Why Teacher Diversity Matters
When I first became a teacher, honestly, I didn’t think race mattered. As a child who grew up in single-parent, low-income household, when I first graduated college, I felt I was the “model” of the American Dream. As a homeowner, mother, wife, college graduate, there were many reasons for why…
Continue reading...
Iowa Latin@ Conference Engages, Embraces Growing Population
Earlier, we wrote about the planning of the Iowa Latin@ Conference[1]. Every year for the past thirteen years the conference has occurred in a different town across the state – it was Muscatine’s turn in 2011. In just about the same span of time (about 10 years), Iowa’s Hispanic…
Continue reading...
“We tried that, but…”
I recently served as a process observer during a discussion about how to best support the central office leadership of a local school district as they planned school improvement efforts. The individuals who offered support to the district leaders commented on how frequently they heard these school leaders say, “We…
Continue reading...
Why “Closing Achievement Gaps” Is Not Our Rallying Cry
“Closing achievement gaps.” It’s a catch phrase that has become the rallying cry for equity advocates; the vision that provides the impetus for many education policies, regulations, and programs. And it’s a catch phrase we are trying desperately not to use. In our work, we have found that the phrase…
Continue reading...