Principal Center Radio

By Justin BaederEducation

Principal Center Radio episodes

December 26, 2025 Nathaniel Hansford—The Scientific Principles of Reading and Writing Instruction Bridging the Divide Between Educational Practice and Research
Get the book, The Scientific Principles of Reading and Writing Instruction Bridging the Divide Between Educational Practice and Research
Visit Nate's Website www.PedagogyNonGrata.com
Follow Nate on X @Natejoseph19
About The Author
Nathaniel Hansford has taught every grade from preK to 12th, in places as diverse as South Korea, the United Kingdom, the subarctic of Quebec, and Ontario, Canada. In 2022, he won the Literacy Leader of the Year award from the Ontario International Dyslexia Association. Nathaniel has written hundreds of articles on the science of teaching. He is most interested in using meta-analysis research to help teachers implement methodologies that have been proven to work. He is the founder of SAGE Online Academy. To learn more about Nathaniel’s work in education, visit teachingbyscience.com, or follow him @Natejoseph19 on X (formerly Twitter). He is the author of The Scientific Principles of Teaching: Bridging the Divide Between Educational Practice and Research.

This episode of Principal Center Radio is sponsored by IXL, the most widely used online learning and teaching platform for K-12.
Discover the power of data-driven instruction in your school with IXL—it gives you everything you need to maximize learning, from a comprehensive curriculum to meaningful school-wide data.

Visit IXL.com/center to lead your school towards data-driven excellence today.
30 min
December 20, 2025 Lindsay Whorton—A New School Leadership Architecture: A Four-Level Framework for Reimagining Roles

Get the book, A New School Leadership Architecture: A Four-Level Framework for Reimagining Roles
Visit the Holdsworth Center website, www.HoldsworthCenter.org
About The Author
Lindsay Whorton is president of The Holdsworth Center, a non-profit organization in Texas dedicated to building educational leaders. Initially serving seven school districts and 42 leaders in 2017, The Holdsworth Center has served more than 1,900 leaders in 89 public school districts. Lindsay is a teacher, writer, speaker, and advocate for public education and educators. She was a Rhodes and Fulbright scholar, and holds a master’s degree in comparative social policy and a doctorate in social policy from Oxford University. She is the author of Teachers Unions and Education Reform in Comparative Contexts.
23 min
December 12, 2025 Louise Selby—All About Dyslexia
Get the book, All About Dyslexia: A Practical Guide for Primary Teachers
Get the book, All About Dyslexia: A Practical Guide for Secondary Teachers
Visit Louise's website, LouiseSelbyDyslexia.com
About The Author
Louise Selby is a dyslexia specialist trainer, consultant, author, assessor and teacher. She has 25 years’ experience of working with SEND within Hertfordshire local authority in teaching, special needs coordinator and advisory roles. She now works freelance, providing training and consultancy for schools as well as dyslexia assessment. Louise believes in partnership and collaboration and this is at the heart of all that she does. She is the author of Morph Mastery: Morphological Intervention for Reading, Spelling and Vocabulary and All About Dyslexia: A Practical Guide for Primary Teachers and All About Dyslexia: A Practical Guide for Secondary Teachers.

This episode of Principal Center Radio is sponsored by IXL, the most widely used online learning and teaching platform for K-12.
Discover the power of data-driven instruction in your school with IXL—it gives you everything you need to maximize learning, from a comprehensive curriculum to meaningful school-wide data.

Visit IXL.com/center to lead your school towards data-driven excellence today.
25 min
December 07, 2025 Rich Czyz—Autopilot: Practical Productivity for School Leaders

Get the book Autopilot: Practical Productivity for School Leaders
Visit the 4 O'Clock Faculty Website
Follow Rich on Twitter @RACzyz
About The Author
Rich is a principal and former teacher and instructional coach, and he's the author of four books, including Autopilot: Practical Productivity for School Leaders
24 min
November 29, 2025 Timothy Shanahan—Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives: How Students’ Reading Achievement Has Been Held Back and What We Can Do About It
Get the book, Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives: How Students’ Reading Achievement Has Been Held Back and What We Can Do About It
Visit Timothy's website, www.ShanahanOnLiteracy.com
About The Author
Timothy Shanahan is distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He served as the director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools, is the former president of the International Literacy Association, and served on the advisory board of the National Institute for Literacy under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In 2007, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame.

This episode of Principal Center Radio is sponsored by IXL, the most widely used online learning and teaching platform for K-12.
Discover the power of data-driven instruction in your school with IXL—it gives you everything you need to maximize learning, from a comprehensive curriculum to meaningful school-wide data.

Visit IXL.com/center to lead your school towards data-driven excellence today.
45 min
November 21, 2025 Erin Lehmann & Bill Barnes—Leading Educator Wellness: Six Critical Actions to Support All Staff
Get the book, Leading Educator Wellness: Six Critical Actions to Support All Staff
About The Authors
Bill Barnes is the superintendent of the Howard County Public School System in Maryland. He has served in leadership roles with the Maryland and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and has won a number of state and national teaching awards.
Barnes holds a master of science in mathematics and science education from Johns Hopkins University, and has served as an adjunct professor for Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland–Baltimore County, McDaniel College, and Towson University.

