Sign In
Sign In
The Authority Podcast — Expert Insights and Fresh Ideas for Education Leaders
Be Podcast Network
Recent Episodes
Brian Butler is an educational consultant, speaker, author, and award-winning former principal who is passionate about nurturing collaborative school cultures that unlock every student’s unlimited potential.
In this episode, we discuss two of his books, Every Student Deserves a Gifted Education and Limitless Future.
We talk about:
- Brian's inspiring story
- What is a gifted education?
- The necessary mindset shift to plan a gifted education for every student
- The five shifts/elements to help create a schoolwide approach to nurturing each student’s unique strengths, passions, and talents
- Fallacy of Fixed Intelligence, Labels Be Gone, Obligation of Teams, Our Superpowers, Resistance and Inspiration
- Persistence, curiosity, communication, flexible thinking
- Brian’s podcast, “A Conversation with Brian”
About today’s guest
Brian Butler is an educational consultant, speaker, author, and award-winning former principal who is passionate about nurturing collaborative school cultures that unlock every student’s unlimited potential. Brian has advised thousands of schools across the United States, Australia, and Canada.
As a former school-based educator and principal, Brian worked with countless parents and parent groups, supporting and guiding them in their essential role in nurturing their children’s growth and potential. He emphasized the importance of leveraging the unique strengths and insights that each family contributed. Brian’s goal is to help parents recognize that they hold the key to their children’s success and development, which drove him throughout his career to create a collaborative and empowering environment so every child could flourish.
Brian has enjoyed diverse career experiences, including being a professional basketball player in the European League. He holds a bachelor’s degree in speech communications from The George Washington University, a teacher’s certification in physical education, and a master’s degree in school counseling from George Mason University. With an administrative endorsement from the University of Virginia, Brian is known for his ability to drive positive change.
To learn more or contact Brian, visit www.brianbutler.info
About the host
Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Bluesky or LinkedIn
I also host Sideline Sessions, a podcast for coaches and parents of student-athletes. The show features conversations with coaches and performance experts in the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, and more. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3Rp0QGt
We're pleased this week to highlight another "Best of The Authority" episode. This one is my conversation with Dr. Thomas Guskey, Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. He is known throughout the world for his work on student assessment, grading and reporting, professional learning, and educational research.
He's the author/editor of thirty books, including the one we discussed for this episode: Engaging Parents and Families in Grading Reforms.
We talked about:
- Defining the purpose of grading
- “Is my purpose as a teacher to select talent or develop talent?”
- The state of grading practices in US schools
- Communicating grading — what families want to know
- What do families oppose?
- What leaders get wrong about the change process
- Examples of successful grading reform in school districts
Find Engaging Parents and Families in Grading Reforms from Corwin or wherever you get your books. Learn more at www.tguskey.com.
About today’s guest
Thomas R. Guskey, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Chicago’s renowned Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistical Analysis (MESA) program, he began his career in education as a middle school teacher, served as an administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, and was the first Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, a national educational research center. Dr. Guskey served on the Policy Research Team of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and on the task force to develop the National Standards for Professional Development. He was named a Fellow in the American Educational Research Association and was awarded the Association’s prestigious Relating Research to Practice Award. He is author/editor of thirty books and over three hundred published articles and book chapters on educational assessment, program evaluation, and grading and reporting. He may be contacted by email at guskey@uky.edu, Twitter at @tguskey, or at www.tguskey.com.
About the host
Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Bluesky or LinkedIn
I also host Sideline Sessions, a podcast for coaches and parents of student-athletes. The show features conversations with coaches and performance experts in the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, and more. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3Rp0QGt
Today I welcome Alex Kajitani and Tom Hierck to the show. Alex and Tom are both award-winning educators and bestselling authors, and together they’ve written their latest title You’re a Teacher Now! What’s Next?
We talk about:
- “What have I got myself into?” The question all new teachers ask.
- Why is this the book for right now?
- What Alex and Tom would change about the typical experience for new teachers
- Classroom management, relationship building, effective instruction, self-care — where to start?
- The different people to build relationships with
- What it takes to feel and be effective at instruction and classroom management
- “Do nows” for early career teachers
- What veteran teachers and administrators can learn from the book
- What about administrators?
- Making teachers want to be and stay teachers
- Find the free Teacher Success Video Series: https://alexkajitani.com/education-writing/youre-a-teacher-now
Find You’re a Teacher Now! What’s Next? from Solution Tree or wherever you get your books.
About the guests
Alex Kajitani is the 2009 California Teacher of the Year, and a Top-4 Finalist for National Teacher of the Year. He is the author of several books, including Owning It, which was named “Recommended Reading” by the U.S. Department of Education. A highly sought-after education speaker, Alex is known around the world as “The Rappin’ Mathematician.” He has a popular TED Talk, and was honored at The White House. He was also featured on The CBS Evening News, where Katie Couric exclaimed, “I LOVE that guy!” (and you will too!). For more, visit https://AlexKajitani.com
Tom Hierck is an acclaimed educator, best-selling author, and a compelling presenter, infusing his message of hope with strategies culled from a career that has spanned all grade levels and many roles in public education. He was recently named as one of the world's Top-10 Global Gurus for Education, and his belief that “every student is a success story waiting to be told” has led him to work with teachers and administrators across the globe to create positive school cultures and build effective relationships that facilitate learning for all students. He is the author of 25 books, including the acclaimed "Trauma-Sensitive Instruction." For more, visit www.TomHierck.com
About the host
Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Bluesky or LinkedIn
I also host Sideline Sessions, a podcast for coaches and parents of student-athletes. The show features conversations with coaches and performance experts in the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, and more. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3Rp0QGt
It’s a pleasure to welcome Dr. Lorraine Radice back to the show. Lorraine is an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in a public school district in New York and an Associate Assistant Professor at Hofstra University. Prior to her current role, she was a preK-12 Director of Literacy.
Lorraine’s book, Leading A Culture of Reading, was a 2023 GOLD Winner for Education in the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year awards.
Her new book is Revolving Literacy: How to Connect Relevance and Future-Ready Skills to Secondary English Instruction.
We talk about:
- What revolving literacy means
- “Newfound literacies”
- Future-ready skills for grades 6-12
- Future-ready goals and how they relate to goals of the revolving literacy framework
- Defining engagement and relevance
- Student agency
- Teaching students to be readers, writers and researchers
Find Revolving Literacy from Solution Tree or wherever you get your books. Learn more at www.lorrainemradice.com
Listen to my previous episode with Lorraine (episode 118)
About the host
Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Bluesky or LinkedIn
I also host Sideline Sessions, a podcast for coaches and parents of student-athletes. The show features conversations with coaches and performance experts in the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, and more. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3Rp0QGt