Fierce advocates for the high academic achievement of all students — particularly those of color or living in poverty.

A recent paper touting gains in Kentucky’s Focus schools (schools with the lowest performance for student groups) is, on the surface, encouraging. We want to know more about what’s driving these gains. But we’re also worried about assertions made by the authors, who suggest that these improvements…

WASHINGTON (06/14/17) – Today, John B. King Jr., president and CEO of The Education Trust, issued this statement on the announcement that the U.S. Department of Education will convene negotiated rulemaking committees to revise the gainful employment and borrower defense regulations and delay the implementation of the…

This essay was originally published in a compilation from the Albert Shanker Institute as part of an event it hosted today titled “School Integration By Race & Class: A Movement Reborn?” Our children live in a more diverse country than ever before. And America is projected to become even more racially…

This post is a part of an ongoing series, called “Why I Teach Where I Teach,” which asks educators in high-need schools to share what has attracted (and kept) them in the challenging environments they’re in. They share important stories and experiences that should remind us all of…

Among the most important questions to ask to understand whether a state accountability system is designed to promote opportunity and achievement for all groups of students are: Do all groups of students matter in the ratings given to individual schools? How does the state identify schools that need to improve…

“We rise by lifting others.” — Robert Ingersoll Earlier this month, I hooded four doctoral students at Howard University’s School of Education, adding to a long line of talented Black educators rooted in a tremendous history and legacy. As I reflect on the experience, I feel honor and pride…

I have spent a good portion of my personal life and career developing relationships. If you have ever read Malcom Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, any of my friends or colleagues would likely define me as what Gladwell refers to as…

This op-ed was originally published by U.S. News & World Report. Millions of Americans are engrossed in the NBA Playoffs this time of year. If you are one those people, you may find yourself inexplicably pulling for an upset. That tendency speaks to part of who we are as…

This week, we rightly celebrate the milestone Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision issued on May 17th, 1954, striking down school segregation. Yet today also marks another anniversary — the annual issuing of statements reminding us that, decades later, we still have not closed the gaps in access and…

When is performance for a group of students so low that it requires attention and action? This is one of the critical questions that states have to answer as they implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The law requires states to identify any school that is consistently underperforming for…

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court banned segregation in public schools, ruling that separating students by race was unconstitutional. In the coming years, even with staunch opposition in many places, Black and White students slowly found themselves sitting beside each other in classrooms. By 1970, my mom…