Disparate academic outcomes for Black boys persist. Educators should use an equity-centered lens when looking at this reality, asking not what's wrong with Black boys, but what's wrong with schools that they aren't serving these students better. Howard describes obstacles to black boys' school success and argues that educators need to listen to…

To fully support students, schools must attend to the trauma that occurs within their own institutional cultures. Equity advocate Paul Gorski describes three transformative commitments schools can make to maximize the potential of trauma-informed education.

When the pandemic took hold, the superintendent of Selma City Schools realized the strategic plan her district had in place wasn't enough. She shares the collective steps her team took to embrace change and rethink what school could look like from the ground up.

Exposure to trauma--which many experts view as include ongoing life stressors like poverty, parents divorcing, death of a family member, or drug abuse in the home--is prevalent among school-aged children. Teachers know that facing trauma impedes students' ability to focus and learn, but it can be challenging to keep responding caringly to a…

The author, a veteran ESL teacher, describes a set of specific supports to help long-term English language learners make academic progress that he and other teachers piloted at Luther Burbank High School in California. The interventions included a daily academic support class; monitoring this group's academic progress; "cohorting" them…

In looking at four broad factors related to teacher assignments in the Los Angeles School District--instructional load, homophily, colleague qualifications, and professional culture--researchers of urban education policy at the University of Southern California discovered three main lessons for practice: First, that teacher working conditions are…

A school principal discusses how the enrollment of two gender-diverse students in his school changed his thinking on school safety and helped him and his staff create a more inclusive and sensitive school environment.

One Canadian school district, seeking to help ease the anxiety, stress, and depression issues their teens reported, piloted a program to include students in school climate survey data analysis. Small groups of teenagers, staff, and administrators from the district's schools meet twice a year to discuss the data and real-world solutions to bring…

"Coming from complexity science, the term emergence describes the dynamic and unpredictable ways through which change unfolds in organizations," writes Shane Safir in this article about how teacher leaders can transform a school's climate and culture. Using Berkeley High School in California as an example, Safir explains how successful…

As the founding principal of DC International School, a public charter school in Washington, D.C., Simon Rodberg has set out to create what he calls a "culturally-positive school" to prepare students for a global future. In this article, he details how the school has invited students and families to bring their cultures into classrooms.…

"We often say to one another that "students won't care what you know until they know that you care," and this may be true. But our students' knowledge that they are cared for depends on what we do far more than on what we say," writes Eric Toshalis. In this impassioned article, he urges educators to rethink what it means to…

Educators often encourage students to take risks and work hard to achieve well in school--an approach called "academic press." An assumption behind this approach is that students trust educators enough to take risks and embrace academic challenge; but when a safe, trustworthy environment isn't in place, students won't take risks and may…

In an interview, Beverly Daniel Tatum, author of "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria," discusses schools, race, and identity today.

Structured protocols can help teachers ensure equitable participation and create more culturally responsive discussions. Zaretta Hammond, author of "Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain," shares five steps for incorporating protocols in your classroom so that every student is heard.

In a time marked by racial divides, the authors of this article argue that teachers are on the front lines of identifying and responding to race-related stress in the classroom. They provide suggestions for how teachers can educate themselves about students' racialized experiences and respond appropriately to support students' mental health.