edWebcasts

Presented by Eisha Buch, Head of Teaching and Learning, Common Sense Media; Dr. Katie DiGregorio, Director of Learning: ENL, Data, and Student Success, West Hempstead Union Free School District (NY); and Dr. Lisa Minicozzi, Principal, Chestnut Street School, West Hempstead Union Free School District (NY)
Moderated by Caroline Hu Flexer, Co-Founder and Vice President, Khan Academy Kids

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by Khan Academy Kids. 

The webinar recording can be accessed here.

Teachers of young children get asked about screen time constantly. It comes up at pickup, in the hallway, and in the middle of a conference about something else. The advice keeps shifting, and most of it measures screen time by the clock rather than by what's on the screen. What's a teacher with 90 seconds and a worried parent in front of her supposed to say?

This edWeb podcast gives PreK through second-grade educators and the administrators who support them a clear direction for conversations with families about their child's technology use. Our presenters have had these conversations themselves, and they will be specific about what worked, what didn't, and what they would say differently now.

Listeners can learn to:

• Recognize the worry underneath the question about minutes, and why a time limit answers the wrong one
• Apply a three-question framework a parent can remember the next day: Content, Context, and Crowd-Out
• Adapt the conversation to three settings: a ten-minute slot at Back-to-School Night, a full family engagement night, and a two-minute hallway exchange
• Respond when a family pushes back, and know what not to promise

Key topics include:

• The friction between families who want fewer screens and instruction that runs on devices
• Where families get their screen time information, and which pieces of popular advice don't hold up
• How guilt shapes the conversation, and why a non-judgmental opening changes the outcome
• The American Academy of Pediatrics 5 Cs as a deeper framework for longer family sessions

The presenters focus on the quality of what's on the screen and how to talk about it with families, not whether devices belong in early-grade classrooms at all. 

This edWeb podcast is of interest to PreK through second-grade educators, librarians, school leaders, district leaders, and education technology leaders.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Presented by Dr. Haiwen Chu, Research Director, WestEd; and Lindsey Tropf, Founder and CEO, Immersed Games

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by Immersed Games. 

The webinar recording can be accessed here.

Many middle schoolers go quiet in math class, not because they have nothing to say, but because math has taught them that what matters is being right and being fast. When a question has one obvious answer, there's little reason to talk, and even less reason to risk being wrong in front of peers. The result is classroom discussion that falls flat.

In this edWeb podcast, Dr. Haiwen Chu, Research Director at WestEd, and Lindsey Tropf, Founder and CEO of Immersed Games, explore what quality math talk looks like in grades 6–8 and how teachers can create the conditions for it. Quality talk is sustained, going deeper to explore ideas and make connections. Ideally, interactions are also reciprocal, as students build on, question, and respond to one another rather than only to the teacher. When a classroom values reasoning over speed, students have room for risk-taking, curiosity, and working through uncertainty, the very opposite of math anxiety.

The presenters share practical approaches grounded in research and classroom practice. These include open-ended prompts that invite ideas rather than single answers, routines that move from individual think time to small-group sharing to whole-class consensus, and tasks where students hold different pieces of data and need each other to make sense of it. You can see these principles in a traditional classroom and in an innovative setting: a game-based statistics curriculum that WestEd and Immersed Games are developing and studying together, where students investigate real-world scenarios and bring what they find back to the class for discussion.

Listeners can learn to:

• Describe what makes math talk sustained and reciprocal, and recognize the kinds of questions that shut discussion down
• Identify classroom conditions that lower the stakes of sharing rough-draft thinking
• Design or adapt tasks, including data investigations, that create a genuine need for students to talk
• Apply a structured discourse routine that works across content, curricula, and formats

This edWeb podcast is of interest to grades 6–8 math teachers, math coaches, and curriculum leaders looking for concrete ways to get students talking about math with curiosity, confidence, and openness.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Presented by Jan Jardine, APEX Grant Coordinator, Aspen Peaks School District (UT); Gideon Sanders, Former Director of Innovative Strategies, Grand Rapids Public Schools (MI), and Current Adjunct Instructor, Grand Rapids Community College; and Yoelia Nava, Administrator of Adult Education, Region One Education Service Center
Moderated by Martha McCabe, Experienced Educator, Senior Vice President of Community Partnerships, Project Lead The Way

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by Project Lead The Way. 

