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…

6 Questions Every Black Teacher Should Ask When Joining a New School

For many teachers, the end of the school year not only serves as an opportunity to deeply reflect on how the year went, but also…

We Don’t Have to Wait for Permission to Create Restorative Model Schools

If our goal is to uproot the systemic racism and other prejudices that live within the structure of our educational system and in every school…

Reopening Schools Requires More Than Vaccines, Students Need Trauma-Informed Education

Why is trauma-informed education not on the agenda at today’s National Safe School Reopening Summit? U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona plans to host panels…

Restorative Justice Isn’t Just for the Students, It’s for the Adults Too

Let’s face it: Our public schools are, in the main, alienating and repressive institutions whose function it is to provide our society with an army…

School Discipline Explained: Why It Harms Students of Color and How We Can Fix It

Over many decades, America’s disciplinary policies, from preschool to high school, have disproportionately affected marginalized students. This difference creates a “discipline gap.” Black students account…

Storytelling and Restorative Practices Are Key to Social-Emotional Learning

When COVID-19 closed our schools almost a year ago, teachers—regardless of how many years we’d been in a classroom—suddenly became new teachers again. Distance learning…

Here’s Why Dumping the Discipline Question on the Common App Really Matters

This is a year unlike any other. I am sure you have heard this over and over again as, over the past seven months, our…

What If We Radically Reimagined the New School Year?

Monday night I sat on my back patio staring up into a rare, starry Chicago night. I squinted and made out each point of The…

Now Is the Time to Remake Our Schools With Equity in Mind

This week, the school reopening conversation is largely about when we reopen schools. Some people, including our president, want schools to reopen widely, as soon…