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Reading comprehension isn’t a checklist skill. It’s an active process shaped by what students know and how they think. With the nation's attention laser focused on promoting literacy outcomes in K-12 education, too often, comprehension is treated as a skill to be mastered through activities such as finding the main idea or making inferences. Rather than viewing it as a one-size-fits-all skill, reading comprehension needs to be recognized as an active process that involves both the text and the reader and that emphasizes its complexity, context-dependency, and developmental nature.

In this episode, Dr. Hugh Catts, professor at Florida State University School of Communication Science and Disorders, highly published researcher, prolific author, and leading investigator in literacy and language development, challenges the way we think about reading comprehension and shares insights from decades of research that have practical implications for educators, parents, and anyone invested in promoting student competence and confidence as readers and learners. Dr. Catts explains why comprehension actually is an active process and why strong executive function skills like attention, working memory, and self-regulation, together with robust language abilities, are critical for helping students move beyond decoding words to truly understanding texts.

About Hugh Catts, Ph.D.
Dr. Catts is Professor of the School of Communication Science and Disorders at Florida State University. His research interests include the early identification and prevention of reading disabilities. He is a past board member of the International Dyslexia Association and past board member and President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading. He has received the Samuel T. Orton Award from the International Dyslexia Association and the Honors of the Association from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for his career contributions in each of these disciplines. His current research concerns the early identification of reading and language disabilities and the nature and assessment of reading comprehension problems.

Books:

• Language and Reading Disabilities (3rd Edition)

About Host, Sucheta Kamath
Sucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.

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Children in general, and students to be specific, are incredibly sensitive to the expectations of the adults in their lives; particularly their teachers. A study by Rubie-Davies and colleagues showed that in two sets of 2nd through 7th grade students, in spite of the similar levels of reading achievement at the start of the year, the achievement results at the end of the year markedly differed ~ simply driven by one variable ~ the teacher's expectations. Those with teachers who overestimated the students’ ability outperformed those whose teachers didn’t have high expectations.

In this episode, 2020 Grammy Music Educator Award Recipient, seven-time Teacher of the Year, Cannonball Saxophone Educator, Assistant Director of Instrumental Arts at The King’s Academy and author, Mickey Smith Jr., not only has high expectations from his students but has made it his mission to show his students that they matter. Mickey unveils his educational philosophy that modern day teaching is a relationship-based approach, and that more than ever, teaching cannot simply be about the subject matter, but also about showing students that they matter and good teachers help learners “know their sound.”

About Mickey Smith Jr.
Educator and Encourager. Those are two words that describe Mickey Smith Jr. The Louisiana-native is a 7-time Teacher of the Year and recipient of the prestigious GRAMMY Music Educator Award. Mickey inspires audiences across North America with his motivational mixture of music and message. Mickey is not only an international keynote speaker and presenter, but he is also a full-time teacher at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, FL. Mickey blends the roles of educator and entertainer to create a one-of-a-kind, dynamic experience that entertains, educates, and elevates everyone to excellence. No matter the challenge, Mickey encourages everyone everywhere to keep on going.

Mickey lives in West Palm Beach, Florida with his wife of over 20 years and their two kids. Find out more at mickeysmithjr.com

Books:

• The Adventures of Little Mickey: Keep on Going

About Host, Sucheta Kamath
Sucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.

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As students get ready to return to school this fall, the post-pandemic norm of plummeted student engagement rises to the top as a deep and wide concern for teachers, parents, families, educational leaders, and policymakers. However, we should be careful about HOW we describe, assess, or remedy engagement. Stakeholders need to be cautious in not letting students’ behavioral engagement in the form of physical signals of attentiveness or compliance with class activities take precedence over their cognitive engagement in the form of love for learning, curiosity around challenges, and a willing exploration for personal satisfaction.

In this episode, Garry McGiboney, Chief of Operations for Health Security Dynamics, Executive Director of Government Programs at Sharecare, consultant for the United States Department of Education and past Deputy State Superintendent for the Georgia Department of Education, discusses what gets students engaged and how educators and school leaders can reimagine learning environments by building relationships and modeling ways in which learners can become agents of their own success. We all play a role in improving educational outcomes in all children and we have to rise above the sentiment that ‘everything is falling apart’ or ‘nothing will have a lasting impact.’ Dr. McGiboney invites us to invest our effort in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the system, build on what works, and build on our strengths to move the needle forward.

About Dr. Garry McGiboney
Garry McGiboney, Ph.D., is the Chief of Operations for Health Security Dynamics and Executive Director of Government Programs at Sharecare and a consultant for the United States Department of Education. He was Deputy State Superintendent for the Georgia Department of Education for 14 years. He serves on the Behavioral Health Reform Commission, State Juvenile Alternatives to Detention Committee, Council on Alcohol and Drugs, and Georgia Parent Support Network Board. Dr. McGiboney co-founded the Georgia Education Climate Coalition with a membership of over 80 organizations. He has several professional journal publications and several books. His book The Psychology of School Climate is referenced by the United States Department of Education and researchers. His book An Epidemiological Study of Leadership is used by graduate schools. He also authored an inspiration book, Leading Us Out of Darkness and a book of poetry, Timberline of the Mind. He has been interviewed by CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, NPR, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Le Devoir, Japan Press, and others. He has received state and national awards and was inducted into the Board of Regents Alumni Hall of Fame. The Dr. Garry McGiboney Outstanding Leadership Award is given annually by the Georgia Association of Positive Behavior Supports.

Books:

• The Psychology of School Climate 2nd Edition
• An Epidemiological Study of Leadership
• Timberline of the Mind
• The Psychology of Leadership Principles, Practices, and Priorities

About Host, Sucheta Kamath
Sucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Fu

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