Hi there, I’m Karen Dudek-Brannan!

I’m a Professional Development Specialist, SLP, and founder/owner/operate of Dr. Karen, LLC, a company focused on empowering therapists and educators to design interventions that support language, literacy, and executive functioning. In my current role, I develop engaging professional development and products that help school teams work together to get better results.

On the De Facto Leaders Podcast, I share up-to-date evidence-based practices, my own experience, and guest interviews designed to help pediatric therapists, educators, and aspiring school leaders design services that support social, emotional, and academic growth and set kids up for success in adulthood. Whether you want to learn effective strategies for your therapy session or classroom, be an influential leader on your team, or find creative ways to use your skills to advance in your career, I’ve got you covered. You can listen to the De Facto Leaders podcast on most popular podcast directories, and can scroll through past episodes on this page here.

Latest Episodes

Educational Eligibility, Clinical Diagnosis, and the “Just Be Like Finland” Argument (with Dr. Chrishawn Finister)

Every few years, conversations about education in the U.S. circle back to the same refrain: Why can’t we be more like Finland?In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Chri...

What words should I target in language therapy?

Most of us know that it’s important to work on vocabulary in language and literacy intervention.But how do we know what words to pick? Should we be working on specific...

A Case for Talking about the “Summer Slide” in the Fall (featuring David Schipper)

Every time I look into research on the summer slide, I get more confused. It’s no wonder professionals and families are scrambling every May as they think about how ki...

What “Biologically Secondary” Means for Literacy Instruction (featuring Dr. Pamela Snow)

The idea that exposing kids to enriching literacy and play-based experiences will effectively teach them to read and write sounds nice on paper.Unfortunately, it’s not...

The Relationship Between Language Skills and Discipline Referrals (featuring Dr. Shameka Stewart)

When schools respond to “behavior problems” in students, the focus is often on the symptom, not the cause. Failing to look beyond the surface behavior does a disservic...

More Episodes »