This month, I stood next to an Urban Prep senior as he received a red and gold striped tie symbolizing his admission to college. It was an especially poignant celebration because last summer, I stood next to the same student as he fought for his life in a...

I read young adult literature (sometimes called YA or KidLit) and see the movie versions of these books all the time, even though, according to the American Library Association, YA is for people ages twelve to eighteen -- a demographic I haven't been a part of for many years. I...

A recent New York Times editorial noting that fewer charter schools were closed in 2011 than in 2010 has called for more charter schools to be shut down if "the movement is to maintain its credibility." In fact, this seems to be a sentiment shared beyond the paper's...

Whenever my father passionately agrees with something I say, he shouts, "I'm with you when you're right!" After reading the recent report by Shaun R. Harper, Director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education titled Black...

With so much talk right now on the economy and balancing budgets at any cost, it was refreshing to hear President Obama use part of his State of the Union speech to address the skyrocketing cost of college. "Let me put colleges and universities on...

One of the most baffling and counterproductive elements of school reform debates is when educators of different ideological persuasions look to diminish the accomplishments of public schools that are succeeding with disadvantaged students.

Recently, in the New York Times and Education Week, education historian

According to CNN's Don Lemmon, the young men of Urban Prep Academy - the first all boys public charter high school in Chicago and the country - are "Little Obamas." Twenty of the school's "Little Obamas" traveled to Washington to witness the inauguration and participate in the People's Inauguration, hosted...