This Is What a Movement to Improve Education for All Students Looks Like

I’ve struggled with a particular notion for many years: Do the education reform efforts of the last 25 years constitute a “movement”? How do the…

Rural Kids Need Better Schools Too

I didn’t really think much about rural representation until I first got involved in educational leadership. For the first time, I learned that there was…

Education Reform in 2018 Is Going to Need a Parent Seal of Approval

A few years ago, at a convening of education advocates, one veteran in the reform movement highlighted the lack of racial diversity in the room…

Episode 07: Millennials in Education

Ikhlas goes to D.C. for a panel on millennials in education reform, hosted by the Fordham Institute, and speaks to Alyssa Schwenk, director of external…

Episode 06: Lane Took a Trip to Qatar and Then Found KIPP (ft. Mike Feinberg)

Lane attends the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha, Qatar, and interviews some of the unique voices at the summit. First, we hear…

Are Education Reformers Willing to Put Our Money Where Our Mouth Is?

It’s getting uncomfortable out there. Amidst a national period of divisiveness and polarization, “edu-politics,” the politics of public education, is in a tender state. Rank…

Reject the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

(Trigger warning: This essay contains a bleeped, profanity-laced rant that may cause you to question your most deeply held beliefs.) It’s not often I cite…

CPS Succeeds, CTU Misleads

For the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), a glass that is three quarters full is still half empty. Consider the dueling announcements from the University of…

I Bet Kids Can Debate Education Reform Better Than We Do

I just completed my first season as a middle school debate team coach. Here are the basics: kids argue either the affirmative or the negative…

Pushing a Student in Front of a School Board Meeting Isn’t Student Voice That’s Working for Adults

What does real student voice look like? Like, for real student voice. I’m not talking about forcing kids to come attend a board meeting, and…