CASDA EdCasts

This episode of CASDA's "Everything Education" podcast features Dr. Daina Sisk, Director of Secondary Special Education in the Ballston Spa Central School District discussing how districts can ensure their Integrated Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS-I) are aligned to support student needs above all else. Drawing upon her doctoral research and her deep experience, Dr. Sisk offers both thoughtful insights that can guide both district planning and educator practice.

In this special EdCast Eudora Brennan, a Senior at Chatham High School joins CASDA Executive Director Dr. Michael Piccirillo and Damonni Farley, Founder and CEO of Common Thread Consultants. Eudora shares her perspective on leadership, the power of student voice and the work of Chatham's DEI Club to build a more inclusive and equitable school environment. 

In this episode, Tracy Sangaré and Michele Sano, co-teachers at Latham Ridge Elementary School in North Colonie explore the foundations of strong co-teaching partnerships. They highlight the importance of modeling respectful, caring relationships for students, the importance of authentic reflection in the planning process and how co-teaching has helped them grow as educators. 

In this CASDA EdCast, Oneida Students for Antiracism members LIza, Charles, and Royalty return for a follow up one year after our first conversation. The students describe some of the work they have undertaken in the past year and communicate clear ideas for change. The depth of their insight on a range of education and social issues shows the power of authentic student voice and makes it clear that they are true leaders in the effort to build more equitable and inclusive schools. 

In this CASDA EdCast, Sepideh Yasrebi, a Ph.D. Candidate at UAlbany's School of Education and English as a New Language Teacher in North Colonie Central Schools speaks with Jerome Steele about language and language learning as a social phenomenon. She offers an analysis of ENL theory and practice that centers students' histories, identities and context through a narrative centered framework that emphasizes the fact that language emerges from and reflects lived experience. 

In this episode, Dr. Piccirillo talks to Dave Torres, a CASDA consultant facilitating the Improving Student Attendance Series: Re-engaging Students in a Post-COVID World about strategies to support students and families in school attendance and engagement. Dave shares stories and perspective from his career working in the criminal justice system and as an attendance supervisor in Saratoga Springs City Schools. Throughout the episode, he emphasizes the need to meet families where they are, "remove the educator hat," and never give up on students. 

This CASDA EdCast features Dr. Piccirillo in dialogue with special guests Amy Hawrylchak, Principal at Tech Valley High School and Shelette Pleat Principal for CTE at Capital Region BOCES on the topic of boundary crossing in leadership spaces. This concept allows leaders to move beyond their comfort zone, crossing boundaries into unknown and potentially unsettling space in order to grow personally and professionally. They discuss the benefits of taking these risks in order to better engage in educational equity work, and build more authentic, substantive relationships with both students and colleagues. Their honest exchanges model boundary crossing in practice and should encourage all leaders to move beyond the familiar and towards meaningful growth. 

This CASDA EdCast explores the benefits of enrichment-focused summer programming to meet the needs of the whole child. Mike Laster, Principal at Farnsworth Middle School and Co-Chair of the Capital Region Principals' Center joins Dr. Piccirillo to share how he plans to implement a summer program that will build on strengths, integrate SEL and accelerate student learning heading into the 2021-22 school year. They discuss the need to move beyond traditional conceptions of summer remediation, question long-held assumptions and discuss how schools move beyond "back to normal."

In this special CASDA EdCast, Dr. Piccirillo speaks with Royalty, Liza, Jaislyn, and Charles - four student leaders at Schenectady’s Oneida Middle School who are active in both the Educators of Tomorrow and Oneida Students for Anti Racism groups (OSAR). The panelists discuss the importance of teachers building authentic relationships with students  and creating safe spaces where all can learn and grow without fear of punishment or embarrassment. They speak frankly about the need for students of all races to understand racism and inequity from an early age - dispelling the widely held belief that they should be sheltered from these issues until high school. Throughout the dialog, they speak to a love of learning - both from teachers and each other and share a vision of a school system which is grounded in empathy, but building towards justice.

In this special CASDA EdCast, Dr. Piccirillo and CASDA Consultant Dale Getto are  joined by Dr. Eric Cooper and Dr. Yvette Jackson of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, two towering figures in the movement for culturally responsive, equitable education.  Dr. Cooper shares a profound message about the power of believing in all students' capacity to achieve high intellectual performance and academic achievement. This concept is crystallized in Dr. Jackson's concept of "gifted education for all," which is thoroughly explored in her revelatory book "Pedagogy of Confidence." Passion for supporting students and educators radiates throughout this powerful dialog as all participants offer thoughtful reflections on empowering youth to meet their potential. 

In this timely episode, CASDA Executive Director Dr. Michael Piccirillo speaks with Aaron Thiell, Principal at Latham Ridge Elementary in North Colonie Central School District about confronting white supremacy in educational leadership. Aaron and Mike reflect on the learning and unlearning that white educators must undertake if they are move beyond platitudes and develop materially antiracist praxis. Mr. Thiell discusses his own personal evolution in this work and shares the steps he has taken to foster an affirming, culturally sustaining building culture.

