It's tough to be in the schools right now.

Constantly changing initiatives, diverse student bodies, uncertainty about the future of education...

It's a juggling act to make good decisions, and there's no making everyone happy.

No matter what, you feel like you aren't doing enough.

Your inbox keeps filling up with requests and complaints. There's little time to think creatively and get beyond the immediate fires you're putting out.

There always seems to be a new trend or initiative to jump on, and it can be difficult figure out which ones will equip students with skills that help them progress academically and ALSO prepare them for life beyond school.

Educators have to be everything to everyone.

Focusing on high-quality academics isn't enough anymore.

Schools are also expected to provide kids with real-world experiences, help them build social relationships, and support their mental health.

This is no small task.

Especially when you're working with students who:

👉Experience anxiety and overwhelm with new challenges.

👉Refuse or avoid difficult tasks, or require constant prompting.

👉Struggle to complete academic work or anything that doesn't offer immediate gratification.

👉Complain of boredom and have little tolerance for any tasks that require repetitive practice.

👉Have difficulty filtering distractions or controlling impulses.

👉Miss assignments, lose track of their things, and tend to run late.

👉Misunderstand directions, struggle with transitions, and always appear several steps behind.

👉Experience frequent emotional outbursts and tend to have intense emotional reactions.

👉Have difficulty making friends, carrying on conversations, or working collaboratively.

👉Make self-defeating comments.

👉Struggle to transfer skills from one setting to another or don't learn from past mistakes.

👉Are frequently referred for discipline issues.

Look familiar? If you're nodding your head, you're not alone.

These behaviors are showing up more and more frequently in classrooms across schools—and not just in special education. The truth is, we're seeing a surge of students in both general and special ed who desperately need these foundational skills.

With so many competing priorities and options for educators, it seems impossible for school leaders to know where to focus their attention.

What if there was a way to transform multiple challenges with one powerful approach without overwhelming your already maxed-out team?

Turns out, there is!

Beneath these challenges often lies a powerful root cause:

Executive Functioning

Executive functioning skills are the critical mental processes that work behind the scenes as your internal coach, acting like your brain's CEO.

These powerful cognitive abilities help you manage frustration, make decisions, follow through on plans, envision the future, and adapt when things don't go as expected.

And let's be honest— teachers are drowning. Between curriculum requirements, testing pressures, behavior management, and the mountain of paperwork, they're stretched thinner than ever. The last thing they need is ANOTHER standalone program to implement.

That's the beauty of executive functioning support—it's not a separate program demanding more time you don't have. It seamlessly layers onto your existing curriculum and classroom routines, addressing those painful behavioral and academic issues at their core.

While educational buzzwords come and go, executive functioning skills remain the foundation that ALL students need for success in school and beyond.

Think of it as your two-birds-one-stone solution in an educational landscape where the birds keep multiplying and you're running out of stones!

I've been developing frameworks to support these essential cognitive skills my entire career, have applied them with my own students, and have also helped other professionals implement them with their own students and caseloads.

I want to help YOU guide your team so you can do the same.

HI, I'M KAREN DUDEK-BRANNAN

I’m a speech-language pathologist by training, and I spent 14 years working in the school systems while also completing my doctorate in special education. During that time, I designed a framework that helps school professionals support the language and cognitive skills kids need to thrive in school and beyond.

👉I know firsthand what it's like to feel unprepared to meet students' needs and show up to work each day feeling like an impostor.

That's what inspired me to start my online education company in 2015, so I could help therapists and educators feel confident and excited about their instruction and interventions in the areas of language, literacy, and executive functioning, and most importantly, make a difference in the lives of their students.

After getting thousands of emails from professionals working in the schools, I know exactly what school teams wish their leadership knew. 

Many of them want EXACTLY what their leadership wants: To support students.

They just need the tools to make it happen.

Now, I know it can feel overwhelming to ask school staff to implement another new strategy with all that they're already juggling. The good news is that many people working in the schools are already starting to realize how important executive functioning skills are.

This means your team might be willing and ready to make a change, which is why I'm so excited to share this special program with you:

Introducing: The School Leader’s Guide to Executive Functioning Support

A 7-day guide to launching your team's executive functioning implementation plan

ENROLL NOW FOR $27

The School Leader’s Guide to Executive Functioning Support is a compression course.

It was designed for school administrators, therapists, and educators who have limited free time and want to go from learning to implementation as quickly as possible. 

Each day, you’ll get an email with a summary walking you through a foundational concept to help you design an implementation plan for your team.

