Welcome Back! As we launch into the new school year I am excited to kick-off our 2016-17 blog! We hope that this space provides you – our staff, school partners, and broader community – a space to read about important issues related to the work of making schools more inclusive places for all students. The back-to-school season brings new media attention to education and this fall has been no exception. Here’s a few of the many pieces that I’ve run across with relevance to Unconditional Education, and in particular how issues of racial equity are at the center of our work for educational opportunity.
What have you been reading? Don’t forget, you can add your own comments and links to this and other posts. Simply click the “Comments” line below to share your own links, resources, or comments on the content you read here.
- Race and socio-economic status have long played an important role in determining school assignment and thus equitable access to educational opportunity. A recent series by KQED reporter Zaidee Stavely explores the issues of race, poverty, gentrification, and school diversity in Oakland’s public schools. KQED followed up with an intriguing interview by Oakland’s Superintendent Antwan Wilson delving into the complexities of school diversity.
- Restorative discipline practices are gaining momentum across the country and it’s exciting to see coverage of such extend to major new outlets. Last week’s New York Times feature “An Effective Yet Exhausting Alternative to High School Suspensions” details how RJ practices have played out in one New York high school and the Washington Post highlighted similar practices in D.C. Alternately, Education Week published this exploration of the use of corporal punishment in schools, which perhaps not surprisingly reports that the students who qualify for free and reduced lunch and Black students are far more likely to attend schools that utilize corporal punishment than their peers.
- This summer has brought a new wave of shootings of black men and with it a further confirmation of the ways racial inequities play out daily in our communities. Many of us wonder how to best explore these incidents with our students and/or how to talk about the larger issues of social justice. This article in the Atlantic explores a new study on “The Long Term Effects of Social Justice Education on Black Students” provides confirmation on why doing so can be a powerful tool. To support these conversations the organization Teaching Tolerance has compiled a selection of lessons and resources for teaching about race, racism and police violence.
What have you been reading? Don’t forget, you can add your own comments and links to this and other posts. Simply click the “Comments” line below to share your own links, resources, or comments on the content you read here.
Blog post written by:
Robin Detterman, Executive Director of School Partnerships
Robin Detterman, Executive Director of School Partnerships
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