Welcome to Progressively Incorrect, a podcast about the teacher-centered and the student-centered, the traditional and the progressive, in education. Hosted by Dr. Zach Groshell on educationrickshaw.com
56 min
Welcome to the Progressively Incorrect podcast. I’m Dr. Zach Groshell, and in this episode, I welcome Kurt Engelmann and Alisa Kerr of the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) for a conversation about the second season of Emily Hanford’s Sold a Story, which turns its attention to Direct Instruction. This is also the first episode…
1 hr 12 min
I’m thrilled to be sharing this special episode with you, the Season 5 Finale of Progressively Incorrect. I’m joined by Dr. Anita Archer, one of the most influential voices in explicit instruction and effective teaching. For decades, Anita has helped educators translate learning science into practical classroom routines that improve student success, and her work…
39 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Zach Groshell. In this episode, I’m joined by Sean Morrisey, creator of the Word Mapping Project, for a conversation about how students learn words—not just as spellings to memorize or definitions to recite, but as connected units of sound, spelling, and meaning. Sean spent eight years as…
56 min
Welcome to the Progressively Incorrect podcast. I’m Dr. Zach Groshell, and in this episode, I welcome Kurt Engelmann and Alisa Kerr of the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) for a conversation about the second season of Emily Hanford’s Sold a Story, which turns its attention to Direct Instruction. This is also the first episode…
1 hr 12 min
I’m thrilled to be sharing this special episode with you, the Season 5 Finale of Progressively Incorrect. I’m joined by Dr. Anita Archer, one of the most influential voices in explicit instruction and effective teaching. For decades, Anita has helped educators translate learning science into practical classroom routines that improve student success, and her work…
39 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Zach Groshell. In this episode, I’m joined by Sean Morrisey, creator of the Word Mapping Project, for a conversation about how students learn words—not just as spellings to memorize or definitions to recite, but as connected units of sound, spelling, and meaning. Sean spent eight years as…
28 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Zach Groshell. I’ve always been fascinated by what teaching looks like in remote and challenging contexts. That interest goes back to my own time working in places like Sudan, where the namesake of this blog, Education Rickshaw, comes from. So when I was invited to present at…
34 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Zach Groshell. Education is filled with myths. Some are harmless. Others shape curriculum, teacher training, intervention programs, and the lives of students for decades before anyone seriously asks whether they work. One of the reasons this podcast exists is to challenge those myths and examine the evidence…
52 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Zach Groshell. Executive functioning has become one of the most frequently discussed topics in education, yet it remains one of the most misunderstood. Teachers are increasingly expected to help students manage attention, organization, memory, planning, and self-regulation, but questions remain about what these skills actually are, how…
45 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. Today I’m bringing you an episode from the Direct Instruction Podcast—one that I think anyone interested in instructional design, curriculum development, or evidence-based teaching will find fascinating. I’m joined by Owen Engelmann of Engelmann-Becker Corporation, the curriculum development organization founded by Siegfried Engelmann and…
37 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Zach Groshell, and today we are talking about teaching, coaching, and the strange language of modern education. One phrase that comes up constantly in education is “student-centered learning.” It gets used so often, and so vaguely, that it’s started to mean almost everything and almost nothing at…
43 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Zach Groshell, and today we are talking about Montessori. I’ll admit, I came into this conversation skeptical. Most of what gets sold as “Montessori” today is a watered-down, follow-your-bliss version of what Maria Montessori actually wrote. The popular caricature— that Montessori is a free-for-all where kids drift…
46 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Zach Groshell, and today we are talking about…. PE! I’ll admit, I’ve often taken a dim view of PE as a subject. At its worst, it’s often just games and activities that don’t appear to build toward much, and that, frankly, could be led by someone without…
41 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect, a show about the teacher-centered and the student-centered, the traditional and the progressive, in education. My guest today is Jamey Peavler, literacy leader and instructional expert focused on building coherent, science-aligned systems of reading instruction. Jamey has worked extensively with schools and districts to design and implement structured literacy models…
46 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I am you host, Zach Groshell. My guest today is Dr. Olivia Mullins, Founder and Executive Director of Science Delivered and lead developer of the Learning Squared science and literacy program. Olivia trained as a scientist before turning to elementary science education. She’s become one of the sharpest voices working…
46 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect, a show sponsored by John Catt from Hachette Learning and hosted by me, Dr. Zach Groshell. My guest today is Richard Wheadon, author of the forthcoming book Teaching Learning Habits – How to Develop Independent and Successful Learners, to be published with Routledge. He blogs at Everything Pedagogy and writes…
47 min
My name is Dr. Zach Groshell and welcome to my podcast! This season, I continue to explore the science of learning—especially what the work actually looks like when schools try to build their instructional models around it. We talk a lot about evidence-based practice in education, but far fewer conversations focus on how schools implement…
45 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect, a show sponsored by John Catt from Hachette Learning and hosted by me, Dr. Zach Groshell. My guest today is Christopher Such, literacy expert, former primary teacher, and author of Primary Reading Simplified. Chris makes his epic return to the show to tackle several debates currently shaping reading instruction in…
