The Research to Practice Gap
As a special educator, I struggled to find truly effective ways to support my students. I joined professional organizations, but didn’t have the time to sift through journals or navigate lengthy resource pages. I attended required professional development, yet it wasn’t always engaging—or useful.
Welcome to The Research to Practice Gap, a podcast created to bridge exactly that divide. Each month, I sit down with a researcher in the field of education to translate research into practical, evidence-based strategies and activities you can use in your classroom right away.
Episodes
12 episodes
Classroom Harm Isn’t Always Loud: Understanding Slow Violence
What if the most harmful experiences students have at school aren't dramatic, but happen through everyday interactions? Dr. Helen Flores sits down with sociologist and Slow Violence author Dr. Ranita Ray to explore how subtle classroom...
Building Student Agency: Teaching Self-Determination in the Classroom
Self-determination doesn't begin at age 14—it starts in the earliest years of school. In this episode, Laurie Williams-George explains how teachers can build student agency through simple, research-based practices that help students make decisi...
All of Us Are Artists: Bringing Creativity Back to the Classroom
In this episode of The Research to Practice Gap, Dr. Helen Flores sits down with Dr. Hank Samuels to explore the role of creativity, imagination, and arts integration in education. Together, they discuss why so many educators believe t...
Start Over Every Day: How to Stay in Teaching
In this episode of The Research to Practice Gap, Dr. Helen Flores sits down with educator and leadership coach Michael Fairbanks II to discuss one of education’s biggest challenges: teacher retention. Drawing from his experiences...
The Pressure to Perform: Teaching Calm in High-Stakes Systems
In this episode of The Research to Practice Gap, Dr. Helen Flores speaks with Tabitha Lim about the impact of high-stakes testing on student learning, stress, and well-being. Drawing from neuroscience, embodied cognition, and her exper...
Regulate, Relate, Reason: From Trauma Research to Classroom Practice
In this episode, I sit down with Tara Tedrow to explore how trauma impacts learning, behavior, and brain development—and what teachers can do about it. We break down the “regulate, relate, reason” framework and share practical, trauma-informed ...
Less is More: Designing Classrooms That Support Attention and Executive Function
This episode explores how classroom design impacts students’ attention, regulation, and learning. Dr. Laura Foster shares research-backed strategies for creating more intentional, less visually overwhelming spaces—and how small shifts in the en...
Beyond Behavior Management: Using SEL to Transform Your Classroom
In this episode of The Research to Practice Gap, I sit down with Dr. Sharde Theodore to discuss how social emotional learning (SEL) can transform classroom culture and improve outcomes for students.
Humanizing the Classroom: Restorative Practices & Student Voice
In this episode of The Research to Practice Gap, Dr. D’Annette Mullen of Boston University talks about disrupting disproportionate discipline in schools through art, restorative practices, relationship-building, and student voice...
Who Gets to Be “Gifted”? Access, Bias, and Twice/Thrice Exceptional Learners
In this episode, Dr. Alejandra A. Fernandez-Morgado shares research-based insights on special education, gifted education, and creating more equitable opportunities for diverse learners.
Beyond Deficit Thinking: Culturally Responsive Teaching in Action
In our first episode of The Research to Practice Gap, Dr. Helen Flores sits down with Dr. Buruuj Tunsill to explore how educators can better serve racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse (RELD) students in special education — ...
