Academic Distinctions: A Podcast to Make Sense of American Education Podcast By Zac Chase & Stephanie Melville cover art

Academic Distinctions: A Podcast to Make Sense of American Education

Academic Distinctions: A Podcast to Make Sense of American Education

By: Zac Chase & Stephanie Melville
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About this listen

Hosted by Stephanie Melville and Zac Chase, "Academic Distinctions" is a podcast for educators that tackles the reading and research teachers often don't have time for. With experience as classroom teachers, district administrators, and federal policy wonks, the hosts bring a unique perspective to discussions on education's "greatest hits" and current events. The podcast is committed to delivering engaging, informative, and actionable content that is relevant and responsive to the needs of educators.

© 2025 Academic Distinctions: A Podcast to Make Sense of American Education Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 006: Why our brains like order and how John Hattie's rankings impacted education

    006: Why our brains like order and how John Hattie's rankings impacted education
    Jun 24 2025

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    In this episode Stephanie and Zac talk to Dr. Ji Son from Cal State Los Angeles to get a better understanding of why it's so hard to add complexity to information once we've got our minds made up as well as some helpful tricks to make new information stickier. Then, they dive in to the work of John Hattie and begin to examine how his attempts to share what's "effective" in education spread like wildfire.
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    37 mins
  • 005: You'll miss your Office for Civil Rights when it's gone

    005: You'll miss your Office for Civil Rights when it's gone
    Jun 4 2025

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    Stephanie and Zac talk with guests Katy Joseph and Sam Ames - the two most recent former chiefs of staff for the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). They discuss OCR's origins, work, and possible future with a 50% reduction in staff and ever-increasing caseload.
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    30 mins
  • 004: A pyramid scheme for learning?

    004: A pyramid scheme for learning?
    May 20 2025

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    Stephanie and Zac unpack the of one of the most famous pyramids in education (Bloom's taxonomy) and attempt to draw a line from its post-WWII origins to the requirement of teachers writing their objectives on the board.

    For the second half of the show, researcher Katherine McEldoon joins to offer an alternative way to figure out if students' (and adults') brains are doing the work we hope they are during learning.
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    35 mins
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