Transformative Principal

Summary Improvement plans often create a second job for the principal: tracking every action, checking every artifact, and carrying the responsibility for someone else's growth. In this episode, Jethro shares a clip from My First Million featuring executive coach Joe Hudson, then translates the idea into school leadership. The central shift is simple: put the responsibility for improvement where the work is happening. Leaders still provide clarity, support, and accountability, but the person who needs to improve should show the evidence, invite the feedback, and own the next steps. Chapters 0:00 — Why improvement plans can become the principal's problem2:01 — Joe Hudson on putting the responsibility for change where it belongs6:49 — Translating the idea into school leadership10:40 — Listening before deciding what the problem is13:20 — Why principals cannot carry every classroom-level task15:10 — A challenge for school leaders Show Notes **Featured idea:** Put the ball in the other person's court. Ask them to demonstrate the improvement rather than making the leader responsible for every step.**Leadership practice:** Before creating a plan, find out whether the person sees the problem and understand the context behind the behavior.**Reflection:** Where are you carrying someone else's task because it feels faster or safer than giving them ownership?**Source podcast:** My First Million on Overcast**Referenced segment:** 31:18–36:06 of the linked episode.**Connect with Jethro:** transformativeprincipal.org Thanks to our Sponsor Broadcast Made Easy who help you start a news broadcast at your school by having everything you need in one easy-to-download place. Check it out today and get your kids creating. We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In this episode, I talk about Project Paideia, an effort by a group of dads to create better learning opportunities for our kids. Our AI build-a-thon gives teens a chance to make something meaningful to them, solve a problem, and experience what they can create instead of just consuming what others make. We talk about: Helping kids see possibilities beyond AI slop.Why a project needs to matter to the kid, not just the parent.Using AI to expand learning rather than skip the thinking.What educating the whole child asks of families and their communities.Learning through trying, failing, adjusting, and trying again.Supporting kids without taking over the keyboard.Building without grades, rankings, or a competition. The Project Paideia AI Buildathon is planned for Saturday, November 21, 2026, at Utah Valley University, with two standalone sessions: 8 a.m.–noon and 1–5 p.m. Mountain time. Learn more about Project Paideia and the build-a-thon. Thanks to our Sponsor Broadcast Made Easy who help you start a news broadcast at your school by having everything you need in one easy-to-download place. Check it out today and get your kids creating. We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Developing the Leader Within with Christopher Grode School leaders can spend an entire day solving problems and still have little time for the leadership work they want to do. Mike Caldwell talks with Christopher Grode, Ph.D., about creating routines that make room for that work and finding people who can offer an honest outside perspective. Drawing on 19 years as an Illinois superintendent and his research with executive coaches, Chris describes how his view of leadership development changed. He shares his monthly "90 for 90" review, a five-minute morning journal, and the habit of revisiting earlier entries to see what mattered over time. They also discuss his "leadership gateway" of attitudes, behaviors, practices, identity, and purpose, along with the challenge of separating your identity from your job during retirement. Practical ideas from the conversation Track how much of your day goes to reacting and managing, then consider where you want to make more room for leading. Try "90 for 90": spend 90 minutes each month reviewing the next 90 days, including family time and personal commitments. Use a weekly review to see what got in the way and choose priorities for the week ahead. Keep a short morning journal: name three priorities, then return the next day to record what happened. Review past journal entries to put today's pressures in perspective and notice changes in your leadership. Find a coach, mentor, or trusted peer who can ask honest questions and help you examine your assumptions. About the guest Christopher Grode, Ph.D., is a retired Illinois superintendent who served in the role for 19 years. He also worked as a teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent for finance. His doctorate is in industrial-organizational psychology, and his dissertation examined executive coaching strategies for superintendents. He is the author of The Leader Within. Resources Christopher Grode on LinkedIn The Leader Within at Bloomsbury Thanks to our Sponsor Broadcast Made Easy who help you start a news broadcast at your school by having everything you need in one easy-to-download place. Check it out today and get your kids creating. We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

SummaryElizabeth Cushing, CEO of Playworks, joins Jethro Jones to talk about how play builds belonging, emotional resilience, leadership, and attendance at school. They discuss what changes when recess becomes a predictable, inclusive place where every student can join a game, how adults model connection by playing alongside students, and how junior coaches turn older students into peer leaders.They also talk about the practical side of bringing Playworks into a school: choosing games that keep students moving, reducing conflicts that follow students back to class, using Title I and other funding sources, and helping school communities make recess a meaningful part of the school day.Chapters0:00 — Welcome to Transformative Principal0:59 — What Playworks changes on the playground2:45 — Games that keep every student included5:30 — Bringing play into classrooms7:01 — Why play builds emotional resilience10:16 — Adults, attendance, and belonging13:30 — Junior coaches and student leadership17:25 — How schools pay for Playworks19:37 — Why every age needs meaningful play20:40 — Transforming a playground community23:10 — Recess, school pride, and belonging25:40 — A practical invitation to go playShow NotesGuest: Elizabeth Cushing, CEO of PlayworksPlayworks: playworks.orgPlayworks podcast and 30-Day Attendance Reset: playworks.org/podcastTopics: inclusive recess, emotional resilience, attendance, school climate, peer leadership, junior coaches, and funding school-based play We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation.

Recorded live at a conference session, Suzanne "Suzie" Myers, Jocelyn Washburn, and Bonnie Palysak from the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning introduce I-STAR — a new adaptive, web-based platform built on the research-backed Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) writing strategies. The team walks through why they built it (teachers lack time to explicitly teach and grade writing), how it works (teacher-led instruction paired with auto-scoring, adaptive practice, and progress tracking), and shares a moving case study of a student's growth from disjointed to sophisticated writing. They also pull back the curtain on the challenges of translating decades-old paper-based strategies into technology with a non-education-focused development team, including AI-generated practice sentences. The session closes with interactive audience brainstorming for future dashboard features and a call for schools to join their pilot study. Thanks to our Sponsor Broadcast Made Easy who help you start a news broadcast at your school by having everything you need in one easy-to-download place. Check it out today and get your kids creating. We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.