Reimagining college admissions: Performance assessment pilot at CUNY
Dr. Michelle Fine speaks about better alternatives to standardized tests for students to demonstrate college-readiness. NYC's Consortium Schools, which use Performance Based Assessment Tasks, collaborated with CUNY to open...
Students demand equity and inclusion: call for admissions, curriculum, counseling changes
Manhattan's Beacon High School students are fighting for racial equity in NYC's highly segregated school system. Three student activists talk about their experiences in the elite public school, the...
Crises and opportunity: A holistic approach to supporting and empowering youth
In light of the pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted BIPOC, and BLM uprisings, we’re revisiting Jon’s interview with Jason Warwin of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. COVID-19 has devastated Bro/Sis’s community...
Challenging hierarchies: The role of the social justice teacher educator
Dr. Sherry Deckman speaks about creating classroom environments that challenge cultural and social hierarchies. Teachers need to be aware of the lenses through which they view the world and...
Why teach history? Knowing “why” shapes “how”
Richard Miller, who taught in progressive NYC secondary schools for 28 years, talks about teaching students to think like historians, weighing different sources and drawing their conclusions from evidence. The...
Therapeutic crisis intervention: a consultant’s role in creating an ethical school culture
Misha Thomas, longtime consultant with Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools, discusses how schools can develop trauma-informed systems for resolving behavioral conflicts and crises. He explains that schools should...
The principal as “keeper of the vision”: Fostering and protecting an ethical community
Jill Herman, founding principal of East Side Community H.S, now at Bank Street College, raises essential questions: To whom should a principal be accountable? How can social emotional learning and academics be...
Student stories: SEL through writing and sharing lived experiences
Keith Hefner and Betsy Cohen of Youth Communication discuss their 40-year-old organization. Professional editors help students develop personal stories, which are shared with their peers. Writers experience self-reflection, readers...
Grief and loss: Supporting students, families, and teachers in a pandemic
Cynthia Trapanese, a teacher who spent 17 years as a pediatric chaplain, observes that we are all grieving right now, and that adults need to be aware of their...
Culturally responsive practice and SEL: Effective professional development and programs
Dr. Heather C. Hill of Harvard Graduate School of Education looks at the research on culturally responsive education and SEL programs. She examines components of successful professional development programs,...
Vulnerable students’ needs and rights in pandemic: Threats and opportunities
Diana MTK Autin, parent advocacy leader, describes how distance learning fails to meet the needs of many students and exacerbates inequities. She leads several organizations that help parents advocate...
High school sports: Ethical challenges and considerations
Master basketball coach Mark Jerome speaks candidly about social emotional complexities in sports culture and how his own ethical sensitivities have evolved over his decades of playing, coaching, and...
Engaging young black men in school: What we can learn from art class
Dr. Don Siler, a researcher and inservice teacher educator, himself a former high school dropout, discusses how art classrooms invite students to be themselves, to explore their lived experiences,...
Text guided literacy: Literature as experience in English class
Dr. Anthony Johnston, associate professor of education at University of St. Joseph, explains text guided literacy as a framework for teaching literature. A former English teacher, Dr. Johnston resists...
Creating a safe haven: Changing lives after school
Jason Garcia of SoBro, a South Bronx community-based organization, describes how after school staff members help young people deal with the effects of trauma. Staff members teach content, guide...
Teaching as research: Auto-ethnography of a pioneering bilingual teacher educator
Dr. Carmen Mercado, CUNY professor emeritus, talks with us about the importance of self-study, sharing diverse perspectives in class, and reflective writing in her own development and that of...
Post-Graduation Planning: Helping students to explore myriad options
Lindsey Dixon, Director of Career Readiness at Urban Assembly, talks about helping students make more informed college and career decisions. The current model is restrictive and outdated, leading to...
The “Name Game”: racialization in a suburban high school
Drs. Tony de Jesus, Anthony Johnston, and Don Siler of University of St. Joseph recount their intervention in a multiracial high school in crisis. White students had instigated a...
Centering SEL for social and economic mobility
David Adams is Director of Social Emotional Learning at NYC’s Urban Assembly, a network of schools that does not screen students. David focuses on the intersection of academic and...
Savage inequalities: How school funding intentionally privileges White, wealthy communities
Zahava Stadler, Policy Director of EdBuild, explains how housing discrimination and state funding policies disadvantage Black and low-income districts. EdBuild has reported on funding schemes throughout the country, documenting...
Savage inequalities: How school funding intentionally privileges White, wealthy communities