Equity

Successful Teaching Careers: Empowering Non-Traditional Candidates

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:26:26 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Kathryn Spence, Director of the School of Education at Fairleigh Dickinson University, about actualizing a focus on social justice and equity. She discusses strategies for broadening the pipeline of teachers, especially teachers of color, including career ladders and “Grow Your Own” programs. Dr. Spence describes how FDU makes teacher ed financially feasible for students as well as what makes teachers stay in or leave schools.

“The hate level is unreal”: fighting book bans and protecting librarians

Jon Moscow 00:29:56 Comments Off

We speak with Amanda Jones, a school librarian in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Ms. Jones is the author of “That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America.” The book recounts how speaking out for race- and gender-related books in libraries led to her being targeted and threatened by book-banning extremists. She describes initial abandonment by friends and colleagues who were afraid to speak up. But nationwide, librarians and their constituents are fighting back. Ms. Jones includes tips for librarians and teachers facing attacks.

NYC high school surveys: Disparities in student stress and support

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:24:01 Comments Off

The authors of a recent Chalkbeat analysis discuss the Department of education’s 2023 high school survey, which shows girls, especially girls of color, have much higher stress levels, and feel less supported, than boys. Michael Elsen-Rooney, an NYC public school reporter; Kae Petrin, a data and graphics reporter; and Liza Greenberg, a Bronx High School of Science senior, unpack the data, which the DOE has largely disregarded.

Equity by design: residency-focused teacher education

Amy Halpern-Laff 01:00:32 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Diana Turk, Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning and Director of Teacher Education at NYU. Students in NYU’s unique teacher residency program work full-time in classrooms, for which they are paid, making it possible for students without a lot of money to attend. By design, the program attracts BIPOC students. Students receive support from NYU faculty, both on location in their schools and online. They attend classes in the evenings, virtually. The program is uncompromisingly justice- and equity-centered.

Rebuilding the Black teacher pipeline: Advancing justice and academic outcomes

Jon Moscow 00:32:41 Comments Off

Ansharaye Hines and Mimi McKee of the Center for Black Educator Development discuss how the presence of highly qualified Black teachers supports students’ educational success. The Center advocates for educational equity and provides multiple teaching pathways to encourage and support Black high school and university students to become teachers.

SATs and the illusion of fairness

Jon Moscow 00:44:31 Comments Off

We speak with Harry Feder of FairTest, an organization that advocates for fair and open testing, about the reinstitution of standardized test requirements at some “Ivy Plus” colleges, and why it matters. We discuss how testing choices affect inclusion and exclusion in admissions and what most non-“Ivy Plus” schools do. In a follow-up interview with Harry Feder, we will discuss standardized tests in K-12 schools.

Early intervention: Model assessment center reduces youth arrests

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:42:16 Comments Off

Steve Evangelista, longtime NYC educator, and Anthony Celestine, director of the Office of Juvenile Justice Services at Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, talk about Calcasieu’s Multi-Agency Resource Center. MARC, an assessment center that coordinates services for struggling families, has been extraordinarily successful in reducing young people’s involvement with the juvenile justice system.

What Would YOU do? Walling Out or Welcoming In?

Jon Moscow 00:01:56 Comments Off

What boundaries should a school set on student speech, if any, in order to foster social-emotional learning, civil discourse, and friendship among students? How might they hold themselves and their students accountable for upholding school values, even when they are not reflected on the national political landscape? We invite you to watch the 3rd episode…

Elevating undervalued professionals: Support for substitute teachers

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:35:51 Comments Off

We speak with Megan M. Conklin, who designs and implements professional development for substitutes in Washington state. Substitutes often don’t receive the support and compensation they deserve. Ms. Conklin’s union-backed program teaches subs classroom survival skills and advocates for equity among school staff members.

Developing public communication skills: Speech and debate team

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:16 Comments Off

We speak with Denver English teacher and speech/debate coach Anna Steed about the benefits of speech and debate competition. Students acquire critical communication skills and self-confidence; students of color and low-income students can become more comfortable in majority-white, middle-class environments similar to those they may encounter in college. For many students who have challenging home lives, speech and debate opens up worlds of possibility.

