De Facto Leaders

In this episode, I talk with Lauren Haines from Busy Bee Speech about childhood stuttering.

Many people don’t realize this, but there are a TON of misconceptions in the general public about stuttering. It’s also a highly specialized area of speech-language pathology, so many clinicians are left feeling unprepared to support stutterers who come to therapy. That’s why I wanted to dispel some myths about stuttering and offer some practical tips for therapists, educators, and parents of school-age kids.

In this conversation, we discuss:
✅What are the signs that stuttering will persist past childhood, and is it possible for kids to “outgrow” speech disfluencies?

✅What does stuttering look like in kids? How do we know when a child needs to go to therapy?

✅What are the key pieces of intervention for stuttering, and what can therapists, educators, and parents do to help?

✅Why “stuttering” should not be an off-limits word when talking to kids about their speech.

✅What’s the cause of stuttering and how can we have realistic therapy goals for kids?

To get more information from Lauren about childhood stuttering, check out these resources:

Busy Bee Speech Fluency blog posts.

 Preschool Interactive Fluency Binder.

 Interactive Fluency Binder for Speech Therapy.

I’m excited to announce that I’m partnering with MedBridge to help clinicians keep their clinicals sharp and increase patient outcomes and engagement.

That’s why I have a special offer that allows you to get $175 off your MedBridge subscription.

With your MedBridge subscription, you get access to their continuing education library and their client engagement portal where you can share home exercises with your clients. There are membership options for SLPs, OTs, PTs, ATs, and RNs. To get this special offer, use promo code KAREN80 when you sign up for MedBridge here. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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 this episode, I sit down with college admissions coach Kim Duckworth from Bridge Education Center to talk about helping kids expand their options after high school. Many of my listeners are parents and professionals of K-12 kids, and many of them often wonder if they're doing the right things to prepare kids for young adulthood.

That's why I thought Kim would be the perfect guest to discuss this topic, because she's helped hundreds of kids successfully get in to their "dream schools".

In this interview, Kim and I discuss:
✅The importance of having a plan A, plan B, and plan C when thinking about the post-high school years.
✅Common options to consider post-graduation (not just college) and how to help your child decide which one is for them.
✅The right and wrong way to do a "gap year" if your child is considering it.
✅The ONE habit your child can do to expand their options when it comes to life after high school-especially if they're considering college (spoiler alert: it has to do with vocabulary and books)
✅Why the post-high school on-ramp starts in middle school, and what you can do at each age to help children have well-rounded high school experiences.

If you have a child who is considering college as a post-high school option, you don't want to miss this interview. Kim Duckworth is the author of “Parents, Are You Ready? The Practical Guide to Launching a Successful High School Student”. She is a graduate of Stanford University, where she received her B.A. in Communications-Journalism. She was the first woman in her family to attend college. She worked in Sales and Marketing for IBM in Silicon Valley and White Plains, NY for over 10 years. She has called Arizona her home for the last 25 years. Currently, Kim is an independent college admissions coach and member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. She personally consulted with over 7,500 high school families as the co-owner of Scottsdale Education Center (a college preparatory center) for over 12 years. She’s been married 35 years, has three daughters and three grandchildren. She enjoys hiking, Labrador retrievers, travel, and Telluride, Colorado You can learn more about Kim's services, including her college admission coaching services on her website here: https://parentsareyouready.com/about/

Also, I highly recommend checking out her book here: https://parentsareyouready.com/books/book/

Finally, don't forget to check out the Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure, which helps kids build the vocabulary and syntax skills they need for strong reading comprehension and written expression. You can grab a free copy of that guide here: https://drkarenspeech.com/sentencestructure The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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 this episode of Are they 18 yet?™, I talk with my friend and former colleague, Joann Briggs.

Joann was a special education teacher in the public school systems for over 30 years, and I had the opportunity to work with her for a good portion of my time as a school speech pathologist.

While I always harp on the fact that SLPs can make a huge impact on literacy and language, it really is a team effort. That’s why I wanted to sit down with Joann and share how we were able to work together to serve our elementary caseload in the school systems.

If you’re an SLP or a teacher who wants to know how to collaborate to build vocabulary skills, this is a must listen.

It’ll also be helpful if you’re a parent and you want to get a better understanding of what happens as your child’s school.

In this conversation, Joann shares:

✅How to co-teach effectively with general education teachers to serve a special education caseload.

✅Her experience going through a lengthy due process hearing with a student on her caseload.

✅How SLPs can add value in the teaming process when it comes to language and literacy.

✅How to get parents involved in the IEP process to so they feel like valued team members. In this episode, I mention my Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure.

