De Facto Leaders

Supporting language and decoding are important pieces of helping kids grow up to be successful readers. But making it happen is way more complex than that. What happens when a child in 5th grade is reading at a first grade reading level? What if there are other barriers BESIDES just reading getting in the way; such as scheduling constraints, classroom management issues, or access to mentoring? What if kids don’t have access to books outside of school, and schools don’t have the funding to provide them with quality reading materials? I wanted to discuss these questions, and that’s why I invited educational consultant Cassandra Williams to episode 113 of the De Facto Leaders podcast. Cassandra Williams is a true innovator in the education field, having dedicated over 25 years of her life to revolutionizing existing systems and setting new standards of excellence. With a degree in Elementary Education from Southern Illinois University and a Master’s from California State University, she is also the founder of two successful elementary schools in Indianapolis. Her research has focused on coaching teachers to accelerate student achievement, often utilizing video and other technologies as learning tools. Her most recent passion is the Educational Innovation 360° e-Instructional Coaching System (click here to learn more: https://www.educationalinnovation360.com/), which she designed and developed in 2018.On this episode, we discuss:✅What are teachers struggling with when it comes to teaching reading? Do they always know where they need support? ✅How to make school libraries and district events more inclusive and culturally responsive.✅How can we make schools more inviting to parents so they can take an active role in their children’s education?✅Three essential components of effective professional development, and why many workshops only address ONE of these components.You can connect with Cassandra on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandra-williams-777b7927/, on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Edinnovation360, and on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Educationalinnovation360/, on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/educationalinnovation360/You can learn more about her coaching and professional development for schools and individuals at https://www.educationalinnovation360.com/In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program for related service providers who want to take a leadership role in implementing executive functioning support. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efleadership We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

What do you do if your school administrator doesn’t fully understand your role and your expertise?What if you have the information and knowledge they need to drive important decisions for your school? How can you get them to listen to your input? If you’re a therapist, educator, or aspiring school leader, these questions may have popped into your head from time to time. If that’s the case, it might feel like your boss (or maybe even your boss’s boss) has all the power. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if you could step into a leadership role NOW and be an advisor to those who are “technically” your superiors?This is called “leading up”. In episode 112 of the De Facto Leaders podcast, I invited Jethro Jones on to talk about how to be a leader, no matter your job title.Jethro Jones, is a national award-winning former school leader, podcaster, and author of the books "How to be a Transformative Principal" (click here to read more: https://www.amazon.com/How-Transformative-Principal-Jethro-Jones/dp/1915261090) and "SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for the people right in front of them! (click here to read more: https://www.amazon.com/SchoolX-principals-transformative-experience-themselves/dp/1913622118). He is also the founder of the BE Podcast Network (click here to learn more: https://bepodcast.network/ ), the best educational podcast network out there. Jethro currently consults school leaders on strategies to help them save time, lead more effectively, and overcome their own weaknesses. Jethro has worked as a principal at all K-12 levels, including a prison school, a district coach, distance learning team lead, and English teacher.In this conversation, he shares:✅How to “lead up” to your school administrator when they need your input on programming decisions (even if they don’t realize it yet). ✅How to “lead out” to other people on your team, even if they’re resistant to changing their practices.✅How to make a case to your school leader for more resources and support, even if it’s not in the budget.You can connect with Jethro Jones on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jethrojones/, and listen to the Transformative Principal Podcast or learn more about how to work with Jethro on his website here: https://www.jethrojones.com/ You can also learn more about the BE podcast network for aspiring school leaders here: https://bepodcast.network/You can take the quiz on how to level up in your career as an educator/leader here: https://moveup.transformativeprincipal.com/?utm_source=dflYou can listen to the School AI podcast where we discuss AI, interdisciplinary units, and executive functioning featuring Dr. Karen here: https://youtu.be/KqUzRRKQvO8In this episode, I mentioned my free online training for K-12 therapists who want to offer social and academic support that’s evidence-based and neurodiversity-affirming. You can sign up for that free training here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efleadership We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

