In this episode, Jethro Jones interviews Dr. Layne Dillard, an educational leader with over 27 years of experience in transforming schools and empowering leaders. Dr. Dillard shares insights on achieving 100% reading proficiency among third graders, the importance of teaching at grade level, and strategies for effective school improvement.Cast a vision, shoot for the moon, maybe you’ll hit the starsWith 37% special education students. We realized we just changed lives. First state report card was an F. Looking at our “Why” Going to have to do things that are hard for adults and right for kids. Tier 1 at grade level. How can we expect them to be proficient if they never see that content?Every year they don’t see grade level, they’re even further behind. Fill in gaps from last year, then you never get to current year. Look at data like blood work, not personal. Data can feel like we’re blaming people. Data can be used as a weapon. True differentiation is…Intentional grouping of students. Teaching a skill. Knowing your data. Your data is like skeleton. Nobody is a queen bee. How to be a transformative principal? Get a clipboard and go down the halls and look for everything in your building going right. Dr. Layne DillardTransformative Educator | School Turnaround Strategist | Creator of the LEAD FrameworkDr. Layne Dillard (X, LinkedIn, Web Site) has dedicated over 27 years to transforming schools and empowering leaders to create environments where students thrive. With 18 years of experience as a principal, she led a high-poverty school from an "F" to a "B" on the state report card, earning recognition as a CLAS Banner School and a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Under her leadership, all 3rd graders at her school achieved 100% proficiency in reading on state assessments.Layne’s extensive career spans every level of education, from Pre-K to high school seniors. She has also served as the principal of an alternative school, where she worked to ensure that even the most at-risk students could succeed.Her journey inspired the creation of the LEAD Framework—a student-centered, research-backed approach designed to help schools make meaningful, sustainable progress. Currently serving as an Educational Administrator in the Office of School Improvement with the Alabama State Department of Education, she specializes in data-driven strategies, leadership development, and building positive school cultures.Layne is a passionate speaker who loves motivating districts, schools, and educators to be the absolute best they can be every single day—because students deserve nothing less. Her mission is to help principals turn challenges into opportunities and imagine the possibilities for their schools and students.Layne earned her B.S. in Secondary Education and an M.A. in Educational Leadership and Administration at the University of North Alabama. She earned a Doctor of Education in Learning Organizations and Strategic Change from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee

In this episode host Franklin Swan discusses the concept of a key man policy, a life insurance policy designed to protect businesses against financial loss due to the absence of a key employee, owner, or principal. He reflects on the broader need for responsibility and foresight in business planning and encourages listeners to consider how this policy might fit into their strategy. 

Teachers and school leaders often feel like they have to be “everything to everyone”. Not only are educators expected to deliver high-quality instruction in traditional academic areas, they’re also expected to provide social-emotional support, vocational training, and everything in between.When it comes to supporting mental health, this can be a tricky ethical line to walk when you’re trained as a teacher and not as a clinician. Additionally, school staff are constantly trying to manage their own mental health needs, which is a challenge when the public tends to be unforgiving. That’s why I invited Dr. Hayley Watson to episode 198 of De Facto Leaders to talk about how to help teachers support mental health in a way that falls within their scope. Dr. Hayley Watson is the founder and CEO of Open Parachute, a Tier 1 K-12 curriculum program that supports the mental health of students, teachers, and parents. She is also an author and Clinical Psychologist and holds a PhD in school bullying interventions. She has been creating and delivering programs for youth and practitioners across the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia for the past 20 years.In this conversation, we discuss:✅Special education accommodations feel like “extra” work for teachers: Embedding mental health into Tier 1 curriculum solves this problem.✅Why talking about mental health in general education helps educate peers on diverse learning needs.✅Destigmatizing mental health and giving youth the language to talk about self-regulation and self-care. ✅Service delivery models: Why we need BOTH structured, explicit intervention and real-life practice in social-emotional curriculums.You can learn more about Open Parachute and Dr. Watson’s mental health curriculum for schools on her website here: https://openparachuteschools.com/Listen to her TEDx talk “Youth Mental Health is not as complicated as we make it out to be” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVZdMXK4kvk&t=2shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVZdMXK4kvk&t=2sConnect with Dr. Watson on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-hayley-watson-2b249a16/In this conversation, I mentioned this previous episode: EP 151: Does your system support your policy and your curriculum (with Jalita Johnson) here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-151-does-your-system-support-your-policy-and-your-curriculum-with-jalita-johnson/In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers develop a strategic plan for putting executive functioning support in place in collaboration with their school teams. You can learn more about that program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

