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.
In Their Words: ‘I, Too, Am B-CC’
by Marni BrombergDuring our research for “Falling Out of the Lead,” the third report in our Shattering Expectations series, we interviewed high-achieving, low-income students t…
Why I Teach Where I Teach: The Opportunity to Make a Difference
by Jessica BeaudoinJessica Beaudoin is a chemistry and physics teacher at University Park Campus School in Massachusetts, which is 82 percent low-income. She has been an educator…
Between the Echoes: What He Learned at School
by Brooke HaycockAn offshoot of Ed Trust’s Echoes From the Gap series, drawing stories of students from behind the statistics, this blog series shares shorter narratives — brie…
Bridging the Gap ‘Between Helplessness and Hope’
by Karin ChenowethOnce a year during the National Title I Association conference, thousands of people from schools and districts that receive this federal money converge to talk…
Why I Teach Where I Teach: To Disrupt the Pedagogy of Poverty
by Andrew BirosAndrew Biros is a teacher and head of instructional technology at Kensington Creative & Performing Arts High School in Philadelphia, where 95 percent of st…
What Do Teachers Really Think About Assessment?
by Rachel MetzThis week, congressional staffers and others had a too-infrequent opportunity to hear from teachers about the role of assessments in education. During a Hill b…
Solving the College Affordability Crisis Requires Yanking at the Root
by Andrew Howard NicholsLast week, a POLITICO Magazine article called attention to the annual re-estimate of the federal student loan program. Apparently, the feds expect to earn $22 …
Bridging the College Info Gap
by Marni BrombergWhen researchers mailed college information to high-achieving, low-income students last year, follow-up survey results were promising: Many students reported f…
Counting All Students … Because They’re Counting on Us
by Brooke HaycockIn 2000, I was a 22-year-old, fist-pumping student organizer barely out of college working with a beautifully motley crew of high school students from across W…
Students Want More, Not Less
by Allison HorowitzPolicymakers in many states are debating what it means to be college- and career-ready — and whether expectations for students should change to match that defi…
Why I Teach Where I Teach: I Practice What I Preach
by Whitnee GarrettWhitnee Garrett, a third-year educator, teaches Advanced Placement U.S. history at Madison Park Business and Art Academy, a Title I school in east Oakland, Cal…
Closing Long-Standing Opportunity and Achievement Gaps: Testing and Transparency Are Critical, But Schools Must Be Accountable for Doing Their Part
by Kati HaycockIt’s a common refrain on Capitol Hill that the new education law Congress is working on right now should get the federal government out of micromanaging Americ…
It Takes a Teacher
by Karin ChenowethWhen my brother was four and I was nine, I taught him how to read. At least, that’s what I thought at the time. I ran my finger under the words as I was readin…
Celebrating 10 Years of College Results Online!
by Meredith WelchTen years ago, we created College Results Online to challenge the conventional wisdom that colleges’ graduation rates were simply a function of the students th…
Too Much Testing? Or Not Enough Quality Testing?
by Sonja Brookins SantelisesAs an educator who has spent nearly all of her professional life in urban education, I am deeply concerned about the direction that current (and admittedly muc…
Grappling With Disturbing Discrepancies in Discipline
by Karin ChenowethIt’s sometimes thought that teachers support the suspension and expulsion of trouble-making students, but the two major teacher unions have both opposed exclud…
What Would Happen Without Annual Testing?
by Deborah VeneyI have a very personal connection to annual testing.When my daughter began elementary school, I decided to enroll her in a school with ethnic and economic dive…
What’s the Score on Assessments? Most Say to Keep Them Annual and Make Them Count
by Matt de FerrantiToday’s Senate hearing on assessments and accountability reaffirms why annual statewide testing used to prompt meaningful action is essential for continuing th…
Why I Teach Where I Teach: The Opportunity to Share In Schoolwide Decisions
by Arnold PuldaArnold Pulda is a U.S. history teacher at University Park Campus School in Massachusetts, which is 82 percent low-income students. He has been an educator for …
Between the Echoes: Broken School Windows and Unbreakable Boys
by Brooke HaycockAn offshoot of Ed Trust’s Echoes From the Gap series, drawing stories of students from behind the statistics, this blog series shares shorter narratives — brie…