NYU Metro Center - Blogs from 2017

Gender DJ's: Youth Remixing Gender | 2017

Recently I was watching my daily dose of Ellen and on came Katie Couric. Remember her? She’s the comeback kid who lost her husband prematurely to color cancer in at the age of 42.

Dear white folks, how will we march on? | 2017

On Saturday, January 28th, 2017, Shaun King, writer and civil rights activist, wrote this on Facebook, “Today has been, without a doubt, one of the most despicably inhumane days in my lifetime as an American citizen.

The Four Issues That Are Not Coming Up Post-Trump That Should Be | 2017

Everyone is talking about the war on public education, and they should be. However, the war on public education is tied to an another struggle in education: the war on teacher education and the marketization of it.

Organizing to Integrate | 2017

New York City, not unlike other major metropolitan regions in the U.S., faces a stubborn & layered system of segregation, which separate students by socio-economic status, ability, language background, race/ethnicity & so on.

“Is Special Education Racist?” No, But People Are | 2017

For over a year now, I’ve been torn over an opinion piece publish in the NYTimes on June 24, 2015. The authors asked: "Is special education racist?" My response at the time was: Of course, it is!

Student artwork hanging on clothespins, with art materials above

Community Roots: An Approach to School Integration That Lives in A Name | 2017

Community Roots is a charter school in the Fort Greene neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. The school is uniquely diverse; 39 percent of its students is White, 33% is Black, 20% is a combined Latino and Asian, and 8% is other.

A Crusade for Billions? How a Betsy DeVos Department of Education Could Lead to a Massive Transfer of Public Funds into the Private Sector | 2017

On Monday, January 30, 2017, hundreds of patient protectors braved the bitter New York City cold to stand firmly in defiance against the impending appointment of billionaire school-choice crusader Betsy DeVos, 58, for Secretary of Education.

Group stands infront of UFABC with professor Erich Dietrich

Help Us Stand Up to Racism in New York in the People’s March for Education Justice | 2017

New York State has continuously decided to neglect the educational opportunities it provides to students in Black, Brown, and low-income neighborhoods. With tyrant Trump around, we need a state government that will decide...

Getting Smart About Apps | 2017

These days, we use our smartphones for everything: alarm clock, calculator, food delivery service, FaceTime with friends and family, TV, information source, payment source and sometimes a tutor.

What’s Up? | 2017

“What’s Up?” In 1992, The 4 Non Blondes sang these lyrics “what’s going on” which were once prophetic but now, timely. Drawing from this song, I'm reminded that our country has always been at war just in different ways &...

Reflections on a film: I Am Not Your Negro | 2017

Watching this film
Was like a rainy day
But one when you are inside
Looking at the drops hitting your window.

What was the idea behind the ASD Nest Program, and what are its key elements? | 2017

Before the advent of the ASD Nest program parents of autistic children in New York City had two choices: a District 75 school for children with severe disabilities, where basic curriculum took a back seat to therapeutic...

Woman holding a placard in a protest march

Collateral Youth: The Impact of Anti-Immigrant Policy on Children | 2017

There are approximately 5.3 million children and youth in the United States with at least one undocumented parent. Election day was a disaster for these children – over 4 million of whom are U.S. citizens.

The US Secretaries of Education | 2017

Many progressive educators are furious about the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education. As many have pointed out throughout the course of her confirmation hearings, Ms. DeVos enters the U.S. Department...

Transgender Students Facing Erasure from Schools Under Trump | 2017

BREAKING NEWS: On February 10, just two days after Jeff Sessions was sworn in as Attorney General, the Department of Justice took a first step toward dropping their defense of the transgender student guidance in court.

New York State is Robbing Our Children of an Adequate Education: See How Much They’re Trying to Deny Your Local School | 2017

State Education Department officials released information stating that New York State owed its students $4.3 billion in educational funding. Four-point-three-BILLION.

Art education teacher working with her students

Why We’re Marching in the People’s March for Education | 2017

Existing as a human, yet using every tool in your capacity to consistently fight back narratives, practices, and systems that fail to recognize your humanity is exhausting.

Students using audiology equipment and rainbow colored blocks.

Head Versus Heart in Educator Professional Development | 2017

In my work evaluating teacher professional development, I’ve seen a lot of variation in the ways my trainer colleagues envision the processes by which schools are transformed.

College Application Smart Apps and Digital Resources for Students and Parents | 2017

The college application process can be complex and overwhelming for both parents and students.