Experiential learning: Where human history and nature connect

Jon Moscow 00:24:16 Comments Off

We speak with Jackie Broder, director of the Mamakating Environmental Education Center in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The Center abuts the Basha Kill wetland, a vital self-contained ecosystem. It helps students, families, and community members to connect with the area’s distinct biodiversity and rich history and to develop an emotional connection with nature.

Cultural responsiveness: is music optional? (Encore)

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:40:00 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Anne Smith, longtime music teacher in Northern Virginia, about accommodating cultural differences. Dr. Smith created an alternate curriculum for students whose traditions don’t allow secular music-making. We discuss the extent to which parents should be able to influence what their students learn. We also talk about why music and art are treated as lesser (“special”) subjects.

Paying it forward: a peer-staffed program for navigating college admissions

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:45:45 Comments Off

We speak with Michael Sanchez, executive director of Circle Match (formerly TCAT), a program that helps students in underserved high schools apply to colleges. Circle Match serves low income students, primarily of color, who are the first in their families to apply to college. Participants in turn assist classmates, thus creating a college-going culture and subsequently on-campus support. Circle Match students have been extraordinarily successful in gaining admission to elite colleges and universities.

Critiquing the “science of reading” movement: Teaching reading is “both/and”

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:45 Comments Off

Lynne Einbender and Susie Rolander, reading and literacy faculty at Bank Street College, talk about supporting children’s learning to read and the components of a full-fledged language arts program. One size does not fit all: children with different strengths and experiences have a spectrum of needs.

Gender and sexually diverse students: Creating comfortable schools (Encore)

Jon Moscow 00:30:13 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Elizabeth J. Meyer of the University of Colorado about ensuring that K-12 schools are welcoming and safe for students with non-normative gender identities and expressions. Dr. Meyer found that these students thrive in schools that center student-directed learning and interdisciplinary exploration as opposed to schools that replicate society’s toxic hierarchies. Generally, students are much more…

Undocumented students: Keeping secrets, navigating obstacles

Jon Moscow 00:35:02 Comments Off

Dr. Gerardo Mancilla, associate professor in the School of Education at Edgewood College and host of Educators and Immigration podcast, reflects on his experiences as an undocumented student in the ‘90s. We discuss what has changed, and what hasn’t. Overview 00:00-00:40 Intros 00:40-09:15 Experiences as an undocumented student 09:15-12:03 Changes for undocumented students since the…

Cultural responsiveness: is music optional?

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:39:57 Comments Off

Technology: What’s hype and what helps

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:22:00 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Justin Reich, director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab, and host of the TeachLab podcast, about education technology. Hailed by some as the great equalizer, the beneficiaries of ed tech tend to be white and affluent. Focused on equity by design, Dr. Reich observes that when teachers learn, they have insufficient opportunities to practice. So he and his colleagues are creating digital clinical simulations, practice spaces for teachers. They’re also helping educators to figure out what they can stop doing, to allow more time for what’s useful.

Going public: Education scholars as policy advocates

Jon Moscow 00:47:45 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Kevin Kumashiro, a founder of Education Deans for Justice and Equity and organizer of the International Conferences on Education and Justice. Dr. Kushimaro describes how education scholars across the country are forming professional communities, both to build their capacity and to speak collectively on issues of public policy, leveraging their research to promote justice and equity. He argues that progressives must cease ceding the framework of education policy to corporate forces.

Holistic education: Joy, wellness, and rigor (Encore)

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:50:11 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Linda Nathan of the Center for Artistry and Scholarship and the Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership about her experience in creating progressive schools. Dr. Nathan says all teachers, no matter their subject areas, should have expertise in teaching reading and students with moderate disabilities. The arts are central to her educational vision. Dr. Nathan talks about how to achieve predictable and collaborative authentic assessment of student work and how to deal with standardized test requirements when necessary. She also describes why “grit” is not enough for student success when students are caught in the insidious web of a racist system.

The attack on public education: Will public schools survive? (Encore)

Jon Moscow 00:45:39 Comments Off

We speak with University of South Carolina law professor Derek Black about the history of education as a core government service and the current wave of voucher laws in red states. Professor Black argues that these will permanently reduce education funding levels and threaten the very existence of public schools. We also talk about the #RedforEd resistance and the need to substantially increase funding for schools with many low-income students.

