In this episode of the Crisis in Education Podcast, Sheryl Cababa, a researcher, systems designer, and consultant with well-known organizations like the United Nations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discusses leveraging research, storytelling, and systems thinking to benefit all stakeholders in education. Check out this trailer and be sure to subscribe to the CIE Podcast so you can hear the entire episode when it drops!

Uncover the secret recipe for transforming school environments with our esteemed guest and friend of the show, Dr. Bruce Tinor, a behavior analyst and school transformation principal. In this episode, Dr. Tinor provides insights on building sustainable frameworks, understanding staff beliefs and values, fostering engaged learning environments, and creating a culture that reflects shared visions; moreover, he details his experience tackling behavioral challenges, establishing behavior interventions, and improving classroom management.Finally, Dr. Tinor discusses his collaborative efforts in reducing dropout rates for emotional support and restraints in center-based programs. So don't wait, tune in and get ready to uncover strategies that are transforming the way schools work and helping students succeed!

There are educational leaders who talk it, and those who walk it. Dr. Damia C. Thomas is a leader who definitely walks the talk. Though she excelled as a student during her K-12 education, Dr. Thomas had a rude awakening when she went away to college:  Her urban educational experience had not provided her with the knowledge and skills to be successful. This shocking realization led her down a path that ultimately brought her back to education public education as a successful principal and district leader. With more than 20 years of progressive, Dr. Thomas is equipped with urban education expertise in reshaping school systems and cultures by driving performance targets, resources, program operations, and direction with a strong focus on inclusion and anti-racism. Her background includes directing urban public schools in implementing nationally acclaimed programs in student-centered environments to create opportunities for transformative, lifelong learning.One of Dr. Thomas' significant contributions includes steering an all-girls charter middle school to achieve outstanding performance, leading to the higher academic advancement of reading units 1 and 2 and admission to college/university by 80% of 8th graders.You can contact Dr. Thomas at  contact@drivenllc.com

Keith Storey received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. He obtained his BCBA-D in 2014. He is currently a Professor Emeritus of Education at Touro University in Vallejo, California. He served six years as a classroom teacher working with people with a variety of disability labels. The third edition of the book Positive Behavior Supports in Classrooms and Schools: Effective and Practical Strategies for Teachers and other Service Providers” is available at https://ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398094065.The second edition of the book “Case Studies in Applied Behavior Analysis for Individuals with Disabilities” which is available athttps://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398094003The first edition of this book was rated as one of the best 30 books on Applied Behavior Analysis at https://www.appliedbehavioranalysisprograms.com/best-books-aba.The third edition of the book “Systematic Instruction of Functional Skills for Students and Adults with Disabilities” which is available athttps://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398093808“Case Studies for Positive Behavior Supports in Classrooms and Schools” which is available at  https://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398093662“Case Studies for Inclusion in Education:  Strategies and Guidelines for Educating Students with Disabilities in the General Education Environment” which is available at https://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398093402The second edition of the book “Positive Behavior Supports for Adults with Disabilities in Employment, Community, and Residential Settings: Practical Strategies that Work” which is available athttps://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398092849“Case Studies in Transition and Employment for Students and Adults with Disabilities” which is available athttps://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398092412More information:Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/keithstoreyAcademia page: https://tu-ca.academia.edu/KeithStoreyResearchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Keith_StoreyGoogle Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Keith+StoreyGoodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/105547.Keith_StoreyInstagram: keith.storey.books.Facebook: keith.storey.books.For  videos on Instruction, Positive Behavior Supports, Transition, and other topics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTfL7zEI4D3mPJDbpQF5olwEmail: kstorey@touro.edu

