I Am a Black Teacher and I Wear Ralph Lauren. Does That Make Me a Gang Member?

As a teacher, I am always professional with my students. When it comes to how I dress, however, my professional self and my casual self…

Q&A With Sharif El-Mekki and Shareefah Mason: You Won’t Retain Black Teachers Without Transforming Your School Culture

Shareefah Mason of Teach Plus and Sharif El-Mekki of the Center for Black Educator Development (CBED) believe that schools can only recruit and retain Black…

Urban White Families Show New Energy for Racial Justice, but Do They Want It in Their Schools?

The day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison for killing George Floyd, writer Melinda D. Anderson…

This Is Our Window of Opportunity to Create a Diverse Teacher Workforce

Racial segregation remains a major issue for American students more than 65 years after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of…

Courageous Inclusive Leadership Can Overcome the Polarization of Public Education

School superintendents and state education commissioners have some of the most challenging jobs in America. To succeed, one must be a talented educator, a collaborative…

5 Ways We Can Start to Dismantle White Supremacy in Our Schools

All children deserve a good education, but too many of them do not receive one. Unsurprisingly, students who are most likely to attend under-resourced schools…

9 Tips for Helping Your Students Become Activists

A critical part of education includes responding to the problems around us. We can do that in many ways in our schools and our classrooms.…

Meet Two Teachers Learning to Center Their Students’ Identities Without Losing Sight of Their Own

Lindsay Singer and Ashley McCall are both third grade teachers at Cesar Chavez Multicultural Academic Center in Chicago. Lindsay teaches mathematics and inquiry. And Ashley…

I Know What the Challenges Are for Black Teachers and How to Start Fixing Them

I will never forget the moment last year when a seventh-grade African American student came to my door and said, “Mr. Taylor, I just wanted…

Here’s How Culturally Sustaining Curriculum Roots Students in a Legacy of Strength

I started my teaching career teaching music. I’d been a professional musician for a decade—performing, touring and recording jazz and Latin music. With some experience…