The edLeader Panel recording can be accessed here.

Families expect strong academic outcomes—but they also want to know how education prepares students for life after high school. In this edWeb podcast, explore how schools can demonstrate their value through interactive STEM and CTE experiences that connect academic rigor to real-world relevance, in-demand skills, and clear pathways to future education and careers.

The panelists share how to:

• Connect learning to the real world through engaging STEM and CTE experiences that show students how classroom learning translates into future opportunities
• Showcase measurable value to families by highlighting the skills, experiences, and outcomes that prepare students for success beyond high school
• Build clear pathways to what’s next by connecting students to postsecondary education, in-demand careers, and the skills employers value most

This edWeb podcast is of interest to K-12 teachers, school leaders, district leaders, CTE directors, and CTE teachers.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Presented by Odetta Smith, Ed.D., Experienced Educator, Director of Innovation & Life Readiness, EL | Federal Programs | Library Services | Personalized Learning | Virtual Learning, Pattonville School District (MO); Ashish Chaturvedi, Founder, School Diary®; and Bill Bass, Past President of the Board of Directors at ISTE, Experienced Educator, Parkway School District (MO)
Moderated by Ellen Cleary, Experienced Educator, Senior Strategist, Advancing Global EDU, Inc.

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by School Diary®. 

The edLeader Panel recording can be accessed here.

Chronic absenteeism rarely begins with a single missed day. It builds through patterns that schools often see only after they have already taken hold: a student skipping the same day each week, missing more classes after a break, or falling into an attendance dip that tracks with a change at home. By the time attendance data reflects a problem, the window to intervene early has often already closed.

This edWeb podcast gives district leaders a practical framework for closing that gap. Learn how to identify early attendance patterns using data that already exists across their systems, including attendance, academic performance, health, and behavior records, and how to connect those patterns to timely, two-way family engagement before absence becomes chronic.

Learning objectives include:

• Recognize the early behavioral and data signals that precede chronic absenteeism, rather than relying on threshold-based alerts that arrive too late
• Understand how combining attendance data with academic, health, and behavior signals produces earlier and more accurate risk detection
• Apply a tiered family engagement model that matches the level of outreach to the severity of the pattern, from a simple nudge to coordinated family support
• Address language and access barriers that prevent some families from responding to school communication, using two-way, multilingual outreach as a core part of the strategy

Key topics include pattern-based early warning systems, cross-domain data integration, tiered communication and intervention design, and the role of multilingual, two-way communication in reaching families who are otherwise hard to engage.

Listeners can learn a framework they can apply directly in their districts: a way to move from reactive attendance monitoring to proactive family engagement, using data leaders may already have but are not yet connecting. This edWeb podcast is designed for K-12 superintendents, assistant superintendents, attendance teams, family engagement leaders, and communications directors who want to shift from responding to absenteeism after it becomes a pattern to preventing it before it does.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Presented by Dr. Antonio A. Fierro, Literacy Expert, Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz; Sarah Walters, Literacy Instructional Support Specialist and IMSE Level 4 Orton-Gillingham (OG) Master Instructor, Troy City Schools (OH); Silvia Gonzalez-Powers, District Literacy and Multilingual Learner Leader, Boston Public Schools (MA); and Dr. Nicole Florez, Former Educator, Current Curriculum Designer, Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE)

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE). 

The edLeader Panel recording can be accessed here.

EL instruction frequently operates in isolation from Tier 1 literacy instruction, leaving gaps in both language development and reading achievement. What does it take to close that gap at scale?

Hear from Dr. Antonio Fierro, literacy expert and English language educator, and K–12 district leaders in a candid conversation on building literacy systems that work for English Learners. Moderated by Dr. Nicole Florez, literacy expert and curriculum designer at IMSE, this session moves beyond theory into practice: what changed when EL instruction became aligned with Tier 1 classroom instruction, how growing teacher knowledge helped sustain it and what the results show.

