All of the Above Podcast
247 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 54 ratingsWelcome to All of the Above, the show that gives you an un-standardized take on education! We're your home for news and analysis of all the complex, relevant, and controversial issues impacting our schools today. Hosted by the super-dope duo of history teacher Dr. Manuel Rustin and principal-leader Jeffrey Garrett, two Black male lifelong educators based in Los Angeles.
This is the podcast version of our video series. Check out the dopest education show on YouTube and subscribe to our channel at YouTube.com/AlloftheAbove ! Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aota/support
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Episodes
Integration of Church and State, Coming to a School Near You - Passing Period #129
July 06, 2024 20:23 - 1 hour - 129 MBThis Week: The right wing Christian Nationalists have been hard at work on the integrity of the nation’s schools, coming straight for the most basic tenet of any democratic society -- separation of church and state. In Oklahoma, the state superintendent issues a decree that henceforth all grade 5-12 classrooms will “incorporate” the bible and the 10 commandments into the curriculum. And ominously, that “immediate and strict compliance is expected.” Nothing dystopian here. Not to be outdone, ...
Periods and Personal Finance Coming to CA High Schools - Passing Period #128
June 29, 2024 20:29 - 1 hour - 114 MBThis Week: It looks like there will be two new additions coming to the CA high school curriculum in the coming years. The state legislature is close to passing a new bill which would mandate teaching about menstrual health, which is, shockingly, currently not part of the state’s comprehensive sexed curriculum. And since nearly 80% of students say they learn more about frog’s bodies than their own, this can't come too soon! And, this week the state passed a new requirement for personal fin...
Survey Shows Broad AAPI Support for Teaching About Racism and History - Passing Period #127
June 01, 2024 20:36 - 47 minutes - 87.4 MBThis Week: As we conclude AAPI Heritage Month, today we dig into some new data from AP-NORC showing that a massive majority (71%) support the teaching of honest history about racism, slavery and segregation in our K-12 public schools. A similar super majority supports the teaching of AAPI culture and history in the US as well. This data flies in the face of some of the stereotypes and myths that we are led to believe are true, and is an affirming retort to the use of some members of the AAPI...
#114 - Fighting Back Against the Attacks on Public Education w/ Dr. Heather Harding!
May 18, 2024 10:05 - 1 hour - 76.4 MBFrom the CRT hysteria to the current targeting of university DEI efforts, we’ve seen an escalating right wing attack on public education in this country. Often under the guise of “parental rights,” these attacks have targeted teachers, LGBTQ+ students, books, curriculum, SEL, and equity-mined programming. Dr. Heather Harding, the executive director of Campaign for our Shared Future, joins us this week to share her experience in organizing opposition to this rising tide of racist and anti-equ...
The Confederacy is Back in Style in Virginia - Passing Period #126
May 11, 2024 23:14 - 30 minutes - 57.1 MBThis Week: The Shenandoah County Schools have gone completely off the white supremacist ledge this week, as the school board voted 5 to 1 to reinstate -- yes you heard that right -- reinstate the names of confederate warmongers on two of their schools that were renamed early in the period of the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd. The school board made this vote despite majority opposition from the community, and as a bold statement of their commitment to uplifting one of ...
#113 - The Promise and Dangers of A.I. in Education with Priten Shah!
May 04, 2024 09:47 - 1 hour - 68.1 MBIt seems like everywhere we turn right now there are bold statements being made about AI in education. Some claim it must be embraced and that it will take our profession to new heights of learning and achievement. Others claim it’s undermining the most basic elements of ethics and academic integrity. To help us unpack the promise, dangers, and unknowns of AI, we sit down with Priten Shah, the CEO of Pedagogy.Cloud and author of the book AI & The Future of Education! Is the robot apocalypse ...
Campus Uprisings and the Age Old Question: to Become an Administrator, or Not to Become an Administrator? - Passing Period #125
April 27, 2024 21:54 - 1 hour - 121 MBThis Week: As student activism comes to life on college campuses across the nation and around the world in protest of institutional complicity in the genocide and apartheid in Palestine, colleges crack down with violent police responses, suspensions, and even cancellation of graduation ceremonies at USC. Meanwhile, the youth are definitely leading the way. And, Manuel and Jeff discuss the age old question many educators grapple with -- should I leave the classroom and become an administrator...
USC and Ronny D, Leading the Way In White Supremacist Nonsense This Week - Passing Period #124
April 20, 2024 21:36 - 1 hour - 129 MBThis Week: This week has been a doozy in education. The University of Southern California chose its valedictorian, a hijab wearing south Asian woman who minors in resistance to genocide, and then took away her right to speak because she opposes Israeli genocide… or because of “security concerns.” Then, notorious FL governor Ron Desantis (and his buddy Manny Diaz, state Education Commissioner) unveiled new dystopian legislation requiring the teaching of communism… or a set of propaganda about...
#112 - The Way Forward for PLCs with Dr. Anthony Muhammad!
April 13, 2024 09:14 - 1 hour - 79.4 MBThere’s no shortage of ideas in education where the concept looks one way and the actual reality looks…different. This is especially true when it comes to professional learning communities (PLCs), a popular school reform effort that many schools claim to have in place yet few actually execute with fidelity. What are folks getting wrong? And why is it so hard to change practice, even when people can recognize the value of the tenets of PLC work? To help us unpack this, we chat with Dr. Anthon...
The Benefits of Black Teachers and Chicago Reverses Course on Per Pupil Funding - Passing Period #123
March 23, 2024 19:23 - 1 hour - 124 MBThis Week: The interwebs were all ablaze with discussion about the news from AERA that two scholars’ research has shown that Black students, particularly boys from low income backgrounds, are less likely to be enrolled in special education services if they have Black teachers. Big surprise, right? Also, Chicago Public Schools reverses its decade-long decision to have per pupil funding for schools in favor of a more common system, with a twist. An “opportunity index” will be used to different...
Data Shows Benefits of Reading Banned Books, and Learning Loss = $31 Trillion - Passing Period #122
March 16, 2024 20:50 - 1 hour - 116 MBThis Week: Finally, we get some data from a new study out of North Carolina showing the many benefits for students who read “disturbing” banned books. It’s about time! The data shows kids are more empathetic, happier, and lead to read better, among other benefits. And, the learning loss hawks have reached new levels of wild predictions. A new paper from Stanford claims that pandemic disrupted learning will cost the US economy $31 trillion dollars over the remainder of the century. The pseud...
Is Erasing School Attendance Zones the Path to Liberation, or the New Tool to Undermine Public Education? - Passing Period #121
March 10, 2024 00:01 - 59 minutes - 111 MBThis Week: We begin with what can only be described as a hit piece that came out this week in the NY Post that cited Manuel as a great purveyor of the neo marxist conspiracy that is CRT, which is, apparently, destroying all of the fabric of America and along with it, all of western civilization. You should read it. It’s as crazy as it sounds. We also explore a fascinating piece in