Principal Center Radio

Justin Baeder
  • 4.5 (57)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Principal Center Radio brings you the best in professional practice for school leaders, in an audio format that you can access in the car, on the treadmill, or anywhere you'd like to listen.

  1. 53M AGO

    Dr. Frank Rodriguez and Dr. Gene Tavernetti—Digital Captives: Helping Schools Strike A Balance Between Humans And Hardware

    Get the book, Digital Captives: Helping Schools Strike A Balance Between Humans And Hardware Visit the Schools Next website, www.schoolsnext.org Follow Gene on X @GTavernetti About The Guests Dr. Frank Rodriguez is entering his 32nd year working in and with schools, primarily in Southern California. He entered education in 1993 through a two year commitment to teach in a bilingual 5th grade classroom in Long Beach through Teach for America, and thirty years later is still finding it difficult to leave. He is the Managing Partner of Schools Next, as well as the President of RISE School Programs, RISE Educational Services and the RISE Educational Foundation. With his partner Dr. Gene Tavernetti, he co-developed the FAST framework, a direct instruction teaching model based on the pedagogy of Dr. Madeline Hunter which synthesized and incorporated the brain research of Dr. David Sousa, Eric Jensen and Dr. John Medina. Dr. Rodriguez was a teacher and administrator for twelve years before beginning a career in professional development and teacher and principal coaching. More recently he has overseen RISE School Programs which serves more than 3000 students in seven districts in northern Los Angeles County. Frank Professionally he is most proud of the RISE Educational Foundation, a non-profit that annually gives out college scholarships to high school seniors who were formerly in RISE programs as elementary school students, as well as to RISE employees who are completing their undergraduate degrees, and are largely first generation college students.   Dr. Gene Tavernetti's journey in education began in 1977, encompassing roles as a coach, teacher, counselor, and administrator. His career reached a turning point when he discovered his passion for one-on-one instructional coaching, realizing the profound impact he could make on educators and student learning. In 2006, Dr. Tavernetti co-founded Total Educational Systems Support (TESS), a pioneering organization dedicated to training and coaching thousands of educators. TESS, under Gene's leadership, focuses on teacher-directed instruction, emphasizing engagement strategies, language development, and higher-order thinking skills. As the author of two influential books, Teach FAST: Focused Adaptable Structure Instruction explores explicit instruction methods, while Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles addresses common challenges faced by instructional coaches.

    29 min

  2. 4D AGO

    Barbara Blackburn—Productive Struggle in the Classroom

    Get the book, Productive Struggle in the 6-12 Classroom  Get the book, Productive Struggle in the K-5 Classroom Visit Barbara's website, www.barbarablackburnonline.com About The Guest Barbara Blackburn, PhD is the author of more than 40 books and a full-time consultant who works with schools around the world to help raise the level of rigor and motivation for professional educators and students alike. Dr. Blackburn has been repeatedly named to the Top 30 Education Gurus and Top 10 Professional Development Programs by Global Gurus.   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.

    30 min

  3. MAR 30

    Priten Soundar Shah—Ethical Ed Tech: How Educators Can Lead on AI and Digital Safety in K-12 Schools

    Get the book, Ethical Ed Tech: How Educators Can Lead on AI and Digital Safety in K-12 Schools on Amazon Visit Priten's website, www.priten.org About The Guest Priten Soundar-Shah is an educator, philosopher, and entrepreneur working at the intersection of humanistic values and frontier technology. He is the CEO of PedagogyVentures and leads three nonprofits: PedagogyFutures (Executive Director), Academy 4 Social Civics (President), and ThinkerAnalytix (CTO). Priten is the author of AI & The Future of Education (Wiley, 2023), translated into Arabic, Chinese, Turkish, and Vietnamese, and the forthcoming Ethical Ed Tech (Wiley, 2026). He teaches courses on Ethics of Ed Tech and Epistemic Justice at College Unbound, and is a visiting researcher at the Harvard Department of Philosophy. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Harvard College and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

    30 min

  4. MAR 21

    Darin Thompson–The Four Cornerstones of Effective Schools: How to Build Lasting Success

