Nationwide, about 90 percent of four-day school weeks are used by rural, White populations. Here’s what Black families should know about the model. By Maya PottigerWord in Black Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers, educators and parents have been playing catch up. The recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report showed devastating declines […]
Author Archives: Maya Pottiger Word in Black
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Schools aren’t prepared to handle racist bullying
By Maya Pottiger, Word In Black Breana Calloway stood in front of the Illinois State Senate in March to testify in favor of the Racism Free Schools Act. It passed the Senate unanimously, passed through the House, and was signed into law in August. Calloway, a principal-in-training in Chicago and a former Teach Plus Fellow, […]
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Teaching Black teens the signs of dating violence
By Maya Pottiger, Word In Black Back in the 1990s, everyone was jealous of their classmate who had a phone in their room — doubly so if it was a private line. Otherwise, your parents could pick up in another room and listen in to your conversations, or at least know who you were talking […]
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Four new Black educators speak on why they chose teaching
By Maya Pottiger, Word In Black From low wages to being caught in the political crossfire over book bans, to challenges with student mental health and behavior, teachers are going through it. And, since the pandemic virtual learning years, we’ve seen a mass exodus from the profession, leading to ongoing teacher shortages, especially in schools […]
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What teacher turnover means for the upcoming school year
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black For many educators, the 2022-2023 school year was harder than the pandemic years. Sharif El-Mekki, founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development, recalled a recent conversation with a principal describing the challenges. “Every time there’s a shortage in your school, it has a ripple effect,” El-Mekki […]
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What’s next for affirmative action?
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black As the Supreme Court term draws to a close, the nation stands on the precipice of radical change. Any day now, the court will release its decision on race-conscious admissions — better known as affirmative action in college admissions. The historic decision has the potential to alter the landscape […]
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Black teachers want (and need) mentors
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black Schools don’t exist in a vacuum. They mirror the broader society and structures of power and privilege, of racism and inequality, are replicated within their walls. And so, the journey of a Black teacher is inherently different. It is marked by a unique set of challenges that white teachers, […]
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Want to stop learning loss? Send your kid to summer camp
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black “I need you to be OK with failing.” This is the message Aquarius Cain gives to students on the first day of camp every summer. Cain is the co-owner and CEO of Achieve Success Tutoring, which hosts a variety of STEAM camps all summer long. “I love having that […]
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Three Black teachers of the year share what keeps them in the classroom
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black It had been 10 years since they’d last seen each other — and 17 since they’d been teacher and student. But when Connie Hall was at the White House in April being recognized as a 2023 State Teacher of the Year, her former student, now a staffer in the […]
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Teaching generation TikTok how to tell what’s true online
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black Perhaps without even realizing it, we are inundated with information nearly everywhere in our lives. TV, radio, Spotify, SoundCloud, text messages, Instagram/TikTok/Snapchat notifications, news alerts, emails from teachers, advertising in every social media feed and scrolling through the hundreds of posts up on the Shade Room every day. That […]
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Is dual enrollment or AP better for earning college credit?
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black For the past 70 years, American high school students who wanted to get a head start on higher education had one path forward: take an Advanced Placement (AP) course, and then score high enough on the corresponding AP exam to hopefully qualify for college credit. But, thanks to a […]
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Why we need diverse books in schools
by Maya Pottiger, Word in Black Ever since he was young, Marchánt Davis has always loved children’s media and the power it possesses. Though his favorites were “Sesame Street” and “Reading Rainbow” — especially seeing himself represented on screen through LeVar Burton — he says he was “strangely” inspired by “Snow White.” “It was always […]