If Keeping Great Teachers in the Classroom Is Important, Invest in Teacher Development

After eight years as a New York City high school social studies teacher, I thought my love of teaching and leadership would naturally lead me…

Your Voice Matters. Your Students Need You. Speak Up.

I had a classroom with three walls when I first started teaching. A bookshelf separated my classroom from the neighboring one. My students ranged from…

It’s Time to Help Teachers Discover the Science Behind How Kids Learn

We recently surveyed around 200 K-12 educators from across the U.S. to discover their beliefs about learning.  The results were not good—and say a lot…

Your Fave Teaching Guru May Tell You What to Do, But What Do YOU Do Next?

If you’re a teacher, the world is awash with people who know how to do your job better than you. Just ask them. Or, better…

We Can Do Better Than Just Thanking Teachers With Free Coffee and Donuts

One Teacher Appreciation Week years ago, we each remember being thrilled to find letters from our principal in our school mailboxes thanking us for all…

Teacher Strikes Aren’t Just About Pay, They’re About Better Bosses

This past year, we have witnessed an historic number of teacher strikes across the country. The demands of picketing teachers in Arizona, Denver, Los Angeles,…

Holding Teachers Accountable Without Adequate Teacher Prep Programs Is a Set-Up

One of my resolutions for this new year is to think outside of silos and to start connecting the dots between the wide, disparate, and…

How We Build a Pipeline of Teachers That Know How to Talk About Race and Social Justice

Nearly 60 years ago, our nation’s students watched as leaders of the civil rights movement pushed back against entrenched Jim Crow laws and re-defined American…

No Teacher Should Be an Island

I didn’t quite understand what it meant to be an “island” until I started teaching eight years ago. For years, I was the only United…

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…