“Behavior problems” are an external sign of what’s going on internally. In order to support kids who are being referred for behavioral concerns, we need to address these internal skills proactively. That’s why I invited consultant and educator Lisa Navarra to episode 111 of the De Facto Leaders podcast to talk about self-regulation.Lisa M. Navarra, M.S. in Special Education, SDA, award-winning educator and published author of children’s books, music, and teacher resources provides professional development and individual services teaching the “how to learn” skills for children who struggle learning and self-regulating. Lisa has been invited to speak at schools, libraries, and organizations where she has transformed resistant learners into students who learn the skills in how to focus and believe in themselves! Lisa’s dedication to supporting schools and families extends beyond her books and resources and includes her podcast, “Student Success Beyond Expectations” Podcast. Click here to learn more: https://childbehaviorconsulting.com/podcasts/In this interview, we discuss:✅Common misconceptions surrounding behavior problems and the role of internal regulation. ✅How to make sure kids get support across their day; including on the bus and in the hallways. ✅What to do when stimming is seen as a behavior problem, and how to help kids get sensory needs met and self-advocate. You can connect with Lisa on her website here: https://childbehaviorconsulting.com/Follow her on Instagram: http://@lisanavarraedu or onFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChildBehaviorConsultingYou can find her podcast here: https://childbehaviorconsulting.com/podcasts/ or listen to episodes on her Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@childbehaviorconsulting1650  In this episode, I mentioned my Executive Functions Implementation Guide that shares how school therapists can lead their IEP teams in providing mental health, behavioral, and social skills support for K-12 kids. You can download this free resource here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efschools We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Do autistic people experience empathy?  Does masking cause trauma?  How do we help neurodivergent kids form relationships in a way that’s accepting of their differences? These are questions that I get from clinicians on a regular basis that I’ve also wondered about myself. That’s why when I created The School of Clinical Leadership, I made sure to include research and strategies to help guide clinicians through answering these questions.  In episode 110 of the De Facto Leaders podcast, I’m sharing a recording that comes directly from the School of Clinical Leadership course library.  In the video, I’ll cover why teaching situational awareness is so important for social relationships and self-advocacy, and why it’s a skill that can help clinicians navigate the nuances of effective and affirming intervention. This episode is taken directly from the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps K-12 clinicians provide executive functioning support for their caseloads. You can learn more about the program here: https://www.drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

If you’re a therapist or educator working in the schools, there’s a high probability that the administrator who does your employee evaluation isn’t a subject-matter expert in your discipline. If they are, you’re certainly in the minority. This is because it’s impossible to find a school administrator who’s held every single job in the school system. On top of that, employee evaluations are incredibly time-consuming, making it difficult for school leaders to provide the mentorship and coaching to help their staff make changes to their practices.  That’s why I invited senior high school principal Eric Makelky to episode 109 of the De Facto Leaders podcast to talk about employee evaluations. In this interview we discuss: ✅Why some school administrators don’t give specific feedback on evaluations ✅Just how much time is your principal spending on evaluations? Is the employee evaluation like IEP paperwork for administrators?  ✅The mindset and qualities you need to make the evaluation experience valuable, even if your administrator has never been in your position. You can connect with Eric Makelky on Twitter here: http://@emakelky He’s currently the interim host of the Transformative Principal podcast with Jethro Jones. Be sure to check out the episode titled “What If They Don't Want Feedback with Eric Makelky and Jethro Jones”   for a great discussion on employee evaluations. Click here to view more: https://www.jethrojones.com/podcast/episode519  In this episode, I also mentioned my free online training where I share how to help students thrive socially, emotionally, and academically with executive functioning support. In the training, I share why some students still struggle with social skills, even though they’re going to social skills groups.   You can sign up for the free training here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efleadership We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Doing a quality evaluation when you’re assessing things like language can be a challenge because there isn’t one “magic bullet” test that gives us what we need.  What is even more challenging is when you get a referral to evaluate a client that speaks two or more languages; especially when they’re languages you don’t speak.  Unfortunately, monolingual clinicians get referrals for multilingual evaluations all the time.  