EverbodyLuvsRaymondsEdBlog

Academics are essential. At the end of 13 years, I want my kids to be literate and to be able to compute. Specific levers are out in place to ensure learning occurs. The two that come to mind are informal and formal assessments. At our school, we do what we call progress monitoring. There are a host of different systems that measure progress. We’ve found a particular liking to I-Ready. However, I distinctly remember fond experiences with NWEA/Map testing. Moreover, I know the backlash from focusing on standardized testing data alone. No school leader should ever use one data set to measure student progress. Data should be comprised in many ways, as no one snapshot can capture the culmination of how students learn and how teachers deliver instruction. But in a world where two things can be true, I’ll offer this conjecture. Many of these education systems are not capable of supporting the historically marginalized. One way to hold the system accountable is by opting into standardized tes...

When I think about great schools for Black/Brown kids, I get excited. I start to smile because I know the potential of these students. They work hard, but because of folks lowering the bar of expectations, we will never know our babies' true potential. Why Black/Brown students? That's a great question, and in this blog post, I will try to provide descriptors as to why I advocate so much for the poor and disenfranchised.  Mahatma Gandhi once said, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." You see, this statement manifests itself in the American school system. Often the poor and disenfranchised have limited access.  Some would go so far as saying limiting access is intentional and deliberately restricts poor people from resources such as a sound education system. We see many people escape poor education by exercising choice. I want to focus on one form of choice that doesn't receive adequate attention is zip code choice. Zipcode ch...