UPDATE: Moving toward admissions equity and culture change at Manhattan’s Beacon High School
We speak with Beacon PTA members Toni Smith-Thompson and Robin Broshi about NYC’s new requirements and the school's proposed admission plan. Then we listen back to last June's interview...
Systemic racism in special education: Parent participation legitimizes inequities
We continue our conversation with LaToya Baldwin Clark of UCLA School of Law. Dr. Baldwin Clark explains how the special education system advantages White middle class families. Poor families and families of color tend to...
Policing attendance boundaries: Education as private property
We speak with Dr. LaToya Baldwin Clark, assistant professor at UCLA School of Law. Dr. Baldwin Clark explains how school boundaries are used for racial exclusion. In many cases, schools don’t...
Supporting English Learners: pandemic and post-pandemic solutions
We speak with Dr. Julie Sugarman of the Migration Policy Institute about meeting the needs of English Learners. We discuss the meaning and implications of ELs “falling behind” during...
Students as experts: Diversity, equity, and inclusion
We speak with Dr. Judith King-Calnek, United Nations International School’s first Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Since UNIS faculty and students come from all over the world, they draw on one another’s backgrounds...
Dodging responsibility for our children: Reducing learning to test scores
We speak with Samuel E. Abrams of Teachers College, Columbia University. The root problems in K12 education — including poverty-related stress and underpaid and underprepared teachers — are pervasive and expensive to...
Students doing original research: Project-based learning in Ohio
We speak with middle school teachers, Debbie Holecko and Claudia Bestor, and their former student, Rafel Alshakergi, about a student-led research project that led to ethical civic engagement. Rafel...
Abolitionist education: Creating liberatory spaces (Part Two)
We continue our conversation with Dr. Edwin Mayorga of Swarthmore College. We discuss the corporatization of schools that reduces students to their test scores. Dr. Mayorga encourages educators to...
Abolitionist education: Creating liberatory spaces (Part One)
We speak with Swarthmore's Dr. Edwin Mayorga, who explains how abolitionist classrooms and schools create "freedom as a place" in contrast to racial capitalism. Teachers are the lead inquirers...
Inquiry Going Virtual! Focus on Interviews
“EDUCATION IS NOT FILLING A PAIL; IT’S LIGHTING A FIRE.” The origin of this quote is in question, but there’s no doubt about the meanings. This was the foundation...