Hear how two districts are supporting English Learners with an aligned approach, moving away from fragmented, pull-out instruction toward a shared literacy framework built into Tier 1 instruction. Panelists share the progress they've seen, from stronger foundational skills to growing confidence and engagement in the classroom.

District leaders gain a practical understanding of how to align EL support with Tier 1 instruction, sustain ongoing professional learning, and use data to track progress, all grounded in real outcomes from districts that have done the work.

This edWeb podcast is of interest to PreK-8 school and district leaders.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Presented by Andrew Kahn, Psy.D., Associate Director of Expertise and Behavioral Health, Understood; and Sarah M. Scott, Ph.D., Former Educator, Current Neurodiversity Researcher, Digital Promise
Moderated by Nick Schiner, Former Educator, Current Director, Peer-to-Peer Professional Learning, Digital Promise

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by Digital Promise. 

The webinar recording can be accessed here.

Navigating transitions between school and home can present significant challenges for all learners, but especially neurodivergent (ND) students. Expectations, routines, and environmental supports are often different at home and at school, which can affect a learner’s mindset and impede successful learning outcomes. Educators may lack context regarding a student's home environment necessary to design instruction with that learner’s specific needs in mind, and it can be a struggle to integrate what works at home with school-based supports and IEP accommodations. Strong parent communication can bridge the gap and, at the same time, offer parents vital information they need to support behavioral learning at home.

By adopting a bi-directional approach to communication, rooted in the whole-child lens of learner variability, educators and families can build constructive partnerships that extend well beyond traditional parent-teacher conferences to align supports and foster greater consistency for students across all settings.

Hear from Sarah M. Scott, Ph.D., Digital Promise’s Neurodiversity Researcher, and Andrew Kahn, Psy.D., Understood’s Associate Director of Expertise and Behavioral Health, in a discussion-focused edWebinar on bridging the gap between home and classroom environments. 

In this edWeb podcast, learn:

• How to identify key learner variability factors that affect students across home and school contexts and apply research-backed strategies to maintain consistent routines
• Actionable bi-directional communication strategies for parent-teacher conferences, IEP discussions, and ongoing dialogues that respect family cultural perspectives and build mutual trust
• Practical tools from Digital Promise and Understood to move from understanding learner variability to implementing meaningful support adjustments

This edWeb podcast is designed for K-12 educators, special education professionals, and school and district leaders committed to creating collaborative, equitable pathways for neurodivergent learners.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Presented by Matthew Ginsburg, Principal, Chittick Elementary School (MA); Jessica Kott, Director of Special Programs, Westside Union School District (CA); and Elizabeth Cushing, CEO, Playworks

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by Playworks. 

The edLeader Panel recording can be accessed here.

You know belonging drives attendance. The harder question is how to pay for the work that builds it. This edWeb podcast gathers school and district leaders to talk openly about how they've invested in belonging- and attendance-focused work in their own schools and districts—where the dollars came from, how they made the case internally, and what they'd do differently next time.

The conversation is grounded in real experience, not theory: panelists share their own stories rather than prescribed tactics, so the insight stays practical and specific. The discussion also connects stronger attendance to funding mechanisms like ADA, reinforcing why belonging work belongs in the budget conversation, not just the culture conversation.

Timed for the start of the school year, when many leaders are already reassessing budgets, this session offers a timely, leader-to-leader look at turning belonging into a funded priority rather than an aspiration. Listeners leave with real funding examples and a stronger case to bring to their own boards and communities.

This edWeb podcast is of interest to elementary and middle school district leaders and school leaders.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Presented by Wiley Blevins, Ed.D., Author, Educational Consultant, and Researcher; William P. Stropkaj, Ed.D., Superintendent, Keystone Oaks School District (PA); Shannon Varley, Ed.D., Assistant to the Superintendent for Student Achievement, Keystone Oaks School District (PA); Steven Ross, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Professor, and Director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins School of Education; Michael A. Cook, Ph.D., Assistant Research Scientist, Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins School of Education; and Eleni C. Giorgos, Research Assistant, Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins School of Education
Moderated by Nicole Stephen, Senior Director, Professional Learning and R&D, William H. Sadlier, Inc.

