If We Want to Personalize Learning, We Need to Rethink the Common Core

This past spring, I was proudly describing a performance assessment in which I had my ninth- and 10th-grade students map out their neighborhood using parallel…

This School Year, Let’s Show What Happens When Parents and Teachers Work as a Team

A parent is a child’s first teacher. It is through a parent’s teaching that children first learn to speak and say “Mama” and “Dada.” It…

To Future White Teachers, Here’s a Resource Guide So You Don’t Have to Ask Your Co-Workers to Explain Racism

Yes, I’m addressing you directly as White teachers. That may feel uncomfortable. You’re going to have to get over that, or this is going to…

Yet Another White Family Leaves the City for the Suburbs

Well, we did it. Like millions of White, relatively affluent Americans before us, my wife and I moved with our two boys out of the…

What James Baldwin’s Activism Can Teach Schools About Social Justice

Every August 2, I spend nearly the entire day observing the birthday of the late James Baldwin, one of the 20th century’s most esteemed and…

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…

When Students Aren’t Proficient in Reading or Math, It Isn’t a Shame, It’s Violence

I’ve written about teacher accountability before, but I recently read a few things that got me thinking. The first was a report out of Los…

I Was Lucky to Attend a ‘Good’ School, But What About the Kids Who Don’t

Let me tell you a tale of two schools. As the Georgia Teacher of the Year, I visit countless schools all across Georgia—observing instruction and…

4 Things Every First-Year Teacher Needs to Know

Recently, I shared with a colleague that I was about to start my new job as an assistant professor of education, assisting first-year teachers as…

When Educators Act Like Gateways Rather Than Gatekeepers, Students Are More Likely to Get Through College

When I was in middle school, it was pretty clear what my teachers thought of me. I was placed in the slow track, literally named…