5 Steps to Help Students With Special Needs Make a Smooth Transition to In-Person Learning

With the end of the pandemic in sight and some communities already reopening, it is time to understand what it will take for special education…

We Learned a Lot About What Our Students Actually Need This Year. Now We Must Do Better.

We have all been steeped in the vivid, traumatic consequences of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with regard to a year of disrupted learning for…

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…

Here’s Why Putting the Brakes on Charter Schools Is So 2020

Prior to COVID-19 upending American education, some state legislatures around the country considered moratoriums or “pauses” on public charter schools; while others, like in California,…

What AP Classes Can Teach Us About Building Stronger Curriculum for All Students

When millions of parents became de facto teachers during COVID-19, they saw firsthand a deep-seeded, widespread problem in American education: lackluster content and curricula that…

I’m Glad To Be Back in the Classroom. My Students Need Me.

November 12th was our first day of school in-person since March of last year. On my drive to school, I was excited and grateful—thinking about…

As Grown-Ups Argue Over Reopening Schools, Chicago’s Kids Lose

Chicago Public Schools students are back in school.  Well, some of them are. It’s complicated, and getting messier by the minute.  WBEZ Chicago has more…

School Leadership After COVID Starts With Grace, Patience, Empathy and Flexibility

It was Friday, March 13, 2020, and I was sitting in my office, after the building had cleared, in disbelief at how everything had changed…

Our Schools Need to Do More. They Should Look to Charters and Early Childhood for Answers.

Confronted with a pandemic unprecedented in modern life, schools began delivering meals at home, providing free internet and devices, offering mental health supports and developing…

How to Help Beginning Readers During the Pandemic

Before the pandemic, many American children struggled to read well. Now, the pandemic has thrown early elementary teachers a curve ball in teaching reading; they…