Mike Caldwell talks with Nanette Merrill, executive director of the Idaho Charter School Association, about her path from stay-at-home mom to teacher, principal, and now state-level leader. They swap rapid-fire favorites (leadership books, reading habits, best advice), then dig into what makes strong schools stand out—clear mission, visible leadership, and a culture of belonging. Nanette shares insights from visiting dozens of charter schools this past year, the value of mentorship and coaching for school leaders, and her new coaching initiative supporting Idaho's charter leaders. 

What actually makes learning happen? And in a world where AI can increasingly do the hard work for us, which parts of that work should students still do themselves? John Hattie, the researcher behind Visible Learning, joins Education Talk Radio to explore what decades of research tell us about how students learn. He and host David Cicero discuss why struggle matters, why students need more than one strategy for learning, and why schools may spend too much time thinking about teaching and not enough about helping students understand the learning process itself. The conversation also turns to AI—not simply whether schools should use it, but when students should use it, when they shouldn’t, and what happens when technology begins doing the thinking that produces learning in the first place.

Ross talks with Jeff Meade, Founding Director of Entrepreneurship at Paul Quinn College, about the "Every Quinnite Is an Entrepreneur" program — an initiative that requires every student to launch a real revenue-generating business before graduation. The conversation covers venture-based learning, why entrepreneurial thinking prepares students for an uncertain future of work, and how Paul Quinn is building a model that could help small colleges become more sustainable. Jeff Meade is the Founding Director of Entrepreneurship at Paul Quinn College. With over 20 years of experience growing companies and advising businesses, Jeff has scaled marketing agencies to multimillion-dollar revenues and built client-side programs featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur Magazine. He is now pioneering venture-based learning — a model that equips students with an entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, and real-world experience to thrive as founders, innovators, and intrapreneurs in any field. In this episode, we discuss: What "Every Quinnite Is an Entrepreneur" means and why every student must launch a real business before graduating Venture-based learning — experiential learning with real stakes, where students actually get customers, generate revenue, and run businesses Why the future workforce demands entrepreneurial thinkers — and why rote skills alone no longer suffice How entrepreneurial skills transfer to corporate, nonprofit, and any organizational role The case for college as a place of exposure and exploration — and why it's a lot to ask a 17-year-old to know what they want to do Aligning K–12, higher education, and workforce development around career readiness What students learn about themselves when they have to start a business — motivation, group dynamics, and accountability Pattern recognition, diagnosing problems, and leading by influence rather than title Paul Quinn's corporate work college model — where students both start businesses and hold internships simultaneously A long-term vision for small colleges: owning businesses, creating new revenue streams, and building a sustainable model beyond tuition dependence Learn more about Paul Quinn College's entrepreneurship program: https://paulquinn.edu/entrepreneurship Connect with Jeff Meade: https://jeff-meade.com About today's guest Jeff Meade is the Founding Director of Entrepreneurship at Paul Quinn College, where he leads the "Every Quinnite Is an Entrepreneur" program. The initiative ensures every student launches a venture before graduation, making entrepreneurship a core life skill rather than an extracurricular option. With over 20 years of experience growing companies and advising businesses, Jeff has scaled agencies to multimillion-dollar revenues and built client-side marketing programs that gained national recognition. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur Magazine. A graduate of Babson College, the number one school of entrepreneurship in the world, Jeff is pioneering venture-based learning — a model that equips students with an entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, and real-world experience. Connect with Jeff at jeff-meade.com or on LinkedIn. 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.

People often say to me, “I get why executive functioning is important, but when are you going to tell me how to work on it”? I wish I could jump right to the lesson plans and “here’s what you do in a perfect hierarchy to work on these skills”. But brains don’t work that way. That’s why I start with the framework before the lesson plan. The macro before the micro.  When you Google executive functioning, you often get a list of 8 or 9 skills, and a broad definition. This is important information, but it doesn’t tell you “the how”.  It also doesn’t explain how you’d scaffold. That’s why when I help clinicians design executive functioning interventions, I start with five broad areas that start to make those abstract cognitive skills more tangible.  In episode 268 of De Facto Leaders, I explain what those five skill areas are. I also explain why we can’t teach them in isolation, and why they have to be embedded into tasks students are already doing in their daily lives in order for intervention to be meaningful. In this episode, I mention the Task Execution and Planning Protocol, which gives school clinicians an intervention strategy that takes students from “demand avoidance” and prompt dependence to independence during daily academic and functional tasks.  You can learn more about the Task Execution and Planning Protocol here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/taskexecution In this episode, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day.  You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

In this episode of the Cresconova Global podcast, host Eric Makelky sits down with Katie Kelly and Sarah Merkt to explore how Cresconova Global's online enrichment program fits into a child's broader educational journey. Katie and Sarah dive into the personalized support parents receive—from initial learning consultations to ongoing communication and student-facing narrative feedback reports that put kids at the center of their own learning. The conversation covers common parent concerns (screen time, technology readiness, trial classes), how the program serves both traditional-school and homeschool families, and a deep dive into why conceptual, curiosity-driven math instruction beats worksheet-based enrichment. They close with an impressive 78% returning-student rate and practical first steps for curious parents, including free monthly "Sunday Sparks" webinars and low-commitment summer workshops.