Everything That’s Right and Wrong About Education Reform, I Learned at My 25th Corliss High School Reunion
At my 25th high school reunion dinner recently, I found myself upset. I had a major conflict of interest, where my loyalties were challenged and the realities of today battled against my feelings of nostalgia. [aesop_image imgwidth=”40%” img=”http://educationpost.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/marilyn-corliss-1.jpg” offset=”20px” align=”right”...
Why the ‘Ed’ and the ‘Tech’ Are Sometimes At Odds in the ‘Ed Tech’ Conversation, and Which One Should Win
One way to know if you really understand something is to try to teach it. Or blog about it. As a non-techie type of educator, I didn’t know how confused I was about ed tech until I attended the EdSurge...
Finally, Ed Tech Is Partnering with Teachers to Improve the Impact of Personalized Learning
I’ll just say it: As a teacher, I hated the “ed tech” conversation. Sure, I used basic technology in my classroom—maybe some iPads, or websites like Kahn Academy and Edublogs. But I hated #EdTech Twitter feeds and ed tech professional...
Why I Support DACA as a Teacher, a Black Woman, a Christian and a Human Being
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For the past nine of my 14 years teaching, my students have been predominantly of Mexican descent....
The Genius in Every Black Family: Our Hidden Figure
I’m visiting my aunt and uncle in Los Angeles, and we decide to watch the movie “Hidden Figures,” about three little-known Black women whose mathematical calculations were instrumental in helping NASA launch astronaut John Glenn into outer space and back....
The Tragic Tension Between College and Career Readiness
What’s the right approach: Counsel all graduating seniors to go to college, including the students who can’t afford it or may be unprepared academically or socially, because it will pay off in the end: or Tell students that “college is...
I Bet Kids Can Debate Education Reform Better Than We Do
I just completed my first season as a middle school debate team coach. Here are the basics: kids argue either the affirmative or the negative position of a general statement, called a resolution, and before the debate begins the key...
It’s Hard to Get a Teaching Job When You’re Black
Is it possible for a school to change the trajectory of low-income Black students’ lives while denying people who look like their aunts, uncles, mothers and fathers the opportunity to teach at the school? In other words, what is the...
Founders, Eggs and Fists: How the NewSchools Summit Proved That the Fight Over Education Is Spiritual
When the NewSchools Summit in San Francisco ended last week, Black attendees were asking me what I would write about it. They were curious because this Summit was markedly different from the last one, which I had lauded for its...
Race, Reform and the Firestorm: Reflections on Our Progress a Year Later
One year ago, I excused myself from dinner with friends and returned to my hotel room to blog about my awe-inspiring experience at the NewSchools Summit in San Francisco. After two hours of intense writing, I went to sleep. But...