The first six days include supplemental videos to expand on important knowledge, and the final day is where we wrap things up. Since this is an email course, you’ll be able to save the content in a folder that you can revisit as many times as you want. 

Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll learn over the 7 days:

DAY 1: BENEATH THE SURFACE

UNCOVERING EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES

We'll start by revealing the hidden patterns behind challenging behaviors and learning difficulties. You'll discover the telltale indicators of executive function struggles, equipping your team to recognize symptoms related to underlying cognitive processes at work.

DAY 2: THE INTERNAL-EXTERNAL CONNECTION

ORGANIZING SKILLS FOR INTERVENTION

Today we bridge the external behaviors from Day 1 to the mental processes behind them.

I'll organize the complex world of executive functioning into distinct, teachable skills that your team can incorporate into targeted support strategies.

DAY 3: THE CHECKLIST CHALLENGE  

BEYOND PLANNERS AND ORGANIZERS

Ever wonder why students still struggle with time management, even though they have access to planners?

In Day 3, I'll explain the common reasons kids struggle with organizing tools and describe the skills kids need to use tools effectively; plus common mistakes school teams make when implementing executive functioning support.

DAY 4: RETHINKING SERVICE DELIVERY

FOSTERING GENERALIZATION

On Day 4, we explore the disconnect that often prevents students from applying skills learned in therapy or social skills groups to real-life situations.

We will examine why some students appear to "not learn from mistakes", or continue to struggle with emotional regulation and relationships despite receiving services. We'll begin to explore how to use multiple service delivery models to improve skill transfer.

DAY 5: FRONTLOADING FOR SUCCESS

RETHINKING DIRECT INTERVENTION

Learn how to set your students up for success with strategy called "frontloading". We’ll equip you with an effective framework to help kids tackle task avoidance and ease their nerves during unfamiliar situations. I'll also share how to better utilize therapy or intensive instructional settings.

DAY 6: EMPOWER YOUR TEAM

STRATEGIC DIRECT INSTRUCTION

Discover the explicit instruction framework—a game-changing approach for teaching new skills through clear modeling and guided practice. Executive functioning skills come naturally to some people, but not all. In this lesson, I'll share how to use direct instruction to support all students.

DAY 7: CREATE YOUR VISION

DESIGN YOUR 90-DAY ACTION PLAN

Day 7 will recap the essential takeaways from each day, reinforcing your understanding of executive functioning and its impact on student success.

You will also be introduced to prompting questions to help you develop your strategic plan, alongside a curated list of resources to provide support and help you implement what you've learned.

Unlock your teams' potential and help student's thrive.

Launch your executive functioning implementation plan this month.

Enroll now for just $27

YES—I WANT IN!

You can access this course any time of day, from home or work, on your schedule.

You'll be able to consume each lesson in under an hour. I recommend setting aside a full hour to reflect on how the information will inform your practice.

Here's what happens when you enroll:

STEP 1: You'll be directed to the checkout page to enroll in "The School Leader's Guide to Executive Functioning" that has this form on it:

STEP 2: You'll land on this confirmation page with instructions:

STEP 3: You'll get a confirmation email right away. Then you'll get an email each day for the next week with a new lesson.

Here's what professionals and parents have to say when I share resources about executive functioning:

Inspire your team to drive change.

Create your executive functioning implementation plan this week.

Enroll now for just $27

YES—I WANT IN!

How do I know if this course is for me?

This course is for you if you work in a school and you’re currently in a leadership position OR you aspire to be in a leadership role. 

It's for you if you’re involved in initiatives that involve service planning, curriculum design, running programs and/or buildings, or delivering direct intervention/instruction. 

It's also a fit if you want to learn how to support students across all tiers of instruction from students in general education all the way to students who need intensive support. 


*If you’re not an administrator, but want be seen as a leader on your team, I encourage you to take to take the leap and join :) You can take initiative and act like a leader right now, without needing permission from anyone else. Just go for it!

What are Dr. Karen's credentials and why is she offering this course?

I’m Karen Dudek-Brannan, a licensed speech-language pathologist, public service administrator, and the founder of Dr. Karen, LLC. My own experiences as a school therapist fueled my passion for leadership, leading me to help my team implement Response to Intervention strategies and develop strategic plans.

I’ve also had the privilege of coaching colleagues and developing training programs and products that have supported over 5,000 professionals in enhancing their programming for language, literacy, and cognition.

I earned my doctorate in Special Education in 2014 and hold a Director of Special Education and Assistive Technology credentials, along with a B.S. and M.S. in Speech Pathology from Illinois State University. My management experience at the state level has deepened my understanding of change management within teams and organizations. I'm also the host and producer of the De Facto Leaders Podcast where I've had the opportunity to collaborate with school leaders across the country.