Dr. Erin Lehmann is an associate professor for the University of South Dakota. She has experience as an elementary principal at a Title I school, as well as being a math teacher, math coach, and curriculum specialist.
Dr. Lehmann is the author or co-author of several books, including Teaching Mathematics Today. She is a frequent speaker at national conferences, advocating for mathematics and grading practices. She holds EdD in educational leadership from the University of South Dakota.
20 min
November 18, 2025 Brig Leane—Singletons in a PLC at Work®: Navigating On-Ramps to Meaningful Collaboration
Get the book, Singletons in a PLC at Work®: Navigating On-Ramps to Meaningful Collaboration
Visit Brig's website, www.BrigLeane.com
Follow Brig on X @BrigLeane
About The Author
Brig Leane is an education consultant and former principal of Fruita Middle School in Colorado, which under his leadership became a national Model Professional Learning Community. A veteran of the United States Coast Guard, he began his 2nd career as an educator in 2000, and has served as a principal, assistant principal, and teacher at the middle and high school levels in inner-city, suburban, and rural schools. He has also been an adjunct professor at Colorado Christian University. Brig's work has been published in Phi Delta Kappan, Principal Leadership, and elsewhere, and he's the author of The PLC Dashboard: Implementing, Leading, and Sustaining Your Professional Learning Community at Work as well as Singletons in a PLC At Work.

This episode of Principal Center Radio is sponsored by IXL, the most widely used online learning and teaching platform for K-12.
Discover the power of data-driven instruction in your school with IXL—it gives you everything you need to maximize learning, from a comprehensive curriculum to meaningful school-wide data.

Visit IXL.com/center to lead your school towards data-driven excellence today.
30 min
November 08, 2025 Bob Sonju, Dr. Anisa Baker-Busby & Kim Monkres—The Handbook for Highly Effective Teams in a PLC at Work®: Essential Actions for Tackling Critical Issues
Get the book, The Handbook for Highly Effective Teams in a PLC at Work®: Essential Actions for Tackling Critical Issues
About The Authors
Bob Sonju is an award-winning educational leader, author, and nationally recognized speaker celebrated for his engaging style and practical approach to school improvement. He has led two schools to achieve National Model PLC at Work® recognition—one of which also earned the prestigious National Breakthrough School Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Named Utah Principal of the Year and a finalist for National Principal of the Year, Bob’s leadership and insights have been featured in numerous Solution Tree publications, including the recently released Simplifying the Journey, as well as in Principal Leadership magazine.

Dr. Anisa Baker-Busby is a distinguished elementary administrator with over 20 years of experience, passionate about driving student achievement by building high-performing collaborative teams. Dr. Baker-Busby specializes in helping educators and leaders effectively implement the Professional Learning Community (PLC) at Work® process, focusing on using data from common assessments to guide real-time instructional decisions. Her commitment led to both Lindsey Elementary and Shirley Hills Elementary being honored as National Model PLC at Work schools by Solution Tree. Dr. Baker-Busby is also the co-author of the newly released The Handbook for Design in 5: Assessment Tools and Protocols for Teachers and Teams.

Kim Monkres is the principal of Crimson Cliffs High School located in St. George, Utah. She began her career almost 25 years ago as a high school English and communications teacher and has coaching experience as well. Kim has been fortunate to work in many capacities and has a passion and appreciation for the collaborative process in education. She has served as a learning coach, assistant principal, athletic director, middle school principal, and state activities director. Kim has experience with creating high-functioning collaborative teams, professional learning communities, curriculum development, curriculum design and mapping, instructional coaching, and RTI.

They are the authors, with William Ferrier, of the acclaimed new book The Handbook for Highly Effective Teams.
23 min
November 01, 2025 Margaret Sullivan Marcus—Dual-Language Immersion Programs & Teacher Pipelines
Visit the Sullivan Family Charitable Foundation Website
Read The Century Foundation Report "How to Grow Bilingual Teacher Pathways: Making the Most of U.S. Linguistic and Cultural Diversity"
About The Author
Maggie Marcus, PhD is the Executive Director of The Sullivan Family Charitable Foundation. She has taught high school Spanish and elementary English in Puerto Rico, then worked for the United Nations as well as the CIA before returning to the classroom in Washington, D.C. as a Spanish Dual Language first and second-grade teacher. She also worked as an instructional coach for Spanish literacy in a bilingual charter school.
Maggie has a Master in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts, and a Ph.D. from the Applied Linguistics and Language Education program at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her dissertation research, titled, “Bilingual in a Monolingual District: Stakeholder Perspectives on Equitable Access to Dual Language Programs” explored the similarities and differences of parents, policy-makers, and school leaders and access to dual language education (DLE) programs in a local school district.

This episode of Principal Center Radio is sponsored by IXL, the most widely used online learning and teaching platform for K-12.
Discover the power of data-driven instruction in your school with IXL—it gives you everything you need to maximize learning, from a comprehensive curriculum to meaningful school-wide data.

Visit IXL.com/center to lead your school towards data-driven excellence today.
28 min
October 25, 2025 Jean Twenge—10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World
Get the book, 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World
Visit Jean's Website, JeanTwenge.com
About The Guest
Jean M. Twenge, PhD, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, is the author of more than 190 scientific publications and several books based on her research, including Ten Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World, Generations, iGen, and Generation Me. Her research has been covered in Time, The Atlantic, Newsweek, The New York Times, USA TODAY, and The Washington Post. She has also been featured on Today, Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, CBS This Morning, Real Time with Bill Maher, and NPR. She lives in San Diego with her husband and three daughters.
30 min

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