There"s Power in Teaching

In this interview with PDK International CEO Dr. James Lane, we ask Secretary Cardona to reflect back upon his tenure at the Department of Education and what advice he has for the next Secretary of Education. An interview tied to this conversation will appear in the March edition of Kappan. Secretary Miguel Cardona was nominated by President Joe Biden and sworn into office as the 12th United States Secretary of Education on March 2, 2021. At the beginning of his tenure, Secretary Cardona led the

We continue our series of podcasts hosted by PDK Distinguished Educator and Emerging Leader Fellows. Michael Odell is a Professor of STEM at the University of Texas at Tyler. His innovative initiatives have doubled the number of STEM teachers produced by the university and significantly impacted the local community. Odell joins the cohort with achievements such as holding several administrative positions at the university and co-founding the UT Tyler University Academy charter school. In this

PDK International this past summer recognized both emerging leaders and distinguished educators at its 2024 Educators Rising National Conference in Washington, DC. Each inductee was asked to produce a podcast episode to share student perspectives on their educational experience. In this episode, we hear from Angela, a high school student from New Mexico, about her experiences and her thoughts on becoming an educator. This interview was conducted by Starr Sackstein. Starr Sackstein is the Chief

Speaker, author, and podcaster Dr. Sam Fecich is a former special education teacher who shares a passion for teaching and the profession. Today she balances her work as a college professor by spending time with family and friends, collecting pinball machines, baking chocolate truffles, and creating content that supports emerging teachers. In this episode, we talk about her experience at the 2024 Educators Rising conference as a conference sponsor, about tips she has for those interested in pursuing

Dr. James Lane, PDK CEO, interviewed Dr. Shaun Nelms, Director of the William and Sheila Konar Center for Urban Education Success at the University of Rochester. Nelms, featured in Kappan magazine, focuses on university partnerships with school districts. He’s an expert at school reform models and has spoken on equitable school systems and administrative leadership. At Warner School, he teaches HRM, school governance, and urban school leadership. Active in community organizations, he’s received

Dr. Lisa Rollins from PDK International is joined by a school administrator from Rapides Parish schools, Maegan Schopper, who has a decade of experience with Educators Rising. Maegan shares her journey from teacher to school administrator, and how her district grew their education pathway program from 19 students to over 500. Maegan was celebrated at the 2024 Educators Rising National Conference with an Educators Rising Champion Award. This episode is an except from our webinar on growing chapters

PDK International CEO Dr. James Lane speaks with Kareem Farah, who was interviewed in the September 2023 edition of Kappan. Mr. Farah talks about why teachers leave the profession and reflects on his own journey toward more innovative approaches to pedagogy. Mr. Farah is working with teachers, schools, districts, and states throughout the nation to change the way that they teach to be more engaging for students. The interview with Mr. Farah is available on our Kappan website, kappanonline.org.

PDK’s National Director of Outreach and Partnerships, Dr. Lisa Rollins, speaks with two teacher leaders who lead chapters and classes for PDK International’s Educators Rising Grow Your Own solution. In their conversation, Carla Smith and Amy Mitchell share their experiences of starting chapters with Educators Rising, using curriculum, and how they tailor their students’ clinical experiences around their districts’ unique constraints. Finally, we hear from Vinay Ganti from ETS on the use of the