We're SO understaffed! How can I ask my team to do one more thing?

Getting staff to successfully differentiate instruction when they’re supporting so many students can be challenging. This is because providing accommodations for students with special needs can feel like something “extra” they have to do. However, giving educators more “executive functioning tools” in their toolbox can make differentiating instruction feel like second nature.

This can potentially reduce the number of students who need specialized services, and can make its implementation much easier for students who need IEP accommodations in their class. Supporting executive functioning can be beneficial for ALL students, and is NECESSARY for some students to access the curriculum. Therefore, it checks the boxes for both general education and special education supports and can be a powerful universal design initiative!

What if I have tons of other priorities and curriculum initiatives?

You can, and should focus on quality curriculum. However supporting executive functioning doesn’t require complicated technology or curricular materials. In fact, the simpler, the better. And these skills will help your students get the full benefit from the content area instruction your students are getting and can be embedded into any curriculum you’re implementing.

What kind of outcome can I expect from this program?

After going through this program, you'll understand the root causes of many of the common behavioral, academic, and social-emotional challenges your students are facing, and you'll be able to connect the dots between the "symptoms" (a.k.a. "behavior problems") and what's going on in the brain.

You'll also be equipped with a comprehensive understanding of what executive functioning is and how profound of an impact these skills can have on students both now and in their future lives. I'll also share common roadblocks and how to address them.

Finally, you'll be able to take the complex (and confusing) medical definition of executive functioning and break it in to five skill areas that will help your team create a tangible plan for supporting students' executive functioning across settings. You'll leave with two powerful frameworks you can use to start designing your strategic plan right away; plus bonus content to further your learning.

Do staff need to purchase curriculums or materials to implement an executive functioning framework?

Investing in a curriculum can cost thousands of dollars. Keeping those materials up to date is even more of a challenge. If it’s digital, there are ongoing fees for licenses. When curriculums require physical materials there are costs associated with ensuring classrooms have access to books or supplemental materials,


While many of these investments are necessary for academic areas, the good news is that you don't need a "curriculum" or expensive materials to implement executive functioning support in a school. In fact, it's better to keep it simple with tools that are readily accessible like simple clocks, calendars, and the curriculum materials you're already using.

How long will this program take to implement?

The course itself will be delivered via email starting the day after you enroll, and will last a week. Each lesson will take several minutes to read, and then there will be a short video. Most of the videos range from 5-15 minutes long, with the exception of Days 5 and 6, which are a bit longer. Day 7 doesn't have video for the course, but instead provides you with additional bonus content and action steps to help implement what you've learned.

I recommend setting aside at least an hour a day and saving the emails in a folder so you can easy re-read and re-watch them later. After you've completed the lesson, you'll be able to start working on your executive functioning strategic plan. I recommend starting with a plan for the next 90 days; even though the full implementation can continue to be refined in the following months. The real benefit from the program will be in the implementation; which is why I've kept the lessons concise.

What is your refund policy for this program?

Because you'll get access to my intellectual property once the emails are delivered, I'm not able to offer refunds after the 7 emails are delivered. You can request a refund within 48 hours of making your purchase.

Help students thrive in school and beyond.

Start planning your executive functioning strategy this month!

Enroll now for just $27

YES—I WANT IN!

I've had thousands of school professionals use my products and services, which has given me the opportunity to learn exactly where teachers and therapists are struggling.

Here's what professionals have to say after going through some of my programs:

Imagine a school community where executive functioning support was effortlessly integrated into curriculum and daily routines.

This isn’t just another program to juggle; it’s a practical, sustainable solution that fits into what you’re already doing.

Now, think about the students who struggle with anxiety with new challenges.

How amazing would it be to see them work through tasks when instant gratification isn't on the table or when they're presented with a new, unfamiliar situation?

What if distractions didn't derail your students and your school became a supportive space where transitions are smooth, and every student feels equipped to join in?

Or if emotional outbursts became rarer and kids learned to connect with their peers and collaborate effortlessly? Instead of making self-defeating comments, they empower each other and apply what they learn across different settings!

You don’t have to go through this journey alone. I’m here to help you get started today.

Equip your team with the strategies they need to turn this dream into a reality.

Together, we can break down barriers and cultivate an environment where every student thrives, both in school and beyond.

Let’s make it happen!

Empower your team. And your students.

Begin your executive functioning journey today.

Enroll now for just $27

YES—I WANT IN!