Ever feel like your school is trying all the “right” strategies—social skills groups, planners, behavior charts—but students still struggle with time management, motivation, and peer relationships? You’re not alone—and there’s a reason why. This episode is a clip from my free training, “Create a Research-Based Implementation Plan for your School Team.” It’s designed for school…
Category: School Leadership
EP 222: Executive functioning assessment, late ADHD diagnosis, and proactive support (with Dr. A. Jordan Wright)
In this eye-opening episode, I sit down with Dr. A. Jordan Wright, psychologist who brings both professional insight and lived experience to the conversation—having been diagnosed with ADHD in college. Together, we explore the often-overlooked stories of kids who manage to compensate for ADHD symptoms well into adolescence or adulthood, only to receive a diagnosis…
EP 220: Clinical Leadership Series Part 3: Asset Stacking: Building Your Path to Systemic Impact
Many clinicians, educators, and school leaders know they should be working collaboratively, but don’t know how to find time to do it. If you have a friend or colleague who seems to have magical productivity powers, I promise there’s a method to the madness. Most likely, they’ve just gotten really good at a concept I…
EP 219: Clinical Leadership Series Part 2: Scaling Your Expertise Beyond the Therapy Room
In this second episode in the 3-part clinical leadership series, I explore the ‘lesson planning trap’—a common situation where clinicians focus so much on perfecting individual sessions and miss broader opportunities for impact. I experienced this myself, spending years creating detailed therapy plans while seeing little change at the systems level. Then I realized the…
EP 218: Clinical Leadership Series Part 1: Claiming Your Seat at the Table
In this episode, we address the common experience of being overlooked in crucial conversations about the students we serve. Whether you’re a clinician or educator who feels unheard while trying to contribute, aspiring to be in a leadership role, or currently in leadership and experiencing impostor syndrome, this discussion challenges you to embrace your role…
EP 217: Embracing Cross-Pollination, High-Quality Tutoring, and Agile Leadership for Student Success (with Dr. Kate Anderson Foley)
In this episode, we dive deep with educational consultant and innovator Dr. Kate Anderson Foley, who challenges conventional wisdom about student support systems and offers a fresh perspective on educational leadership. Dr. Anderson Foley’s shares revolutionary ideas about restructuring intervention frameworks and explains why some traditional approaches may be limiting student potential. Episode Highlights: ✅…
EP 215: Executive Functioninng Summer Camp (with Eric Smith)
In this episode, I sit down with Eric Smith from GrowNOW ADHD, to explore innovative approaches to social skills and executive functioning through the lens of a community-based program: Executive Functioning Summer Camp. Eric shares his insights on challenging existing service delivery models and discusses the importance of practical, real-world applications for clients. Eric is…
EP 213: SEEing to Lead: Collaborating for Better Literacy (with Karen Dudek-Brannan)
This week, I’m sharing an interview I did with another host on the BE podcast network because I think it’s something you’ll really enjoy. The episode is going live in the De Facto Leaders podcast feed. Dr. Chris Jones has been an educator in Massachusetts for 22 years. His experience in the classroom ranged from…
EP 208: Making professional development and programming goals meaningful (with John Mihalyo)
Having someone observe your therapy room or classroom can feel awkward; whether it’s your boss doing your evaluation, or whether it’s a special service provider who’s supporting students in your class. When I’ve talked with administrators and service providers about classroom observations, they say it can be a learning curve for the person coming into…
EP 206: FAQs: What if my district is still promoting three-cueing?
For episode 206 of De Facto Leaders, I share a Q & A session where I discuss Reading Recovery and cueing strategies for decoding, and I make some recommendations for additional information that will give you more information on this topic. I also share what you can do if you’re in a district that uses…