Let the Learners Lead with Rachael Thrash

Let the Learners Lead with Rachael Thrash

June 14, 2026 · 49 min · Season 13 · Episode 721

About this episode

Rachael Thrash discusses the importance of student voice and ownership in education, highlighting her new book and real examples of student agency.

In this episode, Rachael Thrash — educator, author, and Senior Director at Big Bad Boo Studios — joins Mike Caldwell to challenge the gap between student voice and student ownership. With 25+ years in education, Rachel argues that GPA-gated student councils and empty surveys exclude the students who need to be heard most. Through real examples of students solving real school problems, she shows what happens when kids are given genuine agency. She also walks through her new book Let the Learners Lead , a practical toolkit for educators ready to co-create school culture with students — not just for them 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 technology Save teachers’ time Reliably meet Tier 1 standards Improve 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…

People in this episode

Host: Mike Caldwell

Guest: Rachael Thrash

Topics covered

Keywords

Sponsors

IXL

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Big Bad Boo Studios, Johns Hopkins University

Books & works: Let the Learners Lead

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