We Don’t Need Saviors, We Need Leaders Who Are Ready to Form True Partnerships With Families and Communities

I’ve traveled a lot for work this year, and as I’ve gone from the mountains of Peru to the rural regions of Haiti to the…

This School Used to Be a Kmart

In early August, Entrepreneur High School—a state of the art charter school in Highland, California—opened its doors in what was once a Kmart store. Completely…

You Won’t Believe How This School Started the Year

At Phoenix Charter Academy in Chelsea, Massachusetts, our culture of continuous learning is centered around a strong community. In preparing for this new school year,…

Maybe We Should Stop Telling Kids to Be Quiet

A week ago, I sat with a group of students and asked them what the number one rule of the school was. Without hesitation, they…

Students Don’t Just Have a Voice at This School, They’re Calling the Shots

I recently had the privilege of spending a couple of days at One Stone, a tuition-free independent high school in Boise, Idaho. I’ve visited countless…

I Almost Quit Teaching on My Third Day. Here’s 10 Things I Wish I’d Known.

Dear Mark, You called out sick today (Thursday, September 6, 2007). Only your third day of school—ever!—and you lied about having a family emergency in…

4 Ways We Can Be More Culturally Responsive in Our Hiring Practices

Cultural responsiveness isn’t just a checklist. Being culturally responsive means taking Dr. King’s definition of education—“to teach one to think intensively and to think critically…to…

Personalized Learning Works Best When People Really Believe in Kids

Five years ago, Principal LeViis Haney arrived at Lovett Elementary in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood and found a school stuck in outdated, rote-learning practices. Teachers went…