Dr. Judith Hochman is an educator and founder of The Writing Revolution. In this episode, she talks to Greg Ashman about the origins of her method for developing writing skills and the contrast between her method and a writing programme. Judy and Greg discuss the differences between this approach and other methods for teaching writing. Along the way, Judy gives practical advice on how the method should be embedded in a content and how best to prepare for standardised assessments that require large amounts of writing from young students. Judy and Greg also discuss the importance of a knowledge-rich curriculum and ponder the solutions to fixing the knowledge-lite, skills-based approach to education that is prevalent in the U.S. and Australia.

Dr. Amanda VanDerHeyden is a mathematics education researcher, founder of Spring Math and a policy Adviser who is also involved in new Science of Math initiative. In this episode, Amanda talks to Greg Ashman about how she developed an interest in class-wide maths intervention and what makes such an intervention successful. Amanda and Greg also discuss use of data, explicit teaching and how to deal with the arguments of the 'other side', including a discussion of procedural fluency versus conceptual understanding, productive struggle and the idea that timed tests cause maths anxiety.

Eric Kalenze is a teacher, curriculum and instruction lead, occasional consultant, researchED US organizer, and author of the books, Education is Upside-Down and What the Academy Taught Us, as well as the A Total Ed Case blog. In this episode, Eric talks to Greg Ashman about his awakening to the research evidence around teaching and education, and the journey that led him to write two books about education and his experiences of school improvement. On the way, Eric and Greg discuss Eric's funnel metaphor, differentiated instruction, how reform efforts are frustrated and Eric's experiences coordinating researchED US.