    Get the book, The Four Cornerstones of Effective Schools: How to Build Lasting Success on Amazon Get the book, The Four Cornerstones of Effective Schools: How to Build Lasting Success on Solution Tree's Website Visit Darin's website, www.DrDarinThompson.com Follow Darin on Youtube @drdarinthompson Follow Darin on Instagram @drdarinthompson About The Guest Darin A. Thompson, PhD, is a veteran K-12 leader with nearly 20 years of experience and founder of Pivotal Leaders Group. A two-time outstanding principal of the year semi-finalist within his region, Dr. Thompson has led transformative school improvement efforts across multiple school divisions, resulting in double-digit gains in student outcomes and significantly closing achievement gaps for historically underserved populations. A regular presenter at conferences such as NAESP/NASSP’s United Conference, Making Schools Work, and VA Alliance of Black School Educators, Dr. Thompson has contributed to Education Week, the Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, and other publications. Dr. Thompson has become a trusted voice in educational leadership. He has delivered professional development workshops on building constructive school cultures for improvement at major conferences, including the 2024 and 2025 Virginia Alliance of Black School Educators Conference, the 2025 National Association of Secondary School Principals United Conference, and the Southern Regional Education Board’s Making Schools Work Conference. Dr. Thompson’s thought leadership has been featured in Education Week, including the articles “How My School Is Fighting the Surge in Chronic Absenteeism” and “How Pandemic Isolation Damaged School Culture.” He has also published in the Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research and is a contributing author of Preparing to Lead: Narratives of Aspiring School Leaders in a “Post”-COVID World. Dr. Thompson earned a bachelor of science in criminal justice and a master of public administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a master of education and a doctor of philosophy in educational leadership from Regent University. He is also a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. To learn more about Thompson’s work, follow him on LinkedIn or at @drdarinthompson on Instagram and YouTube. 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.

    22 min

  5. MAR 14

    Kristan Rodriguez—In Support of Student Data: A Data Workbook for MTSS Teams

    Get the book, In Support of Student Data: A Data Workbook for MTSS Teams Visit the Commonwealth Consulting Agency website, www.cca-pr.com Follow Kristan on X @dr_rodriguez21 Connect with Kristan on LinkedIn About The Author Kristan Rodriguez, Ph.D., is an award-winning educational leader and former superintendent and principal. She is the creator of the MTSS² Framework™ that replaces fragmented referral practices with proactive, data-informed structures. Dr. Rodriguez is the founder and CEO of Commonwealth Consulting Agency (CCA), a trusted partner to state agencies, districts, and schools nationwide. Dr. Rodriguez is the best-selling author of In Support of Student Data: A Data Workbook for MTSS Teams (Wiley, 2025) and In Support of Students: A Leader's Guide to Equitable MTSS (2023).   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 min

  6. MAR 7

    Naphtali Hoff—Becoming The Delegating School Boss

    Get the book, Becoming The Delegating School Boss Visit Naphtali's Website, www.ImpactfulCoaching.com   About The Guest  Dr.  Naphtali Hoff is a former educator and school leader who serves as an executive and performance coach and trainer, and he's the author of three books Becoming the New Boss a leadership Book that helps new leaders hit the ground running and enjoys sustained success, Becoming The Productive Boss, which helps leaders and their teams get more of the right work done and Becoming The Delegating School Boss, which helps school leaders clear their plates and empower their teams.

    24 min

  7. MAR 2

    Brian J. Stephens—A Level Playing Field: Strategies to Ensure Public Schools' Success

    Get the book, A Level Playing Field: Strategies to Ensure Public Schools' Success Visit the Caissa K12 Website, www.CaissaK12.com About The Author Brian J Stephens is the Founder and CEO of Caissa K–12, a strategy firm serving public school districts nationwide. He has presented at national conferences and organizations, including the AASA, The School Superintendents Association, the National School Boards Association, and the Consortium of State School Boards Associations. He served in the United States Army, rising to the rank of Captain, and is an attorney and psychologist by training. Brian is the author of A Level Playing Field: Strategies to Ensure Public Schools’ Success.   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.

    30 min

  8. FEB 21

    Lauren Brown—Social Studies Content at the Elementary Level

    Watch Lauren on The Teaching Show Substack: Lauren Brown on Education Lauren Brown’s articles on MiddleWeb About The Guest Lauren Brown spent about 20 years teaching US history in middle and high schools and another eight years working at the university level with future social studies teachers. She now works as a consultant and writer on MiddleWeb and her own Substack. She writes about education with a special focus on why social studies and history in particular matter. Much of her work is about helping people see how good history teaching strengthens, not just literacy, but our democracy as well.

    23 min
See All (299)

4.5
out of 5
57 Ratings

About

Principal Center Radio brings you the best in professional practice for school leaders, in an audio format that you can access in the car, on the treadmill, or anywhere you'd like to listen.

Information

  • Creator
    Justin Baeder
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    299
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Principal Center Radio

You Might Also Like