A.J. Rinaldi is a residential Administrator at the Milton Hershey School and the Tier one Coach of their multi-tiered systems of support. Prior to his current role, A.J. served as a House Parent and Lead Mentor where he was awarded the Chairman’s Medallion of Excellence, was a 2019 CORE Catherine Hershey houseparent of the year nominee, and began the Jr. Gentleman Wrestling program, an afterschool program that utilizes athletics to teach character and leadership to elementary age boys.In addition to his Milton Hershey School contributions, A.J. is an Independent Certified Coach, Trainer, and Speaker with the John Maxwell Leadership Team. He’s the founder of Pit 2 Purpose, a motivational speaking company where he has spearheaded the Fight for Fatherhood initiative in his native South Florida, a campaign that encourages positive male role models and parenting while educating on the numerous societal effects of absent fathers.    Mr. Rinaldi boasts over 18 years of exceptional devotion in youth care and family services from group homes to street gangs. As a facilitator, A.J. has an inspirational and unique style of delivering experience-infused techniques with practical strategies rooted in human behavioral science. However, A.J.’s greatest accomplishment, is being a devoted husband and father to his wife Shavanta, and their 3 young children. If you would like to get in touch with AJ, you can email him at pit2purpose@gmail.com You can also connect with him on Facebook.Mario "Big Hurt" Rinaldi  MMA Highlight Reel

Fernell Miller, CEO and Founder of The Root Of Us LLC, an Equity and Inclusion Consultancy that collaborates with educational, governmental, and nonprofits organizations in service of racial healing and social justice with a focus on Black Youth Advocacy. Fernell is an education activist and community organizer for social change. She has intentionally built a framework for radical liberatoration and solidarity with abolitionist practices in which vulnerability, love, truth, personal and collective power, mutuality, respect, and healing are consistently modeled, firmly held, and always a soft place to land. Fernell is instrumental to the development and maintenance of this environment and the level at which the youth engage. Connect With Fernell Miller & The Root of Ushttps://linktr.ee/therootofus13 Characteristics of White Supremacy Culturehttps://www.sbctc.edu/resources/documents/about/edi/characteristics-of-white-supremacy-visual.pdf

Verbal behavior instruction helps students develop effective communication skills. Communication is a fundamental aspect of human interaction, and strong verbal abilities enable individuals to express their thoughts, needs, and emotions clearly and appropriately. Teaching verbal behavior equips students with the tools to engage in meaningful conversations, express themselves, and understand others effectively. Unfortunately, verbal behavior is not taught everywhere that it is needed in mainstream education. In this episode, Liz and Steve Maher discuss the importance of assessing and teaching verbal behavior.To find out more about Liz and Steve, or to learn more about practical software for assessing verbal behavior, go to https://datamakesthedifference.com/.  And to pick up the PDF version of Verbal Behavior Extended Edition by Dr.  B. F. Skinner, the Skinner Foundation is offering it here for as little as $2.49!

Dr. Michael Troop is a Superintendent whose core purpose is to positively impact the lives of students, educators, employees, and organizations. In addition, he has a passion for helping people learn skills that increase productivity at work and in life.In this episode, we discuss school improvement and the critical skills needed for learning, teaching, and leading in a way that produces positive learning cultures.

Michael is the most experienced developer of innovative educational programs in the US and the Founder of The Socratic Experience, an online school based on Socratic dialogue that emphasizes personalized and purpose-driven education for students in grades 3-12.His remarkable career in education spans over three decades, and includes creating many high-performance school programs that promote critical thinking, creativity, and entrepreneurship in students across the country.Some of Michael's notable projects include a public school program in which minority female students gained four years' worth of critical thinking gains in four months (on the Watson-Glaser) and Moreno Valley High School, a Paideia charter high school, which was ranked the 36th-best US public high school by Newsweek.He also created The Winston Academy, where middle school students passed Advanced Placement (AP) exams, making it the most academically advanced school in the US at the time. Thousands of his students have been admitted to top universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown, and many other post-secondary institutions.Michael's impact on education extends beyond the classroom, as he is also the author of The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice and Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World's Problems, which includes a foreword by John Mackey, the Co-Founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market, with whom he has collaborated on initiatives related to conscious capitalism and entrepreneurship.He has spoken at Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, the University of Chicago, and dozens of other universities, and his work has been featured in academic journals (The Journal of Business Ethics, Economic Affairs, Critical Review, etc.), specialty publications (Microfinance Insights, Policy Innovations, Carnegie Ethics, etc.), and popular media (The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, RealClearPolitics, Barron's, etc.).

There are a lot of students and families who spend a lot of time, money, and effort aimed at being accepted into the college of their dreams.  But as CEO and founder of Troove, David Hurwitt, reminds us in this episode, it's not about getting into college. It's about getting out as the graduation rates are too often dismal, especially for minorities.  In this episode, David discusses using predictive AI to gather, mine, and decode experience data from schools and align it with the values, abilities, and priorities of prospective students. His platform, Troove, potentially revolutionary, is FREE to students who are searching for the right University.  It only takes 10 minutes. Why not give it a shot?

