Student Wellbeing Crisis: What Schools Get Wrong | Dr. Denise Pope

Are today's students more successful—or more overwhelmed than ever?

In this episode, Bridget Johnson sits down with Dr. Denise Pope, Senior Lecturer at Stanford and co-founder of Challenge Success, to explore what decades of research reveal about student stress, belonging, and engagement.

Drawing from data on over 350,000 students, Dr. Pope explains why so many kids are "doing school" instead of truly learning—and how over-scheduling, academic pressure, and misaligned incentives are driving a growing wellbeing crisis.

They also explore a surprising connection: how the rise of AI is exposing deeper questions about the purpose of school and what meaningful learning actually looks like.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why so many students feel disengaged—even at top schools

• The real impact of over-scheduling on student wellbeing

• How to apply the PDF framework (Playtime, Downtime, Family Time)

• What belonging actually requires—and why schools often miss it

• How AI is forcing schools to rethink learning, assessment, and purpose

Featured Guest: Dr. Denise Pope is a Senior Lecturer at Stanford's Graduate School of Education and co-founder of Challenge Success, a school reform nonprofit using research-based strategies to improve student wellbeing and engagement. She is the author of Doing School and Overloaded and Underprepared, and a three-time recipient of Stanford's Outstanding Teacher and Mentor Award.

Visit the Deans' Roundtable: https://deansroundtable.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridget-johnson510/ Email: [email protected]

The Table Podcast Series: Where student life professionals connect, learn, share, and grow together.