In this episode of The Best of Us, Superintendent of Lancaster ISD Dr. AK Perera shares her journey to educational leadership and the differences between male and female superintendents’ experience. As we delve into the specific challenges women face in educational leadership, Dr. Perera also digs deep on empowering women into leadership roles, introvert/extrovert challenges, and the surprising ways superintendency is like a gumbo.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we’re proud to host researcher and educator Dr. Danica Brown to discuss the "hidden half" of educators—non-teaching staff like counselors, instructional coaches, and paraprofessionals. Dr. Brown shares insights from her research on college-going culture in New Orleans high schools, emphasizing the crucial role of collaboration among all school staff to support students' higher education pursuits.

We talk with National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman, a master educator who gives us a look at teacher professional learning from the classroom perspective. Missy gives us a ground-level look at what makes for excellent teacher PD, sharing insights and telling stories of how school leadership can become courageous leaders for continuous improvement.

In this episode of The Best of Us, Jeremy and Jen Cheatham delve into Jen's course "Leaders of Learning" at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Cheatham is an expert on fostering adult learning and mindset change in educational settings, and shares a wealth of practical tips for education leaders seeking to transform their practice.

In this episode of The Best of Us, principals Jennifer Martin and Jamie Jordan share how they’ve supported teacher professional learning through their roles as building leaders. They discuss practical strategies for empowering teachers through alignment and autonomy, the importance of differentiating professional learning for teacher needs, and providing voice and choice throughout the PL process.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we talk with Dr. Tequilla Brownie, CEO of The New Teacher Project, about ways to understand and address the teacher shortage as a workforce issue.