In order to build strong language comprehension needed for reading, writing, and other important life skills, kids need to have a solid understanding of sentence structure.

In this guide, I outline common challenging sentence types, how to write goals to target them, and some evidence-based strategies for working on them.

You can get a free copy of the Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure at drkarenspeech.com/sentencestructure. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Whether we like it or not, gaming and devices are here to stay. As parents, therapists, and educators, we have to figure out how to help kids navigate these situations safely.

That's why I invited Sam Helvie to the show to share his experiences as a speech-language pathologist, teletherapist, and gamer.

Sam is a pediatric speech pathologist who has had a wide range of experience, but currently he serves a K-5 caseload in Southern California 100% online.

He's done a lot of research on the differences between online and in-person communication, as well as social skills required to safely participate in online gaming.​​​​​​

In this conversation, Sam and I discuss:

✅Unexpected logistical challenges that come up when providing speech therapy online to high-needs areas.

✅How to keep kids engaged in online therapy, while keeping therapy functional and relevant.

✅How to help kids safely participate in online gaming communities, including the benefits and downfalls of online games for kids.

✅Practical suggestions for building speech and language skills using technology.

To reach out to Sam, you can find him on LinkedIn here.

You can also email him at [email protected].

In this episode, Sam and I mention my Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure, which outlines common sentence types that are challenging for kids with language processing issues.

To get this guide and learn how to build the syntax skills kids need to have solid language comprehension skills, check out the Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure here. 

Recently, the Center for Disease control updated the early developmental milestones, and there's been a lot of debate about what this means. In a lot of my SLP professional groups, there have been questions about whether this will allow kids to fall through the cracks. I've also heard the concern that developmental milestones in general focus on neurotypical development and don't take neurodivergents in to account. That's why recently, I did a training for the member's of  SLP Learning Academy (my mentoring program for SLPs) to help them continue to provide quality services for kids who need them. In this episode, I share the audio from this training.

In the training, I cover:
✅What updates were made to the developmental milestones and concerns that have popped up in professional discussions.
✅Why developmental milestones are often misinterpreted and what to do about it.
✅What happens if a kid isn't following a "typical developmental progression"? What does that mean we should do?
✅What to do if a child IS meeting developmental milestones, but they're still having a difficult time functioning in school or social environments.
✅Why meeting developmental milestones shouldn't be the goal of therapy (and what to focus on instead).

In this episode, I mentioned  this slide deck with a flow chart for making decisions during screenings/evals (taking milestones in to account). This episode was taken from a training in SLP Learning Academy, my mentoring program that helps SLPs develop leadership skills and deliver high-quality services without burnout.  You can learn more about how to become a member here. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

We don’t want to be “helicopter parents” who coddle our kids…but we don’t want to be so militant that we traumatize them either. 

When it comes getting kids to do essential, but non-preferred tasks that ultimately help them thrive in the long run…the key to finding the right balance is learning how to scaffold. 

The term “scaffolding” is used to describe the foundation of a building, but it's also used to describe how teachers, therapists, and parents can teach kids challenging skills over time.

Ideally, we are providing JUST enough support that kids are challenged, but not so much support that they never progress.  This can be applied to basic independent skills like making meals, basic hygiene, managing a schedule and deadlines (for homework and other things), among other things that are necessary life skills we want kids to be able to do. 

That’s why in this week’s episode, I share the second half of my conversation with my friend and colleague, Brittany Bohach, a neurodivergent speech-language pathologist. 

In this conversation, we share a number of tangible examples of scaffolding in the school settings-both in preschool and through elementary and secondary school. 

Specifically, Brittany shares why something as simple as snack  or lunch time can be difficult for a child in the preschool setting, and how to work through this situation in a way that has the child’s best interest in mind. 

We also discuss another scenario that involved scaffolding from elementary school all the way through high school, and how a student was able to manage challenging sensory needs and develop communication skills in the process. 

If you’re a therapist, parent, or teacher who wants to support kids in a neurodiversity affirming, healthy way (that also builds resilience), you’re going to love this episode. 

To connect with Brittany Bohach, check out her private practice, Satellite Pediatric Therapy Services on Instagram at  @satellitepediatrictherapy. 

Additionally, we mentioned the work of Dr. Ross Greene on this episode, which you can learn more about here. 

Finally, I also mentioned the Time Tracking Journal, my resource for parents and therapists who want to help kids build executive functioning skills during common non-preferred or challenging daily tasks (e.g., chores, homework). The Time Tracking Journal gives you a set of strategies to help kids complete daily routines independently by giving them the problem-solving skills they need to plan their day strategically. You can learn more about the Time Tracking Journal here. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

When kids show negative behaviors, it’s often because they’re struggling to do what they’re being asked to do. This unfortunately happens a lot in school settings. You may have heard the saying “Kindergarten is the new 1st grade”. Kindergarten used to be focused on play, and its becoming increasingly more academic.

