student support
The Pandemic Is Exactly Why We Need Standardized Testing
In the next few weeks, nearly all school districts in the U.S. will offer at least some in-person instruction. The worst of the pandemic school closures are likely behind us, but the real work of...
School Funding
The American Rescue Plan Is Only as Good as Its Execution
A year into a pandemic that has, despite the herculean efforts of many, seen a drastic reduction in student learning in America’s schools, the federal government has come to the proverbial rescue...
Diversity
Here's How Culturally Sustaining Curriculum Roots Students in a Legacy of Strength
I started my teaching career teaching music. I’d been a professional musician for a decade—performing, touring and recording jazz and Latin music. With some experience as a teaching artist and a...
student achievement
Don’t Buy Into the Hype Around Learning Loss
I get it: “learning loss” is scary. Considering the unprecedented overuse of the word “unprecedented” to describe what our nation’s K-12 education system has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, we...
student achievement
We Can Unleash the Genius of Our Students by Putting the Arts at the Center
This essay is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Patrick Pritchard from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, who recently passed away on March 6, 2021. The discussion of the role of the arts in public...
COVID-19
I Love Teaching, But I'm Not a Martyr
I have been navigating majority (or all) white spaces for a very long time. Whether it was the tracked gifted and talented classes or my time at university, I’ve always sort of been an outsider. In a...