Policies provide guidelines for the operation of a particular system, especially one that has a hierarchical structure. Education, perhaps the most important system in our nation, is no different.  Good policy guides decision making. No policy makes decision-making unreliable and sporadic.  And bad policies do way more harm than good.  And policy is just the start.  What happens after the policy is in place is what is the most important. In this episode,  Dr. Darleen Opfer discusses the importance of policies and provides perspective on how stakeholders can improve them.  About Dr. OpferDarleen began her career as a special education teacher in Florida and then Virginia. After earning her Ph.D. in education policy at the University of Virginia, she became a professor of education policy. She served in that role at Georgia State University, Ohio State University, and the University of Cambridge. Throughout her career, her focus has been on using evidence to improve schools for low-income and minority students.In 2011 she joined RAND as Director of RAND Education. In October 2018 she was promoted to Vice President and became Director of the RAND Education and Labor Research Division; she also holds the Distinguished Chair in Education Policy. As the leader of RAND Education and Labor's staff of more than 200 experts from a wide range of disciplines, she is responsible for all aspects of divisional management including business development, financial and strategic planning, staff development, ensuring quality standards, and dissemination of research findings.

Education is in crisis, and behavior analysts possess the most powerful toolbox in the world for making a positive difference for students, teachers, and educational leaders everywhere. In this podcast,  Andrew Houvouras discusses some of the struggles of working in education as a behavior analyst and potential solutions for overcoming a number of common obstacles.  Andrew is a Behavior Analyst with a long history of assessing and treating severe and challenging behavior in education. He has also supervised 40 individuals seeking board certification. Beyond education, Andrew counts behavioral medicine, ABA in autism populations, supervision and mentorship, and broader dissemination of ABA among his most invested interests. A regular presenter at local, state, and international conferences, Andrew also develops continuing education courses and publishes on such topics. In addition, his far-reaching care for and dedication to the science of behavior were evident during his 2018-2019 term as president of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis.

A lack of social connection is hurting many.  In this informative chat, MIT graduate and CEO of Yellowdig, Shaunak Roy, discusses the negative impact of a failure to have social connections. He also proposes a potentially scalable solution for increasing social connection across education.To learn more about Yellowdig, please visit yellowdig.co or request a demo here: https://explore.yellowdig.co/demo. Twitter: https://twitter.com/Yellowdig Email: learnmore@yellowdig.comLinkedIn: YellowdigSome of the studies mentioned in the podcast:A peer-reviewed study published a yearlong study using Yellowdig data in the Online Learning Journal (Official Journal of the OLC) saying great things about our platform.- Link to Efficacy study with Arizona State University's EdPlus team.- why? Highlights how the Yellowdig platform positively impacts class grade and completion outcomes, using behavioral and grade data from over 20,000 online students.   - Link to Efficacy study in collaboration with Bryan University.- why? Compares synchronous and asynchronous strategies and overall impact on student engagement, retention, and learning outcomes

In this episode, Dr. Paulie chats with Dr. Carl Binder about the use of Applied Behavior Analysis and Organizational Behavior Management for making a positive difference in schools.  Dr. Carl Binder began as a doctoral student in Experimental Psychology, attending Harvard University at the invitation of B.F. Skinner, whose writings had inspired him deeply. With an interest in making a societal contribution, he rapidly shifted from basic research to real-world application of behavior science, first developing innovative instructional methods and teacher training for educators, and later contributing to the emerging field of human performance technology in large organizations.  With input from many extraordinary teachers and colleagues, Carl has spent over 40 years bringing his enthusiasm for behavior science into corporations, schools, and public organizations worldwide.  Founder of four consulting firms, recipient of career awards from the American Psychological Association,  the International Society for Performance Improvement, and the Organizational Behavior Management Network, prolific author and speaker, Carl believes that the Performance Thinking Network is his best opportunity yet for making a contribution.  His ability to synthesize information from multiple fields, communicate complex ideas in plain English to non-specialists, and build excitement about making a difference with behavior science brings an intellectual and emotional spark-plug to The Performance Thinking Network.Carl was recently awarded the Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement AwardIf you are interested in learning from Dr. Binder, check out his Performance Thinking Summer Institute where you'll have the opportunity to learn about leadership, management, systems, and leveraging the science of human behavior to produce important results while making a positive difference in any workplace.

