Second Look Education

July arrived, and somehow it already felt like we were behind. Not because anything was wrong. The kids were reading, swimming, building forts, arguing with siblings, and finding ways to fill their days. But underneath it all was a nagging feeling that summer should be accomplishing something more. In this episode, we explore where that pressure comes from. Along the way, we revisit the history of...

The inspiration for this episode came from a conversation with a veteran teacher who left an evaluation meeting feeling defeated despite years of successful teaching and strong relationships with students. Her experience raised a question that many educators quietly ask: What is the actual purpose of teacher evaluations? In this episode, Candace and Amy explore the tension between accountability a...

In our previous episode, we explored why LAUSD’s decision to limit screen use on school-issued devices felt significant. In this episode, we step back to ask a different question: How did screens become the system in the first place? We trace the shift from occasional classroom technology to one-to-one devices, online platforms, digital assessments, and always-connected learning environments. What...

Episode Summary Los Angeles Unified School District recently passed aresolution to create limits on student screen time—but this isn’t just another conversation about phones. This decision focuses on the devices schools themselves have assigned and built into daily learning. In this episode, we unpack what this policy actually includes, why it’s happening now, and what it reveals about how technol...

Episode Summary In this episode, we move from a single moment to a pattern that’s harder to ignore. What began as a conversation about a child not liking school expands into a broader question about the emotional experience of learning across classrooms, schools, and systems. Candace reflects on recurring moments — preservice teachers describing students as “behind,” classrooms driven by pacing ov...

Episode Summary Amy brings a real moment from home: her children come backfrom school excited about inclusion activities—adaptive sports, conversations about disability, and new perspectives. The experience is meaningful, engaging, and clearly impactful. But it raises a quieter question: why does inclusion still show up as a special event? As the conversation unfolds, Amy and Candace explore thete...

Episode Summary Candace shares a moment that stopped her in her tracks: her 7-year-old niece, in the middle of learning to read, said, “I don’t like school.” There was no frustration or struggle, just a quiet certainty. In this episode, Candace and Amy take a second look at what it means when a child at one of the most critical stages of learning already feels disconnected from school. They explor...

Episode Summary In this episode, we start with a small moment — a child mentioning that they get to chew gum during the Illinois Assessment of Readiness — and follow it into a larger question: How did high-stakes testing become such a routine part of school that it now feels inevitable? Amy reflects on raising her own children inside a testing system she has studied, written about, and once admini...

Episode Summary In this episode, Candace begins with a personal moment: learning, years into her career as an educator, that many of the Dr. Seuss books she loved as a child contain racist imagery and stereotypes. Like many teachers, she grew up celebrating Read Across America with Cat in the Hat hats, green eggs and ham activities, and Dr. Seuss-themed classrooms. But once she encountered researc...

Episode Summary In this episode, we start with a simple moment — a child bringing home a stack of completed workbook pages — and follow it into a larger question: How did written work become the primary way schools recognize learning? We explore how assessment systems shape classroom tasks, why teachers rely on visible artifacts, and what may become invisible when proof becomes the priority. This...

Welcome to Second Look Education . In this first episode, Amy and Candace introduce who we are, where we come from, and why this podcast exists. We are experienced educators, former classroom teachers, school leaders, researchers, and parents. We are not observing education from the sidelines. We are living it. We prepare future teachers while also watching our own children move through increasing...