College Applications and the Essay | 2017

Now is the time most high school juniors begin their college planning process. As the March and April tests bear down upon us, everyone at home or at school seems to be debating whether to take the ACT or the SAT (or both).

Engaging the Power of Interests | 2017

NYC, Subways, Bearded dragons, King Tut, Shrubbery, 18th century architecture, Power lines, Ukuleles, Zip codes- Just a few of the topics I now know a great deal about thanks to individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

A senior giving speech in a graduation ceremony

Parent Workshops for the College and Career Process | 2017

At the College Prep Academy, we know how important and valuable our parents are in the process of career and college planning. This past year-through a grant from the Voya Pinkerton and Meringoff Foundations- we have been...

Highlighted text from a passage by John Baldwin - some have tears in their eyes and let me know how awful they feel about the way our poor live, our blacks, or those in dozens of other countries

Fragile and afraid | 2017

It is quite common during our work exploring issues of race, power, and privilege with schools around the country for white participants to suggest we should shy away from inflammatory terms like “white privilege.”

Trans Women are Their Stories To Tell: My Facebook Post about Chimamanda Adichie | 2017

In response to Chimamanda Adichie’s remarks about trans women being a type of woman, I made a decision and posted a sensationalist newspaper article (that was limited in scope) and made a uni-dimensional comment that...

"Are my students at risk?" Measuring Disciplinary Disproportionality | 2017

It is a well-established fact that Black students in the United States are more likely than other students to receive disciplinary referrals, and be suspended or expelled from school.

Culturally Responsive Field Research in Program Evaluations and Monitoring | 2017

When social science researchers engage in fieldwork projects, there is usually a set of prescribed of protocols that guide the parameters of their research.

Success Academy Charter Network Suspension Factory | 2017

In response to the Success Academy charter network suspension debacle, I am choosing to speak to all educators in America since the Success Academy experience mirrors the educational public school system in the United States.

Retention, Responsiveness, and Parent-Teacher Communication | 2017

Many parents will receive unhappy news about their children’s academic, emotional, and social development from teachers and other school professionals at some point in their children’s school lives.

Learn them; they are why you teach | 2017

After the cooing phase, babies begin to babble, the first beautiful expression of the languages they hear around them. This is so remarkably a sign that babies are ready to communicate through language that even if babies...

Screen displaying a website on technology

Common Application Changes: Tips to ensure success for students, staff and parents | 2017

During an era in which educators, parents, and adults alike are working tirelessly to decrease the amount of free time teenagers dedicate to the Web, The Common Application organization intends to utilize this zest for...

The Most Important Three-Word Phrase | 2017

First, on behalf of the faculty I would like to congratulate each of you for your accomplishments that we mark today. We celebrate your achievements, we welcome and thank your families and friends for their support.

Trump's Education Budget Pushes Forward Education Industrialization | 2017

Recently a short clip of a young Black child naming a supposed Donald Trump,“a disgrace to the world”, has gone viral. Trump has of course branded it as “fake news” because the Trump in the video was actually an impersonator.

City is Trying to Build a Seamless System for Autistic Kids | 2017

Back in the early 2000s, autistic children age 5-21 in New York City and elsewhere who were capable of grade level academic work were educated almost exclusively in segregated classrooms with other autistic children.

School Vouchers: What are they, and what does the research say? | 2017

The recent appointment of Betsy DeVos as the United States Secretary of Education has brought the issue of school choice - and particularly school vouchers - into the forefront of American education policy.

Without Sanctuary: Diego Ismael Puma Macancela and the State’s War on Vulnerable Students | 2017

Ossining High School senior Diego Ismael Puma Macancela was arrested in his home and taken to a deportation center on Thursday, June 8th—just days after his mother was arrested and taken to a deportation center.

Catch ’em Being Good | 2017

Most people are wired to notice things that don’t match our expectations. We notice the person facing the wrong way in line or the person speaking loudly when everyone else is whispering.

Misuse of Data in Educational Policy | 2017

Often in education, the policy directions of school districts, state education systems, and the federal Department of Education call for and rely on the effective use of data.

Why the goal cannot be school integration? | 2017

On June 6, 2017, New York City released its plan to make its schools, which are among the most racially segregated in the country, more “diverse.”

From Fruitvale to Dallas, from Trayvon Martin to Mother Emanuel, from Kent State to Unversity of Virginia (Charlottesville) | 2017

When news of the terrorist attack in Charlottesville began to take center stage in our national conversation, I think I had just become numb and at the same time retroactive sensitive to all 135 instances of police abuses and bigotry.

Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools

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