Claire Smith, an African-American female, grew up in a time when both of her underrepresented identities first made their breakthroughs. She told of how both her parents grew up as big Jackie Robinson fans and how that had a trickle-down effect on her. In a time where blacks in America faced oppression in a multitude of areas in society, every breakthrough was of major significance.

“Right now you have a megaphone coming from the White House that is being challenged by the megaphone coming from the athletic world,” Joseph Cooper says.

“My project will be focused on human rights and social justice and kids can choose a topic they’re interested in and that impacts their lives,” says Jessica Stargardter. “They’ll document an issue they see in their own community and hopefully be inspired to take action.”

“This is a matter of priorities,” says Preston Green. “States should first provide sufficient funding to traditional public schools in urban areas. Once states have systems of traditional public schools that meet the educational needs of these students, then they can assess how much funding and resources to devote to charter schools.”

“We warned that the policy of multiple authorizers, which was designed to increase the number of charter schools, could lead to the insufficient screening of charter schools,” Preston Green explains. “Independent authorizers would be freer to issue charters because they did not assume the risk of failure.”

Congratulations to our Neag School alumni, faculty, staff, and students on their continued accomplishments inside and outside the classroom.

“Women bring a different voice and a different concern for what’s in the best interest of the planet, in the best interest of peace, and in the best interest of work that makes a positive difference,” says Sally Reis.

Many studies have found a positive impact on black students from having black teachers in elementary and secondary schools. A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that the positive impact may extend far beyond school, to whether black students enroll in college.

“The time itself doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you do with that time,” says Megan Staples. “You have just opened up space for a broader range of pedagogical strategies and innovation. … It opens up space for guest speakers, it opens up space to not be rushed through your curriculum.”

“The authors describe how a “bubble” happens, how certain populations are targeted, how they clamor to get in to what appears to be a good deal, then stampede out when the bubble bursts. This may be happening now in urban African American communities,” writes Ravitch. “This article is worth your time.”