When “behavior problems” come up, we have to consider the demands being placed on kids. Are they truly “behavior issues”, or are we simply asking kids to do too much too soon?

In episode 50, I dive into this topic with my friend and colleague, neurodivergent pediatric speech-language pathologist, Brittany Bohach.

Specifically, we discuss:
✅Popular pre-k classroom activities and accompanying behavior problems that go along with them.
✅What’s really causing kids to act out, and why punishment isn’t the best option to solve the issue.
✅Common environmental classroom triggers that can result in meltdowns in emergent communicators
✅Why kids resist common school activities (circle time, calendar time, snack), and why standard behavior management strategies can cause more harm than good.

If you’re a therapist, parent, or teacher who is helping a child with “Kindergarten readiness” and school in general, you’re going to love this episode. To connect with Brittany Bohach, check out her private practice, Satellite Pediatric Therapy Services on Instagram at  @satellitepediatrictherapy. 

Additionally, we mentioned the work of Dr. Ross Greene on this episode, which you can learn more about here. 

Finally, I also mentioned the Time Tracking Journal, my resource for parents and therapists who want to help kids build executive functioning skills during common non-preferred or challenging daily tasks (e.g., chores, homework). The Time Tracking Journal gives you a set of strategies to help kids complete daily routines independently by giving them the problem-solving skills they need to plan their day strategically. You can learn more about the Time Tracking Journal here. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Are "natural" remedies really better when it comes to ADHD, autism, and related conditions? What does it mean to use a "natural" treatment or intervention?
 
In this episode, I discuss why those questions aren't easy to answer.

Specifically, I discuss:
✅The "appeal to nature" fallacy, what it is and why it's potentially harmful.
✅Common "natural" treatments for conditions like ADHD (such as diet, sleep hygiene, supplementation)
✅How to avoid distorted thinking when making decisions about medication and other treatment options.
✅The problem with "child-led" interventions, and how to reframe that term in a way that helps kids build resilience.

In this episode, I mentioned  this episode about homeopathy from the Unbiased Science podcast. I also mentioned the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. If you want to create healthy home environment that supports executive functioning and independence in school-age kids, check out my program for therapists, teachers, and parents, Executive Functioning for Success. Executive Functioning for Success provides a 12-week plan for optimizing your home for learning, and helping kids become more independent with daily tasks at the same time. Whether it be simple chores, basic self-care and hygiene, or academic tasks; this program will show you how to teach your kids the critical thinking skills to work through it.

You can learn more about how to join here: https://drkarenspeech.com/executivefunctions (Disclaimer: This episode should not be considered medical or legal advice, and should not be used to diagnose or treat any specific medical condition). The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Am I choosing the right language screening tool? How do I know when a child should be screened and evaluated? I get these questions a lot. That's why in this episode, I wanted to bust some common myths about language screenings and evaluations.

I'm going to share:  
✅The difference between a screening and evaluation (plus common mistakes people make).
✅Why thinking of a screening as a "test" is problematic.
✅When you might not have to use a formal language screener (and what you can do instead).
✅A simple tool I use to simplify the screening process, so I make sure I'm evaluating the right students.

In this episode I mentioned the Academic Language Skills Rating Scale, a tool I use to streamline language screenings, so students don't fall through the cracks. You can download your copy of this tool at: drkarenspeech.com/languagescreening. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Does class size matter? Is homework effective? What's the best way to help kids learn to read?  Why do some teachers (and schools) succeed while others fail? Dr. John Hattie attempted to answer these questions in his meta-analysis, published in his book, Visible Learning. This meta-analysis has been widely cited and used in teacher preparation programs all over the world, and has also been used to make decisions regarding educational policy and funding. But are the conclusions accurate? In this episode I dig in to that question as I share some critical reviews of Dr. Hattie's work. Specifically, I share the problems that come when using statistics like effect size (used in Hattie's meta-analysis) to make practical decisions in education. Additionally, I share one specific place where I disagree with Hattie's conclusions, plus some additional research that supports my point of view; specifically when it comes to sentence-combining, language processing, and comprehension. You can find Dr. John Hattie's site here. You can find some critical review of his work here and  here. I also mentioned that research supports the use of sentence-combining with certain students. You can find several studies that support this  here,  here, and  here. I also share some additional support for sentence-combining and explicit work on syntax in my Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure, which you can download here. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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

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 absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also 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 technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.