We Can Make the First Year of Teaching Better. Here’s How.

When Barack Obama was elected president in November 2008, I was living in Chicago and working as a computer security engineer. After hearing Obama’s passionate…

Molly Cole on Opening Brooke East Boston Charter School and Becoming One of the Top Schools in the State

Molly Cole, founding principal of Brooke East Boston Charter School, was honored this school year with the Ryan Award for exceptional school leadership, a national…

I Graduated College So I Could Teach at My High School

At the end of my junior year, I was expecting my daughter Alyssa, who was born right before my senior year started. It was a…

Why Is Oklahoma City Blocking This School for Native American Kids?

Having grown up on a reservation in Reno, Nevada, Phil Gover of Oklahoma is committed to improving education for Native American students. In the summer…

Cynthia Nixon’s Run for Governor Is Looking a Lot More Like ‘Hypocrisy and the City’

For the past decade or so, the forces of the educational status quo have done battle with those of education reformers. The most common line…

Coffee Break: Talking Pour-Overs, Implicit Bias and Empathy With Seth Gershenson

In 2015, a study showing how implicit bias affects teacher expectations by Seth Gershenson and two colleagues made waves throughout the profession. Gershenson, an associate…

Education Reform in 2018 Is Going to Need a Parent Seal of Approval

A few years ago, at a convening of education advocates, one veteran in the reform movement highlighted the lack of racial diversity in the room…

Coffee Break: Milken Educator Award Winner Dan Adler on What It Takes to Grow Great Teachers

When Dan Adler started his college career at Yale University, he thought he would become a chemist. When he graduated in 2007, he went into…

Each Day in My Class I See a Room Full of Civil Rights Leaders

In May of 1963, in my home state of Alabama, young people became increasingly active participants in the movement for civil rights. Thousands joined the…

VIDEO: How a Teacher Inspired Her to Come Back and Teach at Her High School

Meet Daniela Felix. She was eight months pregnant when her teacher told her she got a 5 on the AP test. Now she’s a teacher…