Gifted Kids of Color are Falling Far Behind

So what happens to the academically gifted young children from Black and Brown communities?  This is a real question that must be asked and answers demanded. For many families of color, their greatest dream and perhaps their greatest asset is the potential of their children to find their way into the economic mainstream of America.  […]

Tribalism Ain’t New In America

I have struggled for days to think about an opening for this blog post.  Each sentence, phrase or paragraph does not seem to capture what needs to be communicated to reflect the lives of many Americans caught in the systemic racism and classism that has become the norm in a society that is slowly waking […]

New Job Description for Next Gen School Leaders?

New School Leaders Must Emerge A new paradigm is needed for real, rapid and lasting change in educational outcomes for Black and Brown students . And it seems that school leaders are likely the answer. Not just any school leader though.  And that is the problem.  We need school leaders that are: goal focused multi-culturally […]

Tough Choices and Challenges for Black Gifted in New York City

In New York City, there is a debate raging about the lack of diversity in the city’s specialized high schools for academically gifted students.  These schools require each applicant to take a standardized test which delivers an achievement score on Math and English.  If you do very well you may be offered a seat at […]

Innovation of Inclusion – Results Don’t Lie

Rising to the Challenge in Cambridge Massachusetts Throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, educators have anticipated the release of the 2017 Spring Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) state test results. The MCAS assessment is given in grades 3 through 8 and grade 10 to test a student’s knowledge in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics and Science for […]

2016 Summer Olympics, School Choice and Gifted Students

2016 Summer Olympic Achievements It is August 2016. The Summer Olympics are in progress in Rio. American athletes have done well with a very respectable collection of more gold medals than any other country so far. Among the top performers is a young Black gymnast named Simone Biles who has gained the respect and attention […]

America’s Difficult Conversations: The Apathy-Empathy Scale

 The Apathy-Empathy Scale:  A Conversation Starter For our American community, It has been a tragic few weeks, in a tragic month, in a tragic series of years. We are facing a new day. One that I fear we are not prepared for and one where we cannot begin to predict the outcome. It is July […]

The Biggest Winner Math Challenge – Results Don’t Lie

In a prior blog post we described a school-wide community initiative, developed in New Orleans, called The Biggest Winner Math Challenge that produces gains in math scores by engaging and focusing students on individualized goals. The Biggest Winner Math Challenge campaign was launched in 2 elementary schools within the Algiers Charter School Association(ACSA) network.  ACSA is […]

On the Ground in a Turnaround – Results Don’t Lie

(This is a long blog post. You can read it or scan the graphs or play the videos or click the links. It is one  story of the successful turnaround of a failing charter school in Massachusetts) There have been reports and research studies that clearly show that many public school systems are failing children, […]

Learning Analytics Can Deliver Double Digit Student Performance Gains

Too many school leaders have not yet embraced the power of “Learning Analytics“ and data to guide the turnaround and transformation of their schools. When a school leader is faced with the challenge of turning around or transforming a low performing school they may try many tools, techniques, technologies  and strategies. But without a solid […]