The Equity Line contains original analyses, commentary, and “on the ground” stories of students, parents, educators, and activists all over the nation striving to improve education. It chronicles our efforts, as well as those of partners and friends who are working toward the shared goal of closing gaps.
Learning from the LGBTQ+ Community
by Letisha Marrero and Nancy DuchesneauEvery June, corporations, organizations, schools, and even the White House make bold rainbow-filled statements about and gestures toward the LGBTQ+ community. …
How to Solve Child and Student Hunger in America? Do What Works — And Don’t Stop
by Courtney Bollig and Keith CurryDuring COVID-19, rates of hunger and food insecurity soared to heights not seen since The Great Depression as families found themselves without jobs to pay the…
Black History Is American History: How Juneteenth Highlights the Necessity of Critical Race Theory and Anti-Racist Teaching
by Eric DuncanJuneteenth, the official freeing of enslaved people on June 19, 1865, in Texas, is one of the most important events in American history — but most students hav…
Profiles in Education Equity: Cimone Philpotts, Policy Director, Wilmington (DE) Urban League
Cimone Philpotts has lived a life of public service. Currently, she is the policy director at the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League and a doctoral candidate…
The Biden-Harris Administration’s Education Agenda Takes Shape
by Reid SetzerUPDATE 7/28/21: The Biden-Harris administration has released this fact sheet detailing their educational equity policy goals, and The Education Trust is suppor…
Districts That Succeed: Breaking the Correlation Between Race, Poverty, and Achievement
The publication of my latest book, Districts that Succeed: Breaking the Correlation Between Race, Poverty, and Achievement, made me reminisce to when I was hir…
How The American Rescue Plan Can Help States Advance Educational Equity
The federal government has made an unprecedented investment in education. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act provides almost $130 billion for education, and th…
The Bans on Critical Race Theory Are the Latest Attempt to Legislate Ignorance
One hundred years ago this week, a White mob massacred Black residents in the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, ending generations of Black wealth-bui…
Let’s Not Forget About English Learners: Targeting Resources From the American Rescue Plan for Their Needs
by Terra Wallin, Rosario Quiroz Villarreal, and Roxanne GarzaSchool districts are currently faced with a tremendous opportunity: to determine how to use over $125 billion of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan …
The Impact of George Floyd’s Murder: One Year Later
by Denise ForteGeorge Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a wave of protests against police violence and racial injustice around the U.S…
How the American Rescue Plan Can Transform School Districts. The Time to Act Is Now.
by Terra WallinThe federal government has just made an unprecedented investment in education. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act provides almost $125 billion for education, a…
With the American Families Plan, the U.S. Stands on the Precipice of Universal Pre-K
The excitement from early learning advocates about President Biden’s American Families Plan is tangible, and understandably so — the targeted investments to ex…
Profiles in Education Equity – Penny Christian
A mother of four daughters, Penny Christian has been an educational advocate for almost 20 years. She currently serves as 16th District PTA President in Lexing…
Districts That Succeed
In the final episode of this season of ExtraOrdinary Districts, Tanji Reed Marshall interviews her co-host Karin Chenoweth about Chenoweth’s new book, District…
Family Engagement is Key for Student Success During COVID-19 Recovery and Beyond
“Ms. Alberty, you came to my house!”Whether they were in pre-K or middle school, my students always greeted me at their door with a mix of surprise and delight…
What Have We Heard? What Have We Learned?
In this episode, ExtraOrdinary Districts co-hosts Karin Chenoweth and Tanji Reed Marshall chew over what they heard and what they learned from five previous ep…
What Can States Do to Improve Reading Instruction?
When Tennessee showed no progress on the last results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and Massachusetts actually declined, both states were …
Why Parents, School Leaders, and Advocates Shouldn’t Underestimate the Power of Statewide Assessments
by Denise ForteOver the last year, students have learned to cope with significant uncertainty and navigated learning in new ways. With the support of committed educators, fam…
High-Quality Materials
Most elementary schools teach reading with either a basal reading program, a teacher-developed curriculum, or a balanced literacy program like Fountas & Pi…
How the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Helps Schools Address Unfinished Learning
by Kayla Patrick and Terra WallinTo support America’s most underserved students, many of whom have experienced barriers to high-quality education long before this pandemic, district and school…