In this episode, Barb Flowers speaks with Dr. Shannon Putman. Shannon is owner of Putman XR Consulting, focusing on immersive technology education, training, and support. She was a special education teacher in Jefferson County Public Schools (KY) for 15 years. Hear their conversation about:Using VR for virtual field trips and job shadowingUnderstanding how virtual reality gives students the real experience of different jobs that are otherwise hard to access (such as working on wind turbines)Connecting with professional mentors through immersive technologyGiving students of various backgrounds exposure to a range of careersGiving kids hope about their options for the futureAdvice for teachers to get familiar with new technologyAbout today’s hostBarb Flowers is a certified Life Coach and former Elementary Principal with a PhD in K-12 leadership from Kent State University. She is host of the following podcasts:The Principal’s Handbook — Lessons on communication, time management, overcoming overwhelm, and more, designed to help school leaders become more confident and well-rounded. The Teacher Burnout Podcast — This show explores the complex issue of teacher burnout and shares practical solutions to support your well-being and reignite your passion for education.About Be More ColorfulBe More Colorful, based in Fargo, North Dakota specializes in immersive technology solutions for solving workforce development problems. Co-founded by husband-and-wife team Matt and Katie Chaussee, the company has been at the forefront of creating immersive media solutions that help people make better decisions about where they choose to live, learn, work and play. Learn more:https://www.bemorecolorful.com https://www.facebook.com/careerviewxr  https://www.facebook.com/bemorecolorful  https://www.linkedin.com/company/careerviewxr  https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-more-colorful  https://www.instagram.com/bemorecolorful https://twitter.com/bemorecolorful  https://www.tiktok.com/@bemorecolorful 

This week it’s a pleasure to be joined by Adam Sarancik, a longtime baseball coach and owner of Elevate Sports Academy. In baseball, Adam’s teams have consistently won championships at every youth league and high school level. In administration, he has served as league founder, board member and coaches’ and players’ clinic director.In this episode, we discuss:What are the reasons for sports participation?Why should coaches coach?The roles of a coachThe Person-Athlete-Player Philosophy and why is it so necessary and successful in developing not just champions, but more importantly, Champions for LifeHow leagues can support coachesGetting parents involved“An athlete has benefited from being part of our program if…”About the guest:Adam Sarancik is the owner of Elevate Sports Academy and mentors student-athletes in physical conditioning, nutrition, career and college counseling and sport skills. He has spent most of his adult life mentoring youth ages 8-22 in baseball, softball, soccer and basketball.In baseball, Adam’s teams have consistently won championships at every youth league and high school level. In administration, he has served as league founder, board member and coaches’ and players’ clinic director many times in his 40+ year coaching career.His articles have been frequently published in ABCA’s Inside Pitch, in Collegiate Baseball News, and on the CoachesInsider.com, SportsEngine.com and CoachDeck.com websites.  He is also a favorite guest on national baseball coaching podcasts. Adam is the author of four Amazon Top 100 Best Selling Baseball coaching books, Coaching Champions for Life – The Process of Mentoring the Person, Athlete and Player, Takeaway Quotes for Coaching Champions for Life; A Ground Ball to Shortstop – How and Why Coaches See Their Game Differently Than Anyone Else, and Teacher, Role Model, Mentor: Lessons Learned From a Lifetime in Coaching.About the hostRoss Romano is co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and also hosts The Authority Podcast. He began his career in the pro sports industry before becoming a leading communications, marketing, and management expert working with education companies. He is founder 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 Twitter @RossBRomano or LinkedIn. Listen to The Authority: https://authoritypodcast.net.