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A new manual uses language to explore bias

My elementary school is a Title I school. About 95 percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch and Medicaid. Research shows us that many children raised in poverty struggle to learn to read. Common sense tells us that children who don't learn to read can't read to learn. They often reach a frustration level with school by the time they're in the third grade. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 70 percent of low-income fourth-grade students can't read at a basic level. I often wonder, "What can I do in my day-to-day work as a teacher to help?"

When we call for empowerment of our students, what are we asking for?

School and community programs foster friendships across the generations

Abel Barrera Hernández has worked tirelessly to bring justice to some of Mexico’s most marginalized communities. For his work as founder and director of the Tlachinollan Center in southern Mexico, Hernández received an award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights last month. That, coupled with the fact that Friday is Human Rights Day, got me thinking how I, as a teacher, must also fight for human rights.

In the second of a three-part series, this new-educator mentor explains how to build beginning teachers’ strengths in culturally and linguistically responsive practices.

As your students move on to the next grade, what will they remember about you?

Children are susceptible to superficial notions of beauty, but this teacher believes the real purpose of education is to give them a different message.