That’s why I invited Meg Morgan, Speech-Language Pathologist and Clinical Assistant Professor from the University of New Hampshire to episode 108 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast to talk about multilingual evaluations. This episode will be extremely valuable to you for ALL language evaluations; even monolingual clients.  In this interview we discuss: ✅The biggest myths about bilingualism and language proficiency, and why it’s not as simple as we think ✅How to prepare yourself to evaluate a client who speaks a language you don’t speak ✅How to gather evidence to share with your team, even if you don’t have formal test scores ✅Why doing a thorough evaluation saves you time in the long run; and how to streamline the process You can connect with Meg on LinkedIN here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-morgan-039778144/ You can also watch her presentation Multilingual Evaluations by Monolingual SLPs on speechpathology.com here: https://www.speechpathology.com/slp-ceus/course/multilingual-evaluations-by-monolingual-slps-9364                                                                                       (paid membership is required to view this training) Meg mentioned the following resources in this episode: Bilinguistics - Click here to read more: https://bilinguistics.com/ The Leaders Project - Click here to read more: https://www.leadersproject.org/ SALT - Click here to read more: https://www.saltsoftware.com/ In this episode, I mentioned the Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure, my free guide for clinicians that outlines common sentence types that support comprehension in students who are learning English or who have disabilities that impact language learning. You can sign up for a free copy here: https://drkarenspeech.com/sentencestructure In this episode, I mentioned my Executive Functions Implementation Guide that shares how school therapists can lead their IEP teams in providing mental health, behavioral, and social skills support for K-12 kids. You can download this free resource here:  https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efschools     We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

What’s evidence-based and neurodiversity-affirming shouldn’t be in opposition. Effective interventions that build resilience and help kids build healthy relationships should be “affirming” by definition. Yet many clinicians remain confused about how to apply this to practice; especially when it comes to things like “social skills” or “pragmatic language”. One of the most common complaints I hear across disciplines when it comes to social skills support is that students don’t generalize skills. I’ve heard this from psychologists, SLPs, social workers, counselors, among others.  The solution to the generalization problem is ALSO the answer to making intervention    ND-affirming and EBP.  In order to do this, we need to teach the right skills with the right service delivery model.  In episode 107 of the De Facto Leaders podcast, I share how to do this.  I cover: ✅Why adult-led social skills groups that teach social rules lead to poor carryover ✅The two skills that should be a part of every social skills intervention plan ✅The three components to and effective service delivery model (and why pull-out therapy alone doesn’t work). In this episode, I also mentioned my free online training where I share how to help students thrive socially, emotionally, and academically with executive functioning support. In the training, I share why some students still struggle with social skills, even though they’re going to social skills groups. You can sign up for the free training here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efleadership To get the information in written form, check out my Executive Functioning Implementation Guide here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efschools We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

I was honored to have Sharon Fuller, founder of The Attachment Place, LLC as a guest for episode 106 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast.   Sharon began her journey with developmental trauma disorder (DTD), also known as reactive attachment disorder (RAD), when she and her husband first adopted in 2005. She is a mom to nine children, six biological and three who were added to their family through adoption. When confronting the effects of the trauma their adopted children had endured she realized they were ill-prepared to parent them and for the impact their trauma would have on their entire family. Sharon is a trained transformational coach and respite provider.    During that time, she developed an approach that is effective in breaking down walls and reaching the hearts of children with trauma histories and attachment challenges.   From 2012-2019, the Attachment Place helped close to one hundred children transition successfully to their homes and form attachments to their parents. That’s why I knew Sharon would be an amazing guest.    In this interview we discuss: ✅Why kids with reactive attachment disorder need clear boundaries to feel safe and form relationships.  ✅Why kids who have experienced trauma appear independent, and why they must shift to being dependent on parents before they can reach healthy independence.  ✅Why permissive parenting approaches can cause anxiety for the whole family. ✅Why parent coaching is a non-negotiable when working with trauma, and how she supports parents through her “environment matrix” framework.    You can connect with Sharon on her website for The Attachment Place or on Facebook here. She runs a Facebook group called Quieting the Storm of Adoption Parents’ Group. You can learn more about her framework for supporting families on her free training here, and can email her at sfuller@theattachmentplace.com.   