The Advocate Podcast: Amplifying Voices. Challenging Systems. Prioritizing Children.

Send us Fan Mail Summer break is a time for fun, family, and making memories, but it can also be a time of tremendous growth. In this episode of The Advocate Podcast , Dr. Kristi Love explores the reality of summer learning loss and shares practical, low-stress ways families can keep children engaged academically throughout the summer months. More importantly, she challenges parents to think beyon...

Send us Fan Mail Some students struggle loudly. Others struggle silently while everyone assumes they’re fine. In this episode of The Advocate Podcast, Dr. Kristi N. Love explores why schools often treat academic struggles with intervention and support—but respond to behavioral struggles with labels, punishment, or assumptions. This conversation dives into the quiet behaviors educators and parents...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Advocate Podcast , Dr. Kristi N. Love tackles one of education’s hardest and most emotional questions: 👉 How does a child reach 8th grade still struggling academically? Through an honest and balanced conversation about retention, social promotion, intervention, attendance, special education referrals, and systemic gaps, this episode explores what happens wh...

Send us Fan Mail Are passing grades really a sign of success… or just a sign students are getting through? In this episode, we take an honest look at a growing concern in education:  👉 Students who are passing… but not truly understanding  👉 Grades that don’t always reflect mastery  👉 And a system that sometimes prioritizes completion over comprehension Through real classroom experiences, perso...

Send us Fan Mail What actually makes a grade fair, and what happens when we mix learning, behavior, and completion into one number? In this episode, we go beyond traditional grading debates and get into the real questions educators and parents are asking right now: Should students be allowed to retest? How do we fairly grade homework when access and home environments vary? And what role does AI pl...

Send us Fan Mail What if the way we grade students is not actually measuring what they know? In this episode, we take a deep look at traditional grading practices and ask hard but necessary questions about equity, accuracy, and student learning. From the 0–100 grading scale and how a single zero can distort achievement, to late penalties, extra credit, and assignments that don’t always reflect mas...

Send us Fan Mail What if the problem starts with the labels we use? I’m your host, Dr. Kristi N. Love, and on this episode of The Advocate Podcast , we explore how the words we choose in education shape student identity, expectations, and outcomes. We’ll discuss the origins of the term at-promise , share stories of students who defy labels, and offer practical strategies for educators to raise exp...

Send us Fan Mail What if the students we label as “unmotivated” are actually the most misunderstood? In this powerful episode of The Advocate Podcast , Dr. Kristi N. Love sits down with a guest whose story challenges one of the most common narratives in education. Identified as gifted but often disengaged, he struggled to meet traditional academic expectations, not because he lacked ability, but b...

Send us Fan Mail What if the problem isn’t that people aren’t working hard enough… but that we’ve been telling the wrong story? In this episode of The Advocate Podcast , we challenge the deeply rooted “bootstrap” narrative—the idea that success is simply the result of hard work and personal responsibility. While effort matters, this conversation goes deeper, unpacking the systems, structures, and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Advocate Podcast , we explore why literacy is not just an education issue—it’s a justice issue . I sit down with an expert to discuss the social and environmental determinants that shape early childhood reading comprehension, and how struggles with literacy by third grade can lead to negative long-term outcomes, including dropout, suspension, and even justic...

Send us Fan Mail Third-grade reading proficiency is often discussed as an academic milestone. But what if it’s also a justice issue? In this episode of The Advocate Podcast , Dr. Kristi N. Love begins a deeper conversation about why early literacy matters far beyond the classroom. Before next week’s expert interview, she explores how reading development is shaped by early childhood experiences, en...

Send us Fan Mail Third-grade reading isn’t just a milestone, it’s a turning point. In this episode of The Advocate Podcast , Dr. Kristi N. Love explores why early literacy is one of the most powerful tools for equity, opportunity, and life outcomes. We unpack the myths and facts behind the alarming statistic linking third-grade reading struggles to future incarceration, discuss systemic barriers t...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Advocate , Dr. Kristi N. Love shares a powerful letter from an anonymous parent at a Christian school advocating for respect, dignity, and belonging for her child. This episode isn’t an interview—it’s a reflection on what happens when faith, identity, and school culture intersect. It challenges parents, educators, and leaders to examine what advocacy really looks...

Send us Fan Mail When Taylor Christina Terry sat in my 10th-grade classroom, neither of us could have imagined the journey ahead. Now a wife and mother, Taylor is raising her oldest son, Clayton, who has autism. In this powerful and honest conversation, she shares how becoming a special needs mom completely transformed her perspective, not just as a parent, but as a former educator. Taylor opens u...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when parents follow the rules, communicate clearly, and still aren’t heard? In this episode of The Advocate , Dr. Kristi Love continues the conversation sparked by her interview with Dr. Yanique Rolingson, digging deeper into the difference between communication and true understanding in school-family relationships. Through a real parent’s story, this episode centers...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Advocate , we slow down and reflect on what it truly means to teach, lead, and serve with purpose in a season of exhaustion and noise. This thoughtful conversation explores teaching as a calling, the emotional weight educators carry, and how burnout often shows up not because teachers don’t care, but because they care deeply. We discuss discipline as communi...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when we slow down long enough to actually listen to children? In this episode of The Advocate Podcast , Dr. Kristi Love unpacks a powerful social media post that sparked strong reactions and uses it as an entry point into a deeper conversation about communication, authority, and emotional development. Allowing children to explain themselves is often misunderstood as p...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we confront a hard truth in education: what happens when discipline becomes a substitute for development. Too often, students, especially those from historically marginalized communities, are punished for behaviors that are actually cries for support, understanding, and growth. We unpack how zero-tolerance policies, exclusionary practices, and adult-centered contr...

Send us Fan Mail In this foundational episode, Dr. Kristi N. Love, educator, advocate, and mother of 2 , shares the personal and professional experiences that led her to create The Advocate Podcast .  Drawing from over 20 years of teaching and leading across diverse school settings , she reflects on the mindset shift that transformed how she understands children, discipline, and advocacy.  Her dua...

Send us Fan Mail Join Dr. Kristi N. Love, educator and advocate, as she introduces The Advocate: Amplifying Voices. Challenging Systems. Prioritizing Children. In this trailer, hear why the podcast exists, how social media inspired her mission, and how she helps parents, educators, and leaders center children, embrace restorative practices, and hold schools accountable. New episodes release weekly...