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

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

6 Ways We Can Help Reverse COVID Learning Loss for English Learners

Twenty-one months have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency. With a new school year underway, the United States (U.S.) public school system…

Here’s Why Black People Being Whipped at the Border Is Like the Public Education System

Look at this picture of a white man on a horse appearing to whip a Black man.  And no, this isn’t from the year 1712.…

How Open Educational Resources Can Boost Equity in the Wake of the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the profound inequities in education, especially for Black and brown students. The upheaval of the past year presents…

Q&A: New Orleans Is Taking a New Approach to Find Its Next Superintendent

Ethan Ashley is the president of the Orleans Parish School Board, which regained full control of New Orleans public schools on July 1, 2018. New…

My Toxic but Open Relationship With Education Activism

Transparent moment. There have been at least 50 separate occasions throughout my adult life where I’ve contemplated leaving this rollercoaster of a relationship I have…

It’s Time to Dump Deficit-Based Data

As the school year begins, we hear lots of deficit-laden words like “Title I,” “tough,” “low-income,” and “low-achieving” to describe primarily Black and brown students…

EXPLAINED: What Is Title I and How Is It Used to Fund Our Schools?

When national politicians and lobbyists argue we should spend more money on K-12 education, they’re almost always talking about increasing allocations for a federal funding…

You Can and Must Foster Belonging, Acceptance, and Support for Your LGBTQIA+ Students. It’s a Matter of Life and Death.

Many young people see belonging as a quest to fit in, but it’s so much deeper than that. Belonging means accepting, celebrating, and including our…

15 Questions That Predominantly White Schools Should Ask When Engaging in Non-Performative Anti-Racist Work

Last week, I had a consulting call with a potential client (a white teacher), who teaches in a predominantly white school/neighborhood and wants to engage…