In this CASDA EdCast, activists Samira and T.J. Sangaré discuss their experiences as Black students in a predominantly white district and how it failed to adequately prepare them to confront white supremacy after graduation. The siblings share their perspective on the politics of curriculum construction, particularly with regard to US History. They also discuss how learning in activism spaces has helped them understand, analyze and combat systems of domination that create inequities both in schools and society at large.

Episode 16 features a dialog between Mike and Dr. Jason Lane, Interim Dean of the School of Education at UAlbany. They discuss how the School of Education has supported K-12 during Covid-19 through their remote education website that provides resources and practices for effective online instruction. They also contemplate shared equity challenges facing K-12 schools, colleges and universities and how collaboration across sectors such as healthcare, nonprofit and government can ensure greater support for students.

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In this CASDA EdCast, Mike speaks with CASDA consultant, mental health counselor and former school superintendent , Tony Albanese. They discuss how districts might move beyond encouraging staff members to practice self care and implement meaningful, sustainable supports for educator mental health. Tony draws upon his background in counseling and school district leadership to suggest a process by which schools can collaborate with their teachers and staff members to identify needs and resources to promote sustainable mental and social-emotional wellness. 

This discussion features CASDA Executive Director Dr. Mike Piccirillo in conversation with Mike Pipa, CASDA’s Instructional Design Coach, former House Principal at Farnsworth Middle School and a longtime middle and high school English teacher. Mike and Mike reflect on relationship building, engagement, risk and rigor through their experience as classroom educators. Then they draw upon their experience in building and district leadership to explore how a systemic focus on student engagement drives instructional improvement and academic achievement.

Mike speaks with WSWHE BOCES District Superintendent Jim Dexter about the necessity of collaboration to preserve the long term fiscal and programmatic sustainability of school districts. Mr. Dexter emphasizes the founding premise of BOCES - a cooperative of school districts created at the districts' request  to expand the programming that could be offered to students and communities. They discuss how this model of collaboration in pursuit of districts' mutual interest is more relevant now than ever as districts confront the budgetary challenges in the wake of Covid-19.

CASDA's Rebecca Gardner speaks with Andrew Kourt, principal of Walter B. Howard Elementary School in New Lebanon, Brian Bishop, assistant principal at Averill Park High School and Dr. Antonio Abitabile, principal at Hudson High School about strategies to engage students and promote attendance.

This episode features Kurt Hassenpflug, an ENL teacher at Shaker High School. He shares his background, experiences and insights into topics such as ELL Co-Teaching.

CASDA Faculty member Carly Mead is joined by Gina Fusco, Director of Instructional Technology at Lansingburgh Central Schools to discuss the evolution of educational technology, strategies to prepare for computer-based testing and women in STEM

Mike Schell, a Social Studies teacher at HFM BOCES Adirondack Academy joins CASDA's Gregg Weinlein to discuss the challenges and rewards of working in Alternative Education.  

This podcast is the first in a series addressing race and equity issues and their impact on schools. In this episode, CASDA Executive Director Mike Piccirillo is joined by Kathleen McLean, CEO of the McLean Group. They discuss how their childhood experiences shaped their understanding of race and identity and reflect on events that led them to recognize the urgency of anti-racist work in schools.

In a special episode of CASDA's EdCasts series, CASDA Executive Director Michael Piccirillo, Ed.D sat down with Professor Brett Levy of the UAlbany School of Education to discuss fostering authentic, engaged dialog in social studies classrooms. Drawing upon Dr. Levy's research, they discuss practices that allow students to move beyond superficial reactions and engage substantively with differing viewpoints to learn and grow to develop civic literacy.

In this timely episode, CASDA Executive Director Mike Piccirillo, Ed.D talks to Alicia Holt, Research and Design Consultant with Common Thread Consulting about the need to approach Social Emotional Learning through an antiracist lens, and the problems of standardization in a system constructed around whiteness. She also takes us through "Tools to Promote Antiracist Social Emotional Learning in the Era of Covid-19," a practice focused infographic that provides tools that educators can use individually and in community to better integrate antiracism in their classrooms.

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This CASDA EdCast features Dr. Delicia Greene, Assistant Professor in the Literacy and Learning Department at the UAlbany School of Education. She discusses research presented in her article “We Need More ‘US’ in Schools!!”: Centering Black Adolescent Girls’ Literacy and Language Practices in Online School Spaces.’ Dr. Greene discusses how thoughtfully designed digital learning environments and culturally responsive content outside of traditional schooling structures allow Black girls’ rich language practices and nuanced identity constructions to flourish. She encourages educators to embrace multimodal expressions of learning enabled by digital technology and highlights teachers’ discomfort with some platforms as an opportunity for student agency in the co-construction of knowledge. Dr. Greene ultimately emphasizes that if digital pedagogy is to be truly equitable, it must be grounded in authentic relationships that value the languages, literacies, cultures and histories of historically marginalized students.