In this episode, Sharon mentioned this study that showed that putting a fence around a playground can increase creative exploration in preschoolers.    In this episode, I mentioned my Executive Functions Implementation guide that shares how school therapists can lead their IEP teams in providing mental health, behavioral, and social skills support for K-12 kids. You can download this free resource here.    In this episode, I also mentioned the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps pediatric clinicians be better leaders, make a bigger impact with their services, and lead their teams in providing executive functioning support for kids at the K-12 level. You can learn more about how to become a member here. We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In 2022, a study was published in JAMA Network Open with a compelling title: “Video gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in children.” You may read the article here: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/video-gaming-may-be-associated-better-cognitive-performance-childrenThis resulted in a number of social media influencers spreading the word about the “benefits” of playing video games. For up to 3 hours a day nonetheless. **After I published this podcast episode, this study was retracted and replaced due to concerns with the original analysis. I have not edited the original episode, but am posting the information about the retraction here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2803642Please keep this retraction in mind as you listen to my analysis, as many of my concerns about the interpretation of this study are addressed in the retraction. What got lost in translation was the subheadline and nuances of the findings, which were explained quite transparently by the researchers, and were readily available to anyone who clicked through and read the full news release.That’s why in episode 105 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast, I explained the details outlined in the news release; including the details that were left out of the headlines. I also share my thoughts on what these results mean for educators, therapists, and parents when it comes to the harm and potential benefits of gaming. The full news release to the ABCD study can be found here. Link here: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/video-gaming-may-be-associated-better-cognitive-performance-childrenIn this episode, I mentioned my Executive Functions Implementation guide that shares how school therapists can lead their IEP teams in providing mental health, behavioral, and social skills support for K-12 kids. You can download this free resource here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efschools We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Many people in education and healthcare know that lobbying and advocacy needs to happen; but many people don’t know whose responsibility it is or how to do it.That’s why I invited Michael Campbell, published author, blogger, and licensed bilingual speech-language pathologist to the show to dive into this topic. Michael has spent time as a union member on his collective bargaining committee, and he shared a ton of useful knowledge on the process. If you’re an SLP or other related service provider and you want to know how to leverage your union or build relationships to advocate for your profession, you won’t want to miss this interview. In this episode, he shares:✅What people are actually doing when they’re “lobbying” for a bill to be passed.✅What to say when you email your congressman (plus other people you can email as well to get your voice heard).✅How to learn more about bills that impact you, your facility, and your students.✅Why it’s worth your time to help other union members (like teachers) get what they want, even for initiatives that seem unrelated to you as a therapist.Michael works as a Speech-Language Pathologist in the public schools and his private practice. He started my career teaching and mentoring students through Upward Bound on undergraduate admissions and college success and also served as a Program Officer at the Institute of International Education. He taught for several years in both the US and Mexico before starting his SLP graduate program.During his graduate studies, he built The Speech Blog. You can view the webpage here: https://thespeechblog.com/ To advise candidates on SLP grad school admissions and in 2020 he published a book called “SLP To Be: An Unofficial Guide to Getting into Graduate School for Speech-Language Pathology” To view more about the book, click here: https://www.amazon.com/SLP-Be-Unofficial-Speech-Language-Pathology/dp/1730815073 Currently, he’s  practicing SLP in the school systems and also blogs about professional topics of interest at Think SLP. You may check the webpage here: https://thinkslp.com/ His current project is a workbook for clinicians or teachers with therapy/lesson plans centered on 10 famous people who stutter.We mentioned the following blog post articles during our interview from Michael’s site:> Teacher’s Unions – Just for teachers?    Link here: https://thinkslp.com/teachers-unions-just-for-teachers/> Four Things I Heard at ASHA’s Listening Session, Oct 2022   Link here: https://thinkslp.com/my-four-take-aways-from-ashas-school-issues-advisory-board-listening-session-in-october-2022/In this episode, I mentioned the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps pediatric clinicians be better leaders, make a bigger impact with their services, and lead their teams in providing executive functioning support for kids at the K-12 level. You can learn more about how to become a member here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.