By Shannon McCloud I’ve written for Motif for a few years now, but this right here is by far the hardest piece I’ve ever tried to compose. You see when I’m not writing articles or reviewing theater, I’m teaching. I’m an English Language Arts teacher in a high school. A high school in Providence. And wow, do I… Continue reading Guest Post: A Providence Teacher Weighs in on State Takeover
By Vesia Hawkins Vesia Hawkins is a mom and a grandma and a fierce education advocate in Nashville, TN. She is especially focused on the issue of literacy as well as helping parents to understand how their children are *really* doing in school. This piece could absolutely have been written about Providence—some of the acronyms… Continue reading This Story from Nashville Could Have Been Written About Providence Too—Except Our Reading Scores are Even Worse
This is the moment in time when Black leaders must decide how committed they are—or are not—to the education of Black and Brown children. This week, ground zero of our education war is California but don’t be fooled—this evil is coming for all of us. If our Black leaders won’t stand up now, we know… Continue reading Gwen Samuel Tells Black Leaders To Stop Being Complicit and Stand Up For Black Parents
By Zachary F. Wright The room is dimly lit when you enter, a short ramp leading you further into the darkness. Five prison cells await. Old. Wooden with iron bars and solid padlocks. Within, ghostly apparitions come into focus. Old women. Young men. A child. All shackled. Their eyes find yours. And they tell… Continue reading A Visit to Montgomery, Alabama
By Lauren Matlach, Daniela Fairchild, and Sarah Whiting We’ve all witnessed the education blame game. Our education system is imperfect and, at times, it’s easier to blame someone else than to own the part we play in failing our students. Over the past few years, teacher preparation programs have become a favorite punching bag of… Continue reading What Happens When PK-12 Educators and Preparation Programs Work Together?
By Blake Harvard If you’ve ever ventured into the land of edchats on Twitter, you’ve probably experienced the feeling of seeing someone tweet information that you either disagree with or know to be false. How/when do you potentially question this person respectfully to ask about their tweet? What do you say? Recently on twitter I… Continue reading Guest Post: A Teacher’s Advice on Opposing the Herd in EdChats
The writer of this story is a Rhode Island mother who has requested to remain anonymous. Given the sensitive nature of the topic, Good School Hunting has decided to honor that request. The minute your child is born you form a protective bubble. You don’t want anyone to hurt them and if you are like… Continue reading A Mother’s Story About Bullying
By Lane Wright Every state uses standardized tests to find out how students in public schools are doing. Federal law requires it. But why? And how do standardized tests actually help students? The short answer: Standardized tests are a spotlight that helps education leaders see what effect schools are having on students. With that information they can make changes to address students’ needs.… Continue reading Does Standardized Testing Help Students?
By Letitia Chavez-Garcia You may recall that I wrote a piece about the teacher whose rant about the military went viral on social and other media. His name is Gregory Salcido. Mr. Salcido was released from his position as teacher at the El Rancho Unified School District. A news report from Tuesday confirms that the board… Continue reading Teacher’s Anti-Military Rant Leads to Firing
By Dirk Tillotson Many of us first heard the name University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) for their historic upset of a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, however, there is an even more historic lesson there, with a far greater impact, and one I hope we learn from. Outside of hoops, UMBC is… Continue reading The UMBC Victory that is Even More Improbable than a 16 Seed Beating a 1