Principal, Faythe Redenburg, and Guidance Counselor, Cyntrell Legette, lead and support students and educators in alternative schools.  Like many educators, they are witnessing increased mental health issues, not just with students.  In this episode, we discuss the growing mental health challenges and reflect on some potential solutions for helping children and adults overcome them.Training Discussed in EpisodeEveryDay BehaviorTools Instructor TrainingACT Articles Discussed in EpisodeWe must ACT to Imrpove Mental Health in Schools, Organizations, and LifeThe ACT Matrix:  A Scalable Tool for Improving Mental Health in Schools

It is now common knowledge that school leaders are critical to staff performance and the resulting student achievement. Some research has found that a school leader can be responsible for up to 25% of student achievement. Unfortunately, the field of education is having a very hard time keeping school leaders around. According to the Hechinger Report, nearly 30% of principals leading "troubled" schools leave every year, and half of all principals leave their job inside of 5 years. Being a school leader is a tough job, especially in alternative schools. Make no mistake, school leaders want to be successful.  Telling school leaders to be better or pointing the finger at them is only serving to increase their attrition rate. In this episode, former Prinicpal and Behavior Analyst, Larry Brashear, gets to heart of the matter when discussing the core elements to being successful in alternative schools.

In a recent video posted by CBS, Sheriff Wayne Ivey of Brevard County in Florida had some pretty strong words aimed at students who were misbehaving.  “They know nothing is going to happen to them,” Ivey said. “They know they’re not going to be given after-school detention, they’re not going to be suspended, they’re not going to be expelled, or like in the old days, they’re not going to have the cheeks of their ass torn off for not doing right in class.” Now, while some of his comments may seem outrageous, they are getting to the heart of an extremely important issue that is plaguing our schools: the growing frequency and intensity of behavioral challenges.   But what is at the root of these challenges?  Can it be fixed?  If so, what are some potential solutions?  And what role should punishment or law enforcement play? Check out this episode as Dr. Paulie interviews former public education teacher, behavior analyst, university professor, educational consultant, and best-selling author, Anika Costa.

Some research has found that 1 person, the school leader, can impact student achievement by up to 34%.  Unforutnately, school leadership is one of the most difficult leadership positions in the country. Consequently, a number of school leaders struggle. In this episode Dr. Paulie and Drew take a look at school leadership and science based strategies for bringing out the best in faculty, staff and students with school principal and behavior analyst Dr. Bruce Tinor.

Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling, or CABAS,  was originated to develop a science of teaching. Their first credo was to develop schools based entirely on the use of scientific procedures for classroom management, pedagogy, curriculum design, staff training, and parent education. Moreover, the second credo of their educational model was to make education learner driven.   Check out this very engaging discussion on CABAS with Dr. Jessica Neu. She was so knowledgable and such a pleasure to learn from! CABAS ArticleThe Shame of American Education VideoProject Follow Through

Organizational behavior management (OBM) is the application of the science of human behavior to individuals and groups in business, industry, government, and human service settings.  Dr. John Austin is an internationally recognized expert in providing behavior-based solutions to organizational challenges using OBM. He is founder of Reaching Results, a consultancy for management, motivation, leadership, and safety. Dr. Austin was a Professor of Psychology at Western Michigan University. He has consulted with organizations for 20 years to improve productivity and safety in various industries including:Aviation Health care and hospitalsChemical Higher educationConstruction Public accommodationsFood service TransportationGlass and plastics manufacturing UtilitiesGovernment RetailJohn has experience in occupational safety, motivation, performance measurement, leadership development, coaching, and organizational change management. In the area of improving human performance he has published nearly 100 articles and chapters, delivered over 200 presentations at regional, national, and international conferences, and has published three books, Organizational Change, Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis, and Mindfulness at Work. Specialties: I specialize in leadership, coaching, safety, and behavioral science in business, including performance improvement, performance management, organizational behavior management, and behavior-based safety.