Thirty years ago, the landmark 1983 education report, "A Nation at Risk," graphically detailed the then growing educational deficits facing American schoolchildren. The report placed heavy emphasis on the progress in educational achievement made by other industrialized nations and warned that America could fall even further behind if...

Welcome to the new blood sport, America: the fight over the Common Core State Standards Initiative. No issue in recent memory has served to divide the education community like Common Core. It has pitted reformer vs. reformer, brother vs. brother. Is implementing Common Core the vital ingredient to ensure the...

Like many, I was pleased to read about the ongoing success of Chicago's all-male Urban Prep Academy; the charter school will once again watch all 167 of its graduates head off to college in the fall. Amazing stuff! In thinking about Urban Prep, we should also acknowledge the...

Maria was the youngest of three children born to Colorado natives of Mexican descent. Her father was a decent, hardworking man, who ran his own flooring business. Her mother worked in a local hospital, where she was a respected clerk. Early in their young lives, Maria and her siblings were...

I am troubled by Byron Williams' recent piece on the debate surrounding school vouchers. As a life-long Democrat, I learned a long time ago that embracing bold education reform would not be popular among some of the party's faithful. If we're serious about helping every child access a...

Several years ago I developed a smart start strategy for education reform in which I identify early childhood education as an integral part of any positive education reform efforts. Yes, providing a sound foundation in the early years of life is important, but I've come to realize that it can't...

Over the next several days, millions of children will return from their holiday vacation and walk through the doors of a school that does not serve their needs. Before the month ends, thousands will drop out and by the end of 2013 more than a million of these children will...

By now, we know why many of our kids drop out of school. Reasons ranging from family and other social challenges, poor instruction, a well-intentioned principal oblivious to student behavior problems, apathetic teachers or some who simply don't have the capacity or the interest in controlling disruptive students. On an...

From time to time, I feature an individual who has made a remarkable difference in the lives of our children. These education change agents care about one thing above everything else: the education of our children.

"When I had my vision for a school, I realized that as a...

For most African-Americans, the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is like the Holy Grail. Brown effectively paved the way for the civil rights movement of the '60s by declaring that "separate but equal had no place" in our schools and, by extension, in our society. The effort...

On the heels of the most expensive, hype-driven presidential campaign in U.S. history, it is probably blasphemy to suggest that we depoliticize education. But I am convinced, particularly after this election, that we must do just that. For weeks, I have been calling on President Obama and Governor Romney to...

During slavery, under some of the worse conditions known to man, slaves taught their kids to read by candlelight under the threat of death. And those kids learned.

On the heels of the great depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's new deal invigorated educational opportunities for poor white kids in places...

Some things just gnaw at you. They grab hold of your emotions, your consciousness, your humanity, and they won't let go.  The first time I felt that gnawing feeling was while watching television as a young boy with my father.  CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite was showing newsreel clips of...

From time to time, I will feature an individual who has made a remarkable difference in the lives of our children. These education change agents care about one thing above everything else: the education of our children.

"I believe that every child is teachable. Every single one. With each child,...

By all accounts, Matthew was a special student. Every day he showed up to school eager to learn and full of questions. Never lacking in energy, Matthew would often get distracted by the littlest thing and sometimes found it difficult to focus. When his teacher began assigning students regular journal...

Can a feature-length movie help promote the reform of our schools? That is the obvious question being raised by many who have seen Won't Back Down, the new film being released nationwide this week. The movie, which was inspired by the California parent trigger law, stars award-winning actresses Viola Davis...

Fourteen year-old Maria is self-assured and full of personality with a smile that lights up a room. The youngest of three children, Maria has that boundless energy one would expect from the 'baby' in the family. But she also loves school, works hard and has big dreams. Maria knows that a high school...

It's the second week of school in Chicago and 350,000 public school students are without teachers. Students who were eager to start a new school year and more importantly ready to learn. Instead these kids are at recreation centers, at home or at work with their parents because teachers have...

Last week, I assumed the role of speechwriter and offered suggested remarks for either or both of the presidential nominees to use for their nomination acceptance speech. I also suggested that the parties not politicize or debate about the education challenges we face, but rather, they agree to sit down...

Over the next 30 days, we will be bombarded with partisan propaganda as both major political parties hold their presidential party conventions. Following the conventions, the vicious personal attacks and unbridled rhetoric will dominate the airwaves and the American psyche. In fact, much of the mudslinging has already begun.