Stories

My Students Overturned a Book Ban, You Can Too

When my students Edha and Christina heard about the vote to ban and restrict access to over 400-plus diverse books and resources in my district, they said, “Mr. Hodge, what are you going to do about...

Who Gets to Decide What Students Read?

There is a lot of pretending going on. On the one hand, we have the far right pretending they don’t know what’s happening in schools and they don’t like it. On the other hand, we have more...

The Case for a New School Finance Reform Agenda

The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), the $190 billion fund established to help schools respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, has put school funding back in the national...

Charter Schools

Charter Schools Helping to Close Harlem’s Achievement Gap

In a New York City school district where a majority of children attend charter schools, those schools serve a larger share of disadvantaged kids and are closing academic achievement gaps. According...

Math

This Pi Day, Let’s Look at Geometry from All Angles

Every year, on March 14, students, teachers and schools develop a sudden, short-lived interest in geometry. Some classes prepare by following along with the Pi Day countdown. Actual pies are made....

Place-Based Learning Reveals Our Connections to Native History

The Merrimack River Valley in Essex County, Massachusetts, has a rich history of Indigenous people and culture dating back at least 15,000 years. It’s a history that’s not well known in the region,...