Another Band-Aid

I know that it may seem harsh to critique programs that try to do well by someone’s child/school/community, but there’s something bothering me today. It goes beyond the embedded patriarchy of “mentoring underprivileged children” and even past the ultimate conclusion of “we (mentors) got more from this than the young people” (by truly experiencing a [...]

Planting Seeds

As I prepare to release my college success guide, Higher Learning, and continue developing online resources to support it (for students, college access and support counselors, teachers, parents, etc., available at learnhigher.com), I’ve been reflecting back a lot on the lessons that I’ve learned over the years, and the work that I’ve been a part [...]

Making Good Teachers

Saw this clip on CNN’s site. Worth watching. A few observations: Again, light shines on the charter movement. Which leads to… We can’t underestimate the importance of school leadership and school culture. A dynamic teacher in a traditionally underperforming school will have an extremely difficult time in their individual classroom space if the school is [...]

Building the Bridge

Yesterday’s class discussion was extremely open and honest as we talked about fear and possibilities in the classroom We unpacked many of the nuances of cultural relevance, or more specifically, the humanness necessary in education. For Black students, whether walking the halls of one of the nation’s top prep schools or universities, or sitting in [...]

Another milestone for Ase

A little over an hour ago I left Penn’s Graduate School of Urban Education building, where I facilitated the first session of EDUC 245: Culturally Relevant Teaching, Learning, and Intervention. This is another huge step for Ase, and a tremendous opportunity to build upon a truly unique experience that has impacted many, many lives. I [...]