Educational leaders are facing unprecedented challenges that many do not feel prepared for, especially when it comes to promoting equity. Ann Ishimaru explains that an expansive view of leadership that incorporates historically marginalized youth, families, and communities will enable schools to better serve all students. Schools have a history of…

All students, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit from having teachers and school leaders of color. Since principals of color are often more likely to hire and retain teachers of color, increasing school leader diversity is a key lever for addressing educational inequities. To provide advocates and policymakers with context on this important…

A diverse teacher workforce has the potential to improve outcomes for all students, and especially for students of color. North Carolina has recognized the importance of increasing diversity in the workforce and despite national and local efforts from school districts and policy makers, the teaching workforce has remained largely white and female,…

This "Equity by Design" research brief discusses the impact of COVID-19 on school segregation and integration in public schools. COVID-19 raised a lot of discussions already occurring around school choice, which connects to a larger conversation on the purpose of education and it being one of the most important public goods in American…

AI offer first-hand account of a key stage in the development of parental choice in American public schooling, when Massachusetts state officials, concerned not to repeat the trauma and disruption resulting from mandatory reassignment of students to achieve desegregation in Boston, persuaded and helped more than a dozen other cities to adopt plans…

What's the likelihood that a student of color will have the opportunity to learn from a teacher of color? Currently, teachers of color make up approximately 18% of the United States' total teaching force. Students of color make up 54% of the total student population. Racial parity is part and parcel of a greater commitment to equity--equitable…

Like many districts across the U.S., Miami-Dade County Public Schools is experiencing a large number of open staff positions due to higher-than-normal numbers of retirements and resignations in the face of COVID-19 coupled with enrollment declines in local universities' education departments. The district, in partnership with New Teacher Center,…

In this article Matthew B. Kautz theorizes schools as unique carceral institutions with the capacities to criminalize, surveil, discipline, and punish and demonstrates how they have mobilized these unique abilities to establish social control. By tracing the development of school disciplinary policy and practice following "Brown v. Board of…

Public schools are currently at the center of a set of multifaceted culture wars around questions about who decides the purpose of and sets the agenda for what should be taught in our nation's schools. Although culture wars are not new, today's conflicts are distinguished by their intensity and hostility directed toward marginalized and…

In this conceptual article, the authors identify the current state of racial disproportionality in U.S. public schools and the ethical call for school social workers to engage in anti-racist practice. Using the ecosystems perspective, a familiar perspective for school social work, the authors present a model for addressing racial climate gaps for…

Differentiated instruction has always been about providing every learner full opportunity to grow as much as possible academically, intellectually, and socially. A key principle of differentiation is "teaching up" (Tomlinson, 2021, 2022; Tomlinson & Javius, 2012). Teaching up is of particular importance at this moment in education…

Teachers contribute more to reading and math outcomes than any other factor of schooling. However, teacher shortages are pervasive. How can schools and districts recruit high-quality educators, hold onto to the ones they already have, and reflect the diversity of their students? This infographic highlights innovative models beyond the traditional…

Thirty-seven percent of Tennessee's students are students of color, but teachers of color represent only 13 percent of the teacher population. This gap between students and teachers of color in Tennessee mirrors a national trend. Across the United States, students of color make up 51 percent of the student body whereas teachers of color make up…

While the majority of U.S students are children of color, only 20% of teachers are people of color. What's more, 40% of the nation's public schools do not have a single teacher of color on record. Research shows that all students, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit socially, emotionally, and academically from a diverse teacher workforce.…

This document contains the technical appendix for the report, "Equal Is Not Good Enough: An Analysis of School Funding Equity across the U.S. and within Each State." The report describes an analysis of funding disparities between the highest and lowest poverty school districts, as well as districts serving the most and the fewest…