Progressively Incorrect

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 … Continue reading S5E27: Matt Bateman and Laura Mazer set the record straight on Montessori

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 … Continue reading S5E25: Jamey Peavler on Access vs. Exposure and Constrained vs. Unconstrained Skills

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 … Continue reading S5E23: Richard Wheadon on Teaching Learning Habits and Returning to the Classroom

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 … Continue reading S5E21: Inwood Academy Pioneers the Science of Learning

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 students … Continue reading S5E19: Leslie Laud on Writing Instruction and Self-Regulated Strategy Development

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 … Continue reading S5E17: Femi Adeniran on Explicit Math Instruction and Coaching for Better Math Teaching

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 … Continue reading S5E15: Barbara Oakley on Constructivism vs. Learning Science

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 … Continue reading S5E13: Mike Schmoker on How Schools Can Get Results Now

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 … Continue reading S5E11: Alex Gingell on Setting the Culture and Conditions for Effective Instructional Coaching

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 … Continue reading S5E09: Marty Siegel on Direct Instruction Engineering and the Future of EdTech

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. Link to blog and video Denarius is one of the most thoughtful and influential voices in the Teach … Continue reading S5E07: Denarius Frazier on Belonging, Rigor, and Scaling Effective Teaching

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 … Continue reading S5E05: Anna Stokke on Where Math Education Went Wrong—and How to Fix It

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 … Continue reading S5E03: John Mighton on Building Math Confidence, One Problem at a Time