Principal Center Radio Podcast – The Principal Center

Justin Baeder

The Principal Center's mission is to build capacity for instructional leadership. In each episode of Principal Center Radio, Director Justin Baeder interviews education thought leaders and authors.

  • 42 minutes 17 seconds
    Jared Cooney Horvath—The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning—And How To Help Them Thrive Again

    Get the book, The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning—And How To Help Them Thrive Again

    Visit the LME Global website, www.LMEGlobal.net

    Follow Jared on Youtube @JaredCooney

    About The Author Jared Cooney Horvath, PhD is a neuroscientist educator who has conducted research and lectured at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, and The University of Melbourne, and over 750 schools on 6 continents. Jared has published 7 books, over 60 research articles, and his work has been featured in popular publications, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, and on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s science show Catalyst. Jared currently serves as Director of LME Global: a team dedicated to bringing the latest brain and behavioral research to teachers, students, and parents.

     

    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.   

    24 January 2026, 3:00 pm
  • 28 minutes 21 seconds
    Todd Whitaker—Dealing with Difficult Parents (School Leader Edition): How to Model, Coach, and Support Your Teachers

     

    Get the book, Dealing with Difficult Parents (Teacher Edition): How to Get Parents Off Your Back and On Your Side

    Get the book, Dealing with Difficult Parents (School Leader Edition): How to Model, Coach, and Support Your Teachers

    About The Authors Dr. Todd Whitaker is a research professor at the University of Missouri and professor emeritus at Indiana State University. Prior to moving into higher education, he was a math teacher and basketball coach in Missouri. Todd then served as a principal at the middle school, junior high, and high school levels. Dr. Whitaker is a leading presenter in the field of education and has written more than 65 books, including the bestseller What Great Teachers Do Differently. He's the author of Dealing with Difficult Parents (Teacher Edition): How to Get Parents Off Your Back and On Your Side, and Dealing with Difficult Parents (School Leader Edition): How to Model, Coach, and Support Your Teachers.  
    17 January 2026, 3:00 pm
  • 24 minutes 21 seconds
    John Travis—Strengthening School Leadership Through External Partnerships

    Read the Holyoke "Relay Leadership" Case Study

    About The Author John Travis is senior program officer for Education at The Barr Foundation where he focuses on teacher and school leadership pipelines to help recruit, develop, retain, and cultivate the talented, diverse educators needed for the schools of today and tomorrow. John came to Barr after nearly 15 years as a frontline educator, first as a high school mathematics teacher in New Jersey and then as a school and district leader in the Boston Public Schools (BPS). In his most recent role, he served as the principal of the Ohrenberger School in West Roxbury.    Prior to leading at the Ohrenberger, he trained as a principal fellow at the Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown and worked as Director of Human Capital Strategy with the BPS central office, supporting school leadership pipeline development.

     

    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.   

    10 January 2026, 3:00 pm
  • 28 minutes 55 seconds
    Jasmine Kullar, Bruce Fraser, & Lisa Reddel—Cultivating Exceptional Principals: A Guide for Principal Supervisors to Hire, Develop, and Retain School Leaders

     

    Get the book, Cultivating Exceptional Principals: A Guide for Principal Supervisors to Hire, Develop, and Retain School Leaders

    About The Authors Jasmine K. Kullar, EdD, is an assistant superintendent of a large metropolitan school district. She is also a faculty member in the College of Professional Studies Educational Leadership Department at Albany State University in Georgia.   Bruce R. Fraser, EdD, is an assistant superintendent with a metro Georgia school district. He has been in education for over 25 years, serving as teacher, principal at the elementary- and middle-school level, and director of human resources   Lisa M. Reddel recently retired as executive principal of school improvement in a large metropolitan school district in Northern Virginia. She has over 32 years of experience in schools and districts as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, district director, executive principal, and educational consultant.
    3 January 2026, 3:00 pm
  • 29 minutes 19 seconds
    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.   

    26 December 2025, 8:46 pm
  • 22 minutes 15 seconds
    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.

    20 December 2025, 2:00 pm
  • 24 minutes 51 seconds
    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.   

    12 December 2025, 11:01 pm
  • 23 minutes 28 seconds
    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

    7 December 2025, 2:52 am
  • 44 minutes 35 seconds
    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.   

    29 November 2025, 3:00 pm
  • 20 minutes
    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.
    21 November 2025, 11:27 pm
  • 29 minutes 50 seconds
    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.   

    18 November 2025, 6:44 pm
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