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by Sadlier.

The webinar recording can be accessed here.

How can schools translate evidence-based literacy practices into meaningful gains for students? In this edWeb podcast, literacy expert and program author Dr. Wiley Blevins, district leaders, and independent researchers examine how one district strengthened foundational reading instruction through consistent implementation, targeted support, and evidence-based improvement.

Dr. Blevins shares the research and instructional principles behind the program and discuss what effective implementation looks like in practice. District leaders describe the instructional routines, leadership decisions, and professional learning that supported implementation across their schools. They also explain how they used WIN (“What I Need”) blocks to provide targeted reading instruction based on assessment data and students’ identified skill needs.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University discuss how they independently examined the district’s implementation and student outcomes through classroom observations, educator feedback, and achievement data. They also address the broader role of evidence in education today, including why independent evaluation matters, how educators can interpret research findings responsibly, and how schools can use research alongside local data and professional expertise to inform instructional decisions.

Together, the presenters connect instructional design, district implementation, research, and classroom practice. Listeners will leave with practical insights to strengthen implementation, provide responsive student support, and use evidence to guide continuous improvement. By the end of this edWeb podcast, listeners can:

• Identify instructional conditions that support strong foundational literacy implementation
• Describe how one district used WIN blocks and assessment data to target student needs
• Explain the role of independent research in examining implementation and student achievement
• Apply research findings and lessons from the district’s experience to their own literacy planning and instruction

This edWeb podcast is designed for K-12 classroom teachers, reading specialists, instructional coaches, school leaders, and district administrators.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Presented by Dr. Ed Gomes Jr., English as a Second Language, Literature, and Linguistics Teacher, Secretariat of Education/Faculdade São Bernardo, São Paulo, Brazil; Laura Khalil, Founder, Once Upon a Roll; and Nick Schiner, Former Educator, Current Director, Peer-to-Peer Professional Learning, Digital Promise

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by Digital Promise.

The webinar recording can be accessed here.

Games aren’t just entertainment; they’re learning environments. In this edWeb podcast, hear from educators connecting playing games, making games, and real, transferable skills and competencies. From gameplay that builds problem-solving, collaboration, empathy, and resilience to game design that grows systems thinking, empathy, and project management, this session offers a practical lens for spotting and supporting career-ready skills already at play in games.

This edWeb podcast is of interest to PreK-12 teachers, librarians, school leaders, district leaders, and education technology leaders.

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

A conversation hosted by Lisa Schmucki, Founder and CEO of edWeb.net, with Maura Gallagher, Deputy Superintendent, Franklin Square Union Free School District (NY)

This podcast is hosted by edWeb.net.

The interview recording can be accessed here.

This interview discusses the goals and results of the Franklin Square Union Free Elem School District professional learning program on edWeb. Lisa Schmucki, founder and CEO of edWeb talked with Maura Gallagher, Deputy Superintendent, about the program, now in its 3rd year.

Franklin Square UFSD launched a private PLC on edWeb in the spring of 2024 to support teachers with change and new initiatives and offer flexible, job-embedded PD amidst a substitute shortage that makes in-person PD difficult.

The PLC offers edWebinar playlists aligned with Franklin Square Pillars of Professional Learning. edWeb provides CE certificates for edWebinars and 15 CE hours are equivalent toward 1 credit for a salary increment. edWeb is also approved for CTLE credit in New York.

Maura shared the great feedback she is hearing from her teachers: "I have been receiving tremendous positive feedback about edWeb. Teachers are raving about the programs, what they are learning and relearning as well as the flexibility of taking the courses at their own pace. Thank you for this wonderful resource for our teachers!  I truly appreciate our partnership! When my teachers are happy and learning, I am happy!”

Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.