This excerpt comes from our latest white paper written in conjunction with Gina Thompson, Superintendent of Yuma Union High School District. Read the entire article here. Based on raw numbers, Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) would appear to be a school district poised to fail. Poverty is endemic to the region; 73% of YUHSD … Continue reading How a Focus on Access & Equity Is Making a Difference in Yuma
In August 2018, I was blessed to conduct four hours of professional development for school leaders, teachers, and staff of the Lewis Center for Educational Research (LCER). The LCER oversees two charter schools: Norton Science and Language Academy in San Bernardino, California, and the Academy for Academic Excellence (AAE) in Apple Valley, California. During the … Continue reading “Just Don’t Give Up!”: Advice from an Air Force Colonel to Schools & Educators
In July 2018, I faced a dilemma that countless African Americans throughout history have faced: become an anti-White racist or resist the overwhelming urge to do so. A series of race-related recent events and news stories had pushed me to this crucial point. One incident pertained to a White teacher who put her foot on … Continue reading Why I Chose Not to Become a Racist
The state of California has implemented a number measures to close one of the largest and most persistent achievement gaps in the nation, Recently released scores for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a nationwide test for fourth- and eighth-graders in math and reading given every two years, show that California’s students are still performing below the … Continue reading California: Moving the Needle on the Achievement Gap
One week before the 2016-17 school year ended, I conducted a professional development workshop at a public elementary school in California. This predominantly Latino school was located in the school district’s lowest-income neighborhood. At the beginning of the workshop, I asked the 26 teachers to tell me their names, how long they’d taught at the … Continue reading Equity, Mindsets & Transformational Teaching
While Georgia’s Department of Education takes aim at closing the achievement gap under Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) regulations, implementing measures to do so has been left to individual schools and districts. Georgia was highlighted by the U.S. Department of Education when it approved six ESSA state plans in January, as the state focused on … Continue reading How Georgia Aims to Close the Achievement Gap
Closing the achievement gap is no simple task, but educators in Colorado are making progress. According to the Denver Business Journal, the state’s high school graduation rate is up again, reaching its highest level since 2010. At 79%, Colorado’s current graduation rate is just under the national average of 84%, which has also been … Continue reading Chipping Away at Colorado’s Achievement Gap
Students of color in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) district face compounding racial and socioeconomic disparities that widen the achievement gap. A recent Stanford University study reports that CPS students as a whole are improving from third to eighth grade faster than 96 percent of districts in the US, but the learning rate fails to … Continue reading Closing or Widening? Examining the Racial Achievement Gap in Illinois
Teacher burnout is a pandemic impacting just about every country with an established system of education. More than 41% of teachers leave their jobs within five years of starting (Ingersoll, Merrill, and Stuckey, 2014), and 15% of teachers leave the profession each year (Haynes, 2014). However, the latter statistic rises significantly to an annual loss … Continue reading Fighting Teacher Burnout & Fighting for Equity
In recent years, “equity” has become a buzz word and popular topic in K-12 schools, higher education, businesses, and even in religious organizations. A common definition is that whereas “equality” results in giving everyone the same thing, “equity” equates to giving individuals what they need. In schools, equity results in treating all children fairly and … Continue reading Equity: A Practical Guide for Educators