Research Leadership Learning Center Podcast

Dr. Bernato discusses social networking and Personal Learing Networks (PLNs) with Bill Brennan, co-founder of the professional networking site School Leadership 2.0. The conversation covers the use of Twitter and Facebook to expand your circle of professional resources and contacts. Rather than fear or block these new tools, Brennan advocates their use for professional development, research, and even classroom education.

On this episode we revisit the topic of Annual Professional Performance Reviews (APPR). Dr. Bernato talks with retired Glen Cove superintendent Dr. Larry Aronstein, addressing the challenges, confusion, and potential surrounding the pending changes to New York State's APPR guidelines. Dr. Aronstein discusses current evaluation practices and the need to "flip the paradigm" to a non-judgemental one that supports reflective practice.The conversation also turns to alternatives such as action research, peer review, collegial circles, and the need for continuing in-service education for teachers.

Dr. Rich Bernato interviews school superintendents Dr. Harriet Copel (Shoreham Wading River) and Dr. Lorna Lewis (East Lewistown) along with Dr. Kristen Turnow of Eastern Suffolk BOCES. The topic is the pending changes to the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) in New York State. In this second part of a two part interview, the panel discusses the challenges and opportunities as they relate to school principals.

Dr. Rich Bernato interviews school superintendents Dr. Harriet Copel (Shoreham Wading River) and Dr. Lorna Lewis (East Lewistown) along with Dr. Kristen Turnow of Eastern Suffolk BOCES. The topic is the pending changes to the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) in New York State. In this first part of a two part interview, the panel discusses the challenges and opportunities as they relate to classroom teachers.

In this episode, Dr. Bernato and guests discuss the recenlty completed International Leadership Seminar Series. Conducted completely online, this seminar involved professors and students from three countries interacting through the online courseware system Blackboard. Dowling Professor of Educational Administration, Leadership and Technology Robert Manley, along with Director of Academic Information Services Dr. Thomas Franza and doctoral students William Neater and Ileana Carillo, explain how the seminar came about, the technology used to pull it off, and the cutlural differences and common denominators discovered during the sixteen weeks.

Today's topic is evidence based practice. Dr. Richard Bernato and Dr. Patrick Johnson discuss the use of data in schools, from teachers in the classroom to principals and administrators at the building and district level. Do schools of education train teacher candidates to collect and use data effectively? Do administrators also have a firm understanding of the importance of data and can they create a culture of evidence based practice throughout the system? Do teachers have the time to become clinicians in the classroom?

Have most educational reforms failed? In today's episode, Dr. Rich Bernato talks with Dr. Robert Manley and Dr. Richard Hawkins about their new book, Designing School Systems for All Students: A Toolbox to Fix America's Schools. Drawing on their own experiences as school administrators and using real world examples, Dr. Manley and Dr. Hawkins present practical and comprehensive steps towards building a school system that works for all students. The discussion covers getting the curricula right, building leadership capacity in principals, collaborating with the whole school, and more.

Dr. Rich Bernato sits down to discuss literacy with Dr. George Cavuto, professor of Literacy Education at Dowling. Dr. Cavuto is also the founder and Executive director of The Reading and Learning Center of Long Island, Inc., a private Literacy Center established in 1973. On this episode, the two discuss everything from what an optimal K-12 literacy program would look like, how you could assess it, and what type of training the teachers would need. The conversation also turns to Basal readers, Reading Recovery, the cost of literacy programs, and just how many literacy credits should be required in an undergraduate or graduate program.

In today's episode, Dr. Rich Bernato speaks with Dr. Sandra Loughran, Associate Professor of Human Development and Learning at Dowling. The topic is early childhood education and pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs, including universal pre-kindergarten (UPK). Dr. Loughran draws on her years of experience working in the pre-k environment and running private programs to discuss what is needed to make a good pre-k program run. She talks about the skills and knowledge the teachers need (a good liberal arts background being one) as well as how pre-K teachers could benefit from the type of training given to social workers. The conversation also covers the importance of communicating with parents and ways to assess pre-K programs.

In this episode, Dr. Manley talks with Karen Lessler, president of the Middle Country School Board. With nine years experience on the board, five of them as president, Karen has unique insights to share on how boards operate. She discusses the role of the board in setting policies, creating a vision and goals for the district, fiscal planning, and managing the board/superintendent relationship. Karen is also a secondary social studies teacher in Kings Park School District as well as a member of the executive committee of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association and a current Dowling Ed.D. candidate.

Attorney Edward Nitkewicz (Nitkewicz and McMahon, LLP) and Bernadette Gabrielsen, current Dowling Ed.D. candidate, are both parents of autistic children. In this conversation with Dr. Bob Manley they share their experiences and advice, from recognizing and accepting the signs of autism to navigating the range of agencies and support services available on Long Island. They also decipher a number of the technical terms involved- everything from Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and Committees for Special Education (CSE) to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). They also discuss the role of a parent advocate in dealing with school districts and the importance of special education training for all members of the school community.

What makes a school board effective? In this episode, Dr. Manley speaks with Dr. Judith Chen on the results of her doctoral research at Dowling into the governance practices of school boards in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Along with Dr. Al Inserra, who helped design this national study, they discuss the factors that contribute to effectiveness: teamwork, assessment, financial health, and more.

The topic today is effective schools, excellence, and instructional leadership. Dr. Manley speaks with Dr. Patricia Blake about these issues as they related to her doctoral research at Dowling into charter schools. They are joined by Dr. Tom Kelly, who shares his own research into effective schools along with the ideas of Ron Edmonds, W. Edwards Deming and William Glasser. The conversation ranges from individualized education plans (IEPs) and literacy to systems thinking and character education.

Dr. Robert Manley discusses issues of multicultural awareness in Long Island schools. With him are Dr. Elsa-Sofia Morote, Associate Professor of Educational Admin, Leadership and Technology at Dowling, and Dr. Stan Friedland, former principal, teacher and guidance counselor as well as co-author of the book An Orphan Has Many Parents. Their conversation covers issues of teacher training, growing immigrant populations on Long Island, and the effectiveness of cooperative learning.