Translanguaging: Inviting the whole child into the classroom

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:43:50 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Cecilia Espinosa and Dr. Laura Ascenzi-Moreno, co-authors of “Rooted in Strength: Using Translanguaging to Grow Multilingual Readers and Writers.” Traditionally, teachers have brought language to students rather than accepting and acknowledging children’s entire linguistic repertoires. Communities and families often have fluid language practices; when teachers impose strict separation of languages, they limit students’ creative and critical thought processes.

Abolitionist education: Creating liberatory spaces (Encore)

Amy Halpern-Laff 01:17:14 Comments Off

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. Dr. Mayorga encourages educators to center joy and healing. We also discuss the corporatization of schools that reduces students to their test scores. Schools, as “localized nodes of political power,” should adopt democratic processes that cultivate voice, participation, and collaboration.

Gender and sexually diverse students: Creating comfortable schools

Jon Moscow 00:30:00 Comments Off

National Sex Ed Standards: Equity and expanded comfort zones

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:32:00 Comments Off

We speak with Brittany McBride, Associate Director, Sexuality Education at Advocates for Youth, who partners with schools to provide the complete sex education that all students deserve. Though parents, students, and teachers largely agree on sex ed’s importance, few teachers (other than health teachers and PE coaches) have any formal training, and many parents haven’t had sex ed themselves.

Systemic racism in special education: Parent participation legitimizes inequities (Encore)

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:31 Comments Off

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 lack cultural capital to navigate the system and advocate effectively for their children. While resources flow to White children with special needs, Black children tend to be stigmatized and placed in more restrictive settings. Dr. Baldwin Clark offers recommendations.

The right to thrive: Expanding our definition of equity

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:44:31 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. David Osher of the American Institutes for Research. Dr. Osher explains his view of robust equity, that all people deserve to thrive, and that thriving occurs holistically over the course of a lifetime, and even intergenerationally. People thrive in concert with others. We discuss the conditions in a school that foster both individual and group thriving, and those that don’t, in particular, exclusionary discipline. This is Part One of a two part interview.

Leaving students behind: The tyranny of testing

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:30:44 Comments Off

Bob Schaeffer, Executive Director of FairTest, talks about high-stakes standardized tests as barriers to equal opportunity. Fairer college admissions criteria are increasing admissions diversity, but well-funded supporters of high-stakes tests are still resisting replacement of the tests in elementary and secondary schools. Many schools eliminated high-stakes testing during the pandemic, and FairTest supports making high-stakes waivers or repeals permanent.

”No excuses” charter schools: Teaching to the script

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:30:15 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Joanne Golann of Vanderbilt University, author of “Scripting the Moves: Culture and Control in a No Excuses Charter School.” Corporate-run charter networks instill obedience and conformity above all else, leaving nothing to chance (or creativity). We look at the academic and social outcomes of “no excuses” schools, and the reasons for their lavish funding.

Disrupting power structures: Organizing youth for equity in schools

Jon Moscow 00:46:45 Comments Off

We speak with Keith Catone, executive director of CYCLE, the Center for Youth & Community Leadership in Education at Roger Williams University. CYCLE helps students, those who are most affected by school policies, to destabilize systemic power hierarchies, and encourages teachers to adopt an “organizing disposition.” Through trainings and ongoing support, CYCLE helps community youth organizations to build capacity, alliances, and power to achieve equity-based change.

The Algebra Project: Bob Moses on math literacy as a Civil Right (Encore)

Jon Moscow 01:18:20 Comments Off

Bob Moses died this week. In memoriam, we repost our interview with him from February 2020. The Algebra Project founder and president–and lead organizer of the famous 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer voting rights campaign–talked about math literacy as an organizing tool to guarantee quality public school education for all children. He described the Algebra Project’s strategies to connect math to students’ life experiences and everyday language.

Savage inequalities: How school funding intentionally privileges white, wealthy communities (Encore)

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:34 Comments Off

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 a $23 billion annual funding gap between White districts and districts of color. Ms. Stadler describes how states could allocate education dollars more equitably, benefitting at least 70% of students.

The attack on public education: Will public schools survive?

