Equity Alliance Blog

According to virtually every report and study focusing on the achievement gap between Black and White students, Black students are under-performing in school settings compared to their White counterparts. Of the more than 16,000 school districts in the U.S., few (if any) can report that no achievement gap exists, that the achievement gap is...

When my daughter was five she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It was clear from the first moment that my daughter returned to her kindergarten class that, as a parent advocating for a child with a medical disability, the stance I took toward difference would matter greatly. One approach, perhaps the obvious one, would have focused on her...

It is probably never easy to have a deep conversation with another person; each person’s hopes, fears, anxieties, doubts, dreams, and many other powerful feelings, conscious and unconscious, easily get in the way of honest and full expression. To have a deep conversation with a stranger, or with whole groups of strangers and even an entire...

Recently, a teacher told me that her colleagues believe a mandated early reading test I critiqued is necessary because “the parents of these kids don’t get them ready to learn to read in school.”

Too often we expect urban youngsters to be low achievers. My years of research have convinced me that “these kids” are just as capable of...

Greetings! I’m so glad to have been asked to write on this blog because I really feel passionate about RTI. I believe that RTI has the potential to change the way we think about supporting kids and may especially hold promise as a way to improve outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students and reduce their disproportionate...

Throughout the 1990's, I documented the education, work and family experiences of Latino youth in California (see my book, Suenos Americanos). My intention was to understand how young Latinos might achieve some success (i.e. educational achievement or decent employment) in a hostile political and economic environment. The most...

As the 2008 election moves center stage, I would like us to pause and ask ourselves the big question. Why do we as a nation yearly engage in the hugely expensive and culturally monumental ritual of...

With the primaries and caucuses in full swing, people are talking about change. But how can we create real change in education? One concrete step toward transforming educational practices for all schools is to develop experiences that will lead to in-depth learning for teachers.

Students and teachers come to school with pre-existing cultural understandings that reflect their varied experiences with regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, neighborhood, family, and learning. Additionally, there are “cultures” within the school itself regarding behavioral expectations, role identity...

How about sending kids to a summer camp that can change their perspective instead of working on their tans?

This blog is intended to engage you in ongoing conversations about a wide range of issues surrounding inclusive education. We strive to bring you ideas and viewpoints from researchers, practitioners, and authors that provoke, inspire, and complexify the way we understand and effect inclusive practices in our classrooms, schools, and...