35 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. This season, I’ve been diving deeply into writing instruction — what the research actually says, where classroom practice often drifts, and what it truly takes to help students become confident, capable writers. Writing is one of the most cognitively demanding things we ask…
52 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. In this episode, I sit down with Ian Kelleher and Glenn Whitman of the Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning (CTTL). We began with the origin story of CTTL — how they set out to bridge mind, brain, and education science with real classroom…
55 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. In this episode, I’m joined by the always fabulous, Femi Adeniran, to continue a conversation that started when I appeared on the Beyond Good podcast about math, coaching, and instruction. We discuss: How to begin a maths lesson How not to begin a maths…
28 min
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. In this episode, I’m joined by Scotty Jackson to talk about how summer camp can create the experiences—and build the kinds of values—that help kids be better people: honesty, respect, responsibility, caring, and belonging. I’m not coming at this as a distant observer. I…
46 min
In this episode, I sit down with Barbara Oakley—engineer, bestselling author, and one of the most influential voices in the science of learning—to talk about why so much instruction still misses the mark, what “good teaching” looks like when you take cognition seriously, and what’s at stake if we keep defaulting to methods that feel…
33 min
The “Thinking Out Loud” episodes on Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works are a running set of conversations to make sense of instruction, coaching, and implementation as they actually function in schools—not as we wish they did. The premise is straightforward: Gene Tavernetti and I take a concrete problem of practice, name what tends to go wrong,…
32 min
Mike Schmoker is one of the most influential voices in school improvement, urging schools to recommit to the fundamentals: coherent curriculum, strong lesson design, and authentic literacy—reading, discussion, and writing—throughout the school day. Across books like Focus and Results Now 2.0, and decades of essays and commentary, his through-line is the same: schools don’t usually…
1 hr 0 min
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Brian Poncy to explore a claim you’ve probably heard in schools: “Teaching math facts interferes with understanding.” From there, we dig into better ways to think about math facts, what schools can do differently, and the practical decisions that show up when schools decide to take facts…
46 min
In this episode, I sit down with Alex Gingell to unpack what it actually takes to make instructional coaching work in a school. Alex explains why his first priority wasn’t improving teaching, but stabilizing behavior, curriculum, and trust—and why coaching can only succeed once those foundations are secure. We talk through how he used Steplab…
24 min
In this episode of the Direct Instruction podcast, I’m joined by Laura Doherty, President and CEO of the Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP)—Maryland’s largest operator of neighborhood, PK–8 public charter schools, and one of the longest-running Direct Instruction networks in the United States. For nearly three decades, BCP has been quietly doing something that many systems…
56 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m joined by Marty Siegel, Professor Emeritus of Informatics and Instructional Systems Technology, and a pioneer whose career bridges early Direct Instruction, large-scale computer-based learning, human–computer interaction, and the emerging world of AI-driven instruction. Marty began his career at the University of Illinois in the 1960s, right at the…
52 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m re-joined by Doug Lemov—author of Teach Like a Champion and The Coach’s Guide to Teaching, and one of the most influential figures in the history of education. Doug has spent decades studying what the best teachers do differently—turning the art and science of teaching into something that can…
46 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m joined by Denarius Frazier—Regional Superintendent of Instruction at Uncommon Schools, co-author of Reconnect: Building School Culture for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging, and perhaps the best teacher ever captured on film. Denarius is one of the most thoughtful and influential voices in the Teach Like a Champion community, known…
56 min
In this podcast episode, I’m joined by Jessica Colleu Terradas and Jon Owen, two international leaders bringing Engelmann’s Direct Instruction to life in Australia and the UK. This marks a milestone in the Direct Instruction Podcast—our first global double feature exploring what high-fidelity DI looks like beyond the United States. Jessica, based in Australia, supports…
54 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m joined by Anna Stokke—mathematician, professor, and host of the Chalk & Talk podcast. Anna has become one of the most influential voices calling for a return to clarity, structure, and evidence in math instruction. We explore how her conversations on chalk & talk have shaped—and sometimes challenged—her own…
44 min
In this episode, I’m joined by Marcie Samayoa—science teacher, cognitive science enthusiast, and blogger of Scientists in the Making. Marcie shares the origin story behind her innovative classroom blog and explains how it grew out of a desire to make science learning more equitable, evidence-based, and joyful. We dive into some of the most persistent…
44 min
In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. John Mighton — mathematician, playwright, best-selling author, and founder of JUMP Math. John shares his insights into one of the most misunderstood concepts in education today—the belief that only some students are “math people”—and explains why dismantling this idea is essential for equity and achievement. As we explore…
39 min
In this powerful episode, I’m joined by two of the most influential voices in literacy education today—Linda Diamond and Paige Pullen. With decades of experience in education, Linda and Paige bring clarity to the evidence-based education movement and the science of reading in particular. Together, we dive into their framework of three interrelated sciences—Learning Science,…
55 min
Welcome to Season 5 of Progressively Incorrect! In this special premiere episode, I’m joined by Greg Ashman, a leading advocate for explicit instruction and one of the most important voices in education today. We begin by analyzing a new video from Jo Boaler, where she casts “step-by-step instruction” as the villain in favor of an…
43 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m joined by Dr. Shawn Datchuk, a leading researcher who’s helped shape how we think about sentence construction for struggling learners. Drawing from the literature on Precision Teaching and Direct Instruction, Shawn shares how timed practice and explicit strategies can accelerate mastery in writing, especially for students with learning…
28 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m joined by Nathan Lang-Raad for a wide-ranging conversation that threads together two hot-button topics: artificial intelligence and the science of learning. There’s excitement everywhere—some even say AI will revolutionize teaching and learning. But are we getting ahead of ourselves? Nathan and I explore the real benefits AI can…
47 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I sat down with a personal friend whose work I deeply respect: John Tanner. His leadership in education has weathered storms—most notably, false accusations of cheating after huge gains in achievement were obtained at his school. But what shines through is his steadfast belief in the life-changing power of…
56 min
In this episode of The Direct Instruction Podcast – cross-posted on Progressively Incorrect – I’m joined by Bonnie Grossen and Kurt Engelmann, two long-time advocates and practitioners whose work has shaped the real-world application of schoolwide Direct Instruction. After engaging conversations with both of them—on everything from implementation across diverse contexts to the role of…
52 min
In this episode of The Direct Instruction Podcast – cross-posted on Progressively Incorrect – I’m joined by Stephanie Stollar, Diane Kinder, and Marcy Stein—three educators and researchers whose work intersects at the heart of effective instruction and systems-level change. After engaging conversations with each of them around Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and the role…
34 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m joined by Jonah Davids. Jonah and I met while participating in a panel discussion around declining behavior in schools (listen here), which led me to invite him to discuss the evidence base behind Restorative Justice and Social-Emotional approaches in education. Are we on track or has there been…
46 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I am delighted to host Peps Mccrea, the Director of Education at Steplab and the mind behind the must-read online newsletter, Evidence Snacks. Peps has dedicated his career to improving education through evidence-based practices. His latest project includes Great Teaching, Unpacked, a Netflix-style documentary that is pushing the boundaries…
50 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I am delighted to host Rachel Ball, Coaching Development Lead at Steplab and a passionate advocate for effective teaching based on the science of learning. Rachel will explore her new book, The Scaffolding Effect, and the Explicit Instruction Conference we are both keynoting in New Mexico (sign up here!).…
34 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m delighted to host Laura Stam, a dedicated advocate for the Science of Reading and Direct Instruction. Laura will share her expertise on designing and curating resources to integrate content and vocabulary into literacy, discuss new shifts in her thinking and teaching, and offer insights into how structured teaching…
47 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m honored to host Ronak Bhatt, the accomplished founder and school leader of TELRA Institute. Ronak will discuss how acceleration can open doors for learners, share his thoughts on the benefits and challenges of homogeneous grouping, and provide insights into experimental educational models that offer bold alternatives to traditional…
57 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I am delighted to host Rachel Sewell, Coaching Development Lead at Steplab and a passionate advocate for effective professional development. Rachel will explore the 14 mechanisms of effective professional development, including how they build knowledge, motivate educators, develop teaching techniques, and embed sustainable practices. Listen and subscribe to Progressively…
44 min
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I am thrilled to host Jonathan Regino, an innovative educator and instructional leader known for his expertise in curriculum adoption and math coaching. Jonathan is passionate about enhancing teaching practices and fostering impactful math learning experiences. Listen and subscribe to Progressively Incorrect on… SpotifyYouTubeApple PodcastsWordPress Jon will share his…
54 min
Today, I am thrilled to host Richard Mayer on Progressively Incorrect, a distinguished educational psychologist and researcher known worldwide for his groundbreaking contributions to understanding how we learn. Rich brings a wealth of knowledge and a sharp focus on multimedia learning, generative learning, and evidence-based critiques of discovery learning. Listen and subscribe to Progressively Incorrect…
34 min
Today, I am thrilled to host Lynn Gaffney on Progressively Incorrect, a passionate educator and leader known for her deep commitment to bridging research and practice in schools. Lynn brings a wealth of experience and a sharp focus on the science of learning, using evidence-informed strategies to drive meaningful outcomes for students and teachers alike.…
53 min
Today, I am thrilled to host Daisy Christodoulou, an esteemed author and education expert renowned for her groundbreaking work on curriculum and assessment. Daisy’s thought-provoking insights have reshaped the way educators approach teaching, and her books, including “Seven Myths About Education,” have become essential reads in the field. In this episode, Daisy will delve into…
48 min
Today I am excited to be bringing you an episode of the DI podcast with Randi Saulter and Ann Baum. Randi and Ann are two passionate special education teachers who will take us through what Zig Engelmann called the “picky, picky” details of implementing DI in special education classrooms. This episode is chock full of…
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