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Roughly four in ten American high school students report not feeling connected to anyone at their school. Host Scott Titsworth talks with Dr. Dominique Smith — principal of Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego and co-author of the new second edition of Belonging in School: Creating a Place Where Kids Want to Learn and Teachers Want to Stay — about why the effort students spend trying to fit in is the very thing that pulls them away from learning. Smith came to school leadership by an unusual route, holding a master’s degree in social work alongside a doctorate in educational leadership, and he is a national trainer for the International Institute for Restorative Practices. In this conversation he breaks belonging into eleven distinct dimensions, makes the case that it functions as the gatekeeper for learning, and describes what a teacher can actually do on a Monday morning with no budget and nobody’s permission. Belonging in School, second edition (Corwin): https://www.corwin.com/books/belonging-in-school-2e-301936 Health Sciences High and Middle College: https://www.hshmc.org Teaching Matters is hosted by Scott Titsworth, Professor of Instructional Communication in the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. The show is produced in collaboration with WOUB Public Media and the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact at Ohio University. Questions or guest suggestions: [email protected]

On this episode of Teaching Matters, host Scott Titsworth talks with Zaretta Hammond, a teacher educator and the author of Rebuilding Students’ Learning Power: Teaching for Instructional Equity and Cognitive Justice. Hammond argues that teaching strategies are not the same as learning: teachers can cover the content, model each step, and supply every scaffold, and the student still has to do the thinking, which is why she describes over-scaffolding as the teacher doing too much of the cognitive work. She is not against scaffolding; she says teachers have to know where the wobble is. The conversation covers cognitive redlining, a term she borrows from redlining in real estate, and the signs she looks for when she walks into a school; the five learn-to-learn moves she wants teachers to hand over to students; the idea of the first pancake and a classroom culture of errors; and why cognitive friction, the confusion and productive struggle she says all learning starts with, is what AI and packaged pacing guides can take away. To learn more about Zaretta’s work visit her website Ready for Rigor: https://ready4rigor.com

Most districts are still arguing about whether to ban artificial intelligence or allow it. Alex Bronson thinks both sides of that argument are losing. In this episode, host Scott Titsworth talks with Bronson, Director of K-8 Science at Uncommon Schools, about why prompt engineering is not the same thing as literacy, and why she believes the work of preparing students for an AI-saturated world starts in kindergarten with computational thinking rather than in high school with chatbots. They discuss the K-8 sequence she has built, the ethical and equity stakes for students in underresourced communities, and what schools owe teachers who are being asked to teach something they never trained for. Learn more by visiting https://uncommonschools.org/

In this episode of Teaching Matters, host Scott Titsworth talks with Sabine Wallis, General Manager of NWEA, about where K-12 assessment is headed as districts navigate academic recovery, growing skepticism about testing, and the arrival of AI in classroom tools. Wallis, who joined NWEA in December 2025 after product leadership roles at Renaissance Learning and Illuminate Education, argues that the real opportunity isn't more assessment but better use of the data schools already collect. The conversation covers her path into K-12 education, how assessment providers can build trust through transparency, why research needs to aim beyond simply validating a product, and what genuine integration looks like from a classroom's point of view. Learn more by visiting NWEA: https://www.nwea.org/

Earlier this year, Teaching Matters talked with the founders of Abre about making school data meaningful. This episode is the other half of that story. Host Scott Titsworth talks with Dr. Karen Cheser, Superintendent of Durango School District in southwest Colorado and the 2025 EmpowerED Digital Superintendent of the Year, about what happens when a district actually puts that kind of system to work. They discuss Durango's community-created Portrait of a Graduate, the challenge of gathering actionable evidence from students, and what the data has revealed for Durango Schools. https://www.durangoschools.org/

Host Scott Titsworth talks with Natalie Campana, the 2025-2026 National Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Engineering Teacher of the Year, and her former student Sarah Ostovich, now an aviation major at Ohio University. A follow-up to Teaching Matters' July 2026 conversation with PLTW's Katie Minihan, this episode traces the mentorship that connected a Steubenville High School teacher and her student, the hands-on PLTW curriculum and dual-enrollment coursework that let Sarah arrive at college with more than ninety credit hours already earned, and what it takes to build a career in a field where women remain underrepresented. Project Lead The Way: https://www.pltw.org

Only one state has recovered its pre-pandemic 4th grade reading scores, and roughly 70% of 4th and 8th graders nationally are not reading proficiently. On this episode, host Scott Titsworth talks with Louise Baigelman, founder and CEO of Storyshares, about building a public benefit corporation focused on older striving readers in grades 3-12. Baigelman, a former middle school teacher, discusses why Storyshares chose a hybrid business model over a traditional nonprofit, what makes its decodable, age-appropriate books work for teenage readers, and what the evidence shows about closing the literacy gap after 3rd grade. Storyshares: https://www.storyshares.org/

In this episode of Teaching Matters, host Scott Titsworth talks with Dr. Tara Valoczki, Assistant Vice President of Education and Student Life at Milton Hershey School, a tuition-free boarding school for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Dr. Valoczki describes her path from elementary principal to systemwide leader, and explains why her office oversees academics, health services, and residential care as a single integrated system rather than separate departments. The narrative threading through this discussion focuses on the ways in which student support can be thought of in a holistic, comprehensive way to promote lifelong success. Milton Hershey School: https://www.mhskids.org

Host Scott Titsworth talks with Ali Arsan, Founder and CEO of Edlio, the K-12 communications platform used by more than 19,000 schools across North America. After 25-plus years in education technology, Arsan argues that most EdTech has prioritized its own growth over the needs of educators and families, leaving schools juggling disconnected platforms while families get lost in the middle. The conversation covers the roots of platform fragmentation, what a real school-family partnership requires, and where Arsan believes AI can genuinely help improve communication and information flow. https://www.edlio.com

In this episode of the Teaching Matters podcast, host Scott Titsworth talks with Auditi Chakravarty, President and CEO of the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), about her path from high school English teacher to leading a national education R&D fund. The conversation centers on AERDF's “Advanced Inclusive R&D” model and the organization’s recent initiative putting teachers at the center of designing AI approaches in the classroom. Learn more about AERDF's programs at: https://aerdf.org

Dr. Kara Stern returns to the Teaching Matters Podcast to discuss new data on the topic of absenteeism. She highlights two recent reports from SchoolStatus. Dr. Stern is the Director of Education and Engagement at SchoolStatus. During our discussion Dr. Stern provided mid-year updates on attendance from the 2025-2026 school year and discussed how intentional strategies by districts, particularly for younger students, can have a substantial positive impact on attendance. SchoolStatus Website: https://www.schoolstatus.com Additional Content! The NEW report referenced in the discussion is now released: https://www.schoolstatus.com/resource/2026-attendance-trends-report?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=schoolstatus_26q3_cd_report_2025-26_attendance_trends

As families gear up for a school year that will cost them close to $1,000 in supplies, Scott talks with Frank Cullen, Executive Director of the Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP), about the counterfeit goods flooding online marketplaces each fall. Cullen, whose career has spanned from Hollywood to Capitol Hill, explains why U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than $7 billion in fake goods last year, what the pending SHOP SAFE Act would change about marketplace liability, and the practical steps parents can take to avoid counterfeit school supplies and electronics this back-to-school season. https://c4ip.org/shop-safe/

This episode of Teaching Matters introduces audience members to Project Lead the Way through a discussion with Dr. Katie Minihan, Executive Vice President and Chief Impact Officer. The conversation examines the connection between student engagement, experiential learning, and community partners particularly in STEM education. Katie discusses the importance broader definitions of success beyond standardized testing, highlighting the significance of student engagement and social-emotional learning. Minihan shares insights on the importance of empowering students to solve real-world problems in their communities. Project Lead the Way: https://www.pltw.org/

Alyssa Tormala, Head of School at Laurel Springs School, shares insights on online education, mastery-based learning, community building, and the role of technology like AI in modern schooling. Laurel Springs is a fully accredited online school. In our discussion, Alyssa discusses trends in online education as well as ways in which online educators adapt practices to help students grow. Laurel Springs School: https://laurelsprings.com/

This episode explores the effectiveness of professional development in K-12 education, featuring insights from Jim Hall, CEO of the K12 Coalition. Topics include strategies for impactful teacher training, the role of evidence-based practices, and the future of education with AI and other innovations. K12 Coalition: https://k12coalition.com