Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/michael-diedrich/page/2/)
This coming school year, the United States will, for the first time, have more students of color than white students in its public schools. American Indian enrollment has stayed largely flat, Asian American enrollment has increased slightly, black enrollment has ticked slightly downward, and Hispanic enrollment has steadily increased to nearly one in four students countrywide. Continue Reading
Special education has been sparking conversation again. Locally, MinnPost has produced two pieces digging into a report on the state of special education [PDF] in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). Nationally, Education Next has run an online forum discussing charter schools and special education. Some key themes connect these writings. Continue Reading
What happens when two sets of education advocates with valid perspectives collide? Continue Reading
For students and families alike, seeing school reflect their identities and experiences is important. A key part is who’s in front of the classroom. Continue Reading
On Tuesday, a judge ruled against California’s teacher tenure laws. The ruling unleashed a host of emotional responses, from jubilation to despair. If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, here are some starting points, with more to come (including repercussions for Minnesota) early next week. Continue Reading
In roughly three months’ time, as classrooms fill and teachers work to engage and motivate their new charges, many students will hear a time-honored presentation on the importance of a college degree. College degrees, they will be told, increase your likelihood of getting a job, and they increase how much you will be paid over the course of your career.These things are true, but too often we use these facts to conclude that our society-wide inequities would be fixed if only we could help students from all races and backgrounds graduate from college at equal rates. If only that were true.Nationally in 2013, young black college graduates (those between 22 and 27) had an unemployment rate more than twice the overall average for young college graduates. Roughly one out of eight young black college graduates were unemployed (meaning that they were seeking employment but did not yet have a job), compared to one out of eighteen young college graduates overall.Disparities persist even with age and experience. As of May 2014, the unemployment rate for whites 25 and over with a college degree was 2.7%. Continue Reading
On Friday, we got the news that the Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) has canceled a contract with Dell for the creation of a personalized learning system. The good news is that Dell is refunding most of the referendum money the district paid, giving back $665,000 of $715,000. The bad news is that much of this could have been avoided. Continue Reading
The federal Department of Education recently issued a reminder to charter schools about their civil rights obligations. Continue Reading
What do you call someone who doesn’t finish high school? A new report from America’s Promise Alliance and the Center for Promise at Tufts University is begging you not to call them dropouts. In fact, that’s the title of the report: “Don’t Call Them Dropouts.” Continue Reading
I’ve written recently about implicit bias and how it interferes with delivering a great education to every student. One other path to pursue when addressing implicit bias is diversifying the teacher work force. Continue Reading