American Indian children have the highest percentage concerning suicide for all children. Donna, who was in my special education course, set at the back of the classroom silently crying. I approached her to find out if she needed help in any way. I learned that her nine-year old cousin had committed suicide. The child hung herself in her closet. Surprisingly, this was not an unusual occurrence. It seems that the rates of suicide among children five to 11 have risen 15 percent a year from 2013 to 2020. A Vanderbilt study indicated that the number of hospital admissions for ..read more

The accountability movement, in combination with the movement for school choice and market-driven reform, served to shut U.S. teachers out of federal, state, and local educational decision making. Increasingly, their expertise has been questioned and their voices dismissed. The previous billionaire secretary of education, Betsy De Vos, paid little attention to the voices and concerns of teachers as she attempted to move the public schools towards vouchers and charter schools.  Most concerning, the strength of the unions (historically teachers’ most powerful advocates ..read more

In our December 2021 blog, we lauded the US teacher work force for remaining in the trenches despite the ongoing pandemic and resulting hardships.   Now, a few months later, a new poll, found that more than half of public school educators in the U.S. are so burned out from the pandemic that they are prepared to leave the profession. These teachers and administrators are leaving the field earlier than planned because of the additional requirements brought on by the pandemic. In an earlier poll, only 37 percent of respondent indicated a desire to leave th ..read more

February is designated as Black History Month.  It is interesting to look at the background of Carter G. Woodson who brought the need for the month to public notice.  Woodson earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from The University of Chicago.  In 1915, he traveled to Chicago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of emancipation.  While there, Woodson was inspired to help found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). A year later, Woodson singlehandedly launched the Journal of Negro History, in which he and other researchers bro ..read more

School districts are mandated to provide a free and appropriate education for students with disabilities. However, a new and troubling reality is emerging in the nation’s schools. The alarm is being raised by some school psychologists who are on the front line and witness to an emerging and troubling situation. As we are all aware, the COVID pandemic has significantly disrupted education in the nation, making very evident the already documented disparities in student achievement. Additionally, the pandemic highlighted the challenges with virtual instruction, and called attention to ..read more

Many of the nation’s public school have reopened for in person learning even as the Delta variant surges, putting unvaccinated Americans at high risk for infection and death.  Many school age students are not yet vaccinated, a circumstance that is highly problematic for some parents and many school officials.  Deaths and hospitalizations for young children were so acute that a hospital official in Texas announced the lack of space in the pediatric ICU. In the face of this ongoing health crisis there have been several hard-core politicians who threatened to withhold pay of school off ..read more

The Hidden Curriculum in Our Schools Seeing the Hidden Curriculum in Our Schoo What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and than ..read more

June 20 is World Refugee Day. The definition of refugee used by the U.S., is based on international law. A “refugee” is a person outside the country of his or her nationality, who is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion” (Fact Sheet: U.S. Refugee Resettlement, 2020. para.1).    The number of refugees admitted to the U.S. is determined by the U.S. President. In 2021, the total ..read more

Congratulations 2021 Graduates The covid pandemic has exacerbated the difficult process of teaching and learning all across the nation. Teachers, students and parents have all expressed their difficulties with trying to learn while masked and while socially distanced. There have been many articles written about the tremendous hit public education has taken during the past year and we feel researchers will continue to examine the intersection of covid and public education for years to come. We however would like to present a slightly different perspective on education amid the ongoing pandemic ..read more

During a 2020 rally, Candidate Biden was asked “will you commit to the end of standardized testing in public schools”? He answered “YES . . . teachers should be able to determine the curriculum in their classroom . . . teaching to a test underestimates and discounts the things that are most important for students to know.”  Standardized testing was cancelled last year, during the DeVos days, as students, teachers, administrators, and parents attempted to deal with the pandemic. Now, President Biden’s administration says “states must administer federally required standardized tests this y ..read more