davey discuss what should happen after teachers earn tenure. . . so that they continue to improve and maintain their instructional effectiveness. The discussion is based on Dr. Howie Knoff's blogs advocating a new approach to teacher evaluation and professional development. . . shifting from a model that focuses largely on "time-in-rank" to a performance- and outcomes-based model emphasizing continuous growth and improvement. The core of today's discussion is the use of Professional D...
May 13, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Davey and Angela do a "Deep Dive" to discuss how to improve the tenure process for new teachers such that they earn tenure based on products and demonstrable outcomes. Guided by Dr. Howie Knoff's recommendations for improving teacher recruitment, evaluation, and tenure, your Hosts discuss the need for a multi-year induction program for new teachers. They differentiate these teachers as "novice," "transfer," or "transitional" teachers, and they emphasize that schools' induction/tenure process nee...
Apr 29, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Angela and Davey discuss the process whereby districts and schools recruit and hire new teachers, and then introduce and orient them to their new school and responsibilities. Much of their discussion is based on a blog post from Dr. Howie Knoff, President of Project ACHIEVE Educational Solutions. Your Hosts examines the shortcomings of current teacher recruitment, training, and evaluation methods, in the context of the fortieth anniversary of the "A Nation at Risk" report. Highlighting the conti...
Apr 08, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Angela and Davey analyze and discuss Dr. Howie Knoff's January 28, 2023 blog post which critiques the ineffectiveness of widely adopted school programs like PBIS and SEL. Dr. Howie argues that these programs often lack rigorous research support, produce inconsistent results, and are marketed more effectively than they actually work. Your Hosts discuss and describe Dr. Howie's advocacy for a direct, evidence-based approach that focuses on teaching specific, observable social and emotional skills....
Jan 28, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 1
