Half of NYC Public School Students Will Fail Their AP Exams, So Why Are We Spending Millions to Expand Access?

AP (advanced placement) classes are designed for students to fail.  In 2018, just over 50% of New York City public school students who took one…

We Need a New Way of Talking About Students Who Face Barriers Erected by Adults and Sustained by Broken Systems

I bring John, David, Ana and Sally into every training, strategy session and decision-making room I occupy.  Well, actually I bring their stories, to remind…

New York Talks a Big Game on Gifted and Talented Educational Opportunities, But Illinois Is Doing Equity Better

Attacks against private school options are frequent and fervent, but what happens when public school opportunities become the point of confliction? You may have seen…

When It Comes to Teaching Reading, When Will We Get It Right?

This summer, it seems like nobody took time off from the debate about how best to teach children to read. Emily Hanford’s latest documentary explores…

Classroom Jobs Let Students Take Control of Their Own Learning

Is there anyone happier than a 6-year-old who has been entrusted with an important task? Kiddos, in my experience, like almost nothing better than to…

No, But Seriously, How Are the Children?

Last week I made what I thought was a simple request: for all of us to prioritize the question “how are the children?” as if…

Charter Schools Must Be Part of the Solution for Desegregation

America is more diverse than it’s ever been, as are the students attending public schools, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at individual schools.…

‘I Want to Talk About Better Academic and Life Outcomes for Black and Brown Kids. Period.’

If we have really well-prepared young people who are going to the exact college they want to go to, who will graduate from college within…

My Kid Had Tons of Background Knowledge, But He Couldn’t Read Without Learning Phonics

When our son was born, my husband and I knew a lot about how to prepare him to be a reader. We knew how to…

The Discomfort of White Adults Should Never Take Priority Over the Success of Our Black and Brown Students

“I didn’t come here to teach those kinds of kids.” It’s alarming to think that adults charged with helping students of color succeed in school…