Jon Moscow 00:45:30 Comments Off

Air quality in schools: At the intersection of technology and equity

Jon Moscow 00:39:15 Comments Off

We speak with Anisa Heming and Corey Metzger of the U.S. Green Building Council and ASHRAE about a new report on schools’ efforts around the country to protect against COVID-19 by improving indoor air quality. Like so much else about schools, air quality comes down to resources, in this case, for infrastructure and maintenance. Also, there has been no central source of reliable information for district administrators. While COVID-19 has drawn our attention to air circulation and ventilation, there are other reasons to be concerned about air quality. Not only are there other airborne pathogens, but studies show that learning improves with better indoor air quality.

Holistic education: Joy, wellness, and rigor

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:50:01 Comments Off

Black men as teachers: Recruitment, retention, development, empowerment

Jon Moscow 00:51:43 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Daman Harris and Dr. Inger Swimpson of Building Our Network of Diversity, the BOND Project, in Montgomery County MD, which provides spaces for Black and Latino men to support one another in their teaching and their lives. Although having Black teachers benefits Black and white children alike, U.S. schools have few Black teachers, and even fewer Black men. BOND works to make schools better places for boys of color, making it more likely that they’ll go into teaching, and better for Black men, so they’ll be more likely to stay in teaching. Networks and partnerships, especially with HBCUs, are crucial.

Critical analysis: not just for students

Jon Moscow 00:33:30 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Sam Abrams of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education (NCSPE) at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Abrams describes his analyses of statistics released by local and national education systems and widely disseminated by the media. Sometimes the reports are wrong or misleading, which can have serious consequences…

Students as subjects: Ethical considerations of research in schools

Jon Moscow 00:41:41 Comments Off

We talk with Marianna Azar, Director and Chair of the NYC DOE’s Institutional Review Boards. The IRBs review all research proposals conducted through the schools to make sure they are conducted ethically and that the benefits to the students outweigh any burdens. In Part 1 of a 2-part interview, Ms. Azar describes how the IRBs work and their impact on researchers, schools, students and parents. Next week we’ll continue exploring the ethical issues that confront IRBs, including issues raised by Big Data.

Making antiracist change: A template for educational leaders

Jon Moscow 00:36:00 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Sarah Diem of University of Missouri and Dr. Anjalé Welton of University of Wisconsin, Madison. They discuss the seemingly neutral “colorevasive” policies that actually reinforce racial inequity. Drs. Diem and Welton present an action protocol for school and district leaders who seek to create antiracist schools.

Exacerbating inequality: Private money in public schools

Jon Moscow 00:43:30 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Sue Winton of York University in Toronto about the effects of private money–much of it from parents- that replaces decreased public funding of schools. Fundraisers and fees for special programs benefit affluent schools and the children who already have the most access to opportunities. Low income parents often feel pressure to donate beyond their means for their children’s sake.

Toward antiracism: The evolution of an undergraduate teacher ed program

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:21:59 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Marsha Daria of Western Connecticut State University. Dr. Daria teaches undergraduate courses in the Department of Education and Educational Psychology. She explains how in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, the department reconfigured its curriculum to center social justice, equity, and self-reflection. She discusses the department’s recruitment initiatives to increase teacher candidate diversity.

Soledad Hiciano on nurturing and educating immigrant children in an age of deportation and deprivation

Jon Moscow 00:54:45 Comments Off

We speak with Soledad Hiciano, executive director of Community Association of Progressive Dominicans (ACDP), a multi-service community organization in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. She describes the challenges of supporting children who may have experienced multiple traumas, including homelessness and the deportation of close relatives.

David C. Bloomfield on why we need a revolution in attitude to see education as a social good rather than an individual property right

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:25:00 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. David C. Bloomfield, Professor of Education Leadership. Law & Policy at Brooklyn College. David Bloomfield condemns the social Darwinism and “hoarding” mentality of our education systems. He explains how school resource allocation exacerbates segregation and inequality, a process deliberately abetted by the proliferation of school districts around the country. Education policy and financing reinforce an us against them view of schools. Until we start thinking of the nation’s children as our collective responsibility, we will continue to seek todeprive “other people’s” children in order to benefit “ours,” thereby impoverishing all of us.

Equity

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