About this Blog
The Strange Career of the American Achievement Gap
The origins of an annual recognition of American black history, initially dubbed as “Negro History Week,” can be traced to as far back as 1926, despite blacks’ presence in American life since colonial times.
It would not be until the twentieth century that black Americans would acquire a respectable and noticeable residence in American historical scholarship.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, born to parents of former slaves, was disturbed to find that the history of the African diaspora was absent and ignored in texts, mirroring the inferior position that the black race was assigned at that time. In response, Woodson launched “Negro History Week” to draw national attention to the contributions of black Americans throughout American history. He chose the second week of February for the birthdays of two men who he believed greatly influenced the progressive cause of black America, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. To choose Lincoln is not surprising; however,…
I believe we can solve the problems of urban education in our lifetime. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I’m, by no stretch of the imagination, a cheerleader or mascot for Teach for America, and no this isn’t a post aimed at tampering with the glorious pedestals upon which TFA sacredly and preciously rests:…
read more »“What we need are teachers who don’t make excuses,” said Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. “I don’t want to hear about bureaucracy. We have always had bureaucracies…We are looking for people who say ‘I can teach a rock to read.’…If it is not the right place for you, then you should find another place to go.”…
read more »Since when did the word ‘slave’ become equivalent in meaning, historical connotation, and impact to the word ‘nigger’? There is no historical, specific implication behind the world ‘slave’ and to whom it refers to. A slave could have existed at any point throughout world history, been Egyptian, Polish, or Asian, or of any race or…
read more »As a precursory note, the hope of this post relies on my efforts to address what I have learned about myself in the context of race, class, and culture, and to examine the construction of my students’ understandings of race, class, and culture since teaching. Additionally, I seek to explore the meanings of these notions as an…
read more »When she told her seven year-old, black daughter that she’d be a nerd and dubbed as “white” in school, my gut expression was a silent, cold look of stern exasperation and “Are you serious?” Filled with hope and admiration at the sight of a young black woman instilling a love of intelluctual curiosity in her daughter…
read more »“Does Alabama still have race riots?” “How are things down there…hopefully better?!” “I know you’re conditioned for this hot weather, so you should be used to this [103 degrees of smoldering heat]!” (“As though 103 degrees isn’t hot to me…hot isn’t hot…In fact, let me go get a jacket…this is actually a bit chilly?!”) My personal favorite: “I know you…
read more »The power of one is incalculable. 38 days, 750+ hours, 5 averaged hours of sleep per night, 14 wonderful Latino children, a 53 point classroom gain in five weeks, more than 500 awesome people committed with passion and zeal to end the greatest divider and challenge of our time, the achievement gap. And, one; 1 represents…
read more »I finally made it to day one of TFA, and this evening marks day two (today being my first actual whole day, though). The first few hours of TFA Induction, also known as Orientation, were filled with moving in and helping folks move in with large loads of luggage. The weather was hot by Philadelphia…
read more »Alright, folks! So, I just had my first “real” job interview with a great secondary charter school in Philadelphia via telephone. The first-year corps of teachers will be participating in a hiring fair in the first couple of weeks of our arrival for TFA Induction/Institute, or teacher boot camp. This particular institution will be unable to send…
read more »
