Many schools say they’ve implemented high quality instructional materials. Dan Reynolds argues most have only adopted them.

In this episode, we sit down with Dan Reynolds from SRI International to unpack what schools are getting wrong about literacy instruction, curriculum implementation, and comprehension assessment. Drawing from a large multi year research study across multiple districts, Dan explains why surface level implementation often looks successful during walkthroughs while missing the deeper instructional work students actually need.

About Our Guest

Dan Reynolds, PhD, is a Senior Education Researcher at SRI International whose work focuses on adolescent literacy, reading comprehension, and the implementation of high quality instructional materials. A former high school English teacher, administrator, and teacher educator, he has led and supported large scale literacy research projects across districts and states. His work examines both the impact of literacy interventions and the instructional practices that support student learning. Reynolds has authored more than 25 peer reviewed publications and co authored the book Tackling Tough Texts: A Research-Based Guide to Scaffolding Learning in Grades 6–12.

Learn more about Dan’s work here: https://www.sri.com/people/dan-reynolds/

Instructional coaching is often set up to fail. Coaches are undertrained, overloaded, and expected to change instruction without a clear model or enough time to do the work.

In this episode, Peter sits down with Jim Knight, the researcher who coined the term instructional coaching, founder of the Instructional Coaching Group, and author of The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching. With more than 30 years of research behind him, Jim is widely considered the leading voice in the field.

They discuss why coaching fails before it even starts, what districts consistently get wrong, and what it actually looks like when coaching works the way it should. They cover the seven factors that separate effective coaching from surface-level compliance, why student-focused goals should drive every coaching cycle, why partnership is the foundation of the work and not an add-on, and where AI fits into coaching and where it falls short.

Find Jim's work:

• Instructional Coaching Group: instructionalcoaching.com
• The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching
• Online learning platform: radicallearners.com
• LinkedIn

Dr. Katie Novak is one of the leading voices in Universal Design for Learning and the author of sixteen books including UDL Now and Elevating Educational Design with AI. In this episode, we talk about what UDL actually looks like when you're working with scripted curriculum, how it's different from differentiated instruction and personalized learning, where AI can help with lesson design and where it still falls short, and why the word fidelity makes so many teachers shut down. Katie also shares her approach to finding flexibility that already exists inside high quality instructional materials without sacrificing rigor.

Books Referenced:

• Elevating Educational Design with AI: Making Learning Accessible, Inclusive, and Equitable by Catlin Tucker & Katie Novak — Amazon
• Forward, Together: Moving Schools from Conflict to Community in Contentious Times by George Couros — Amazon

Find Katie:

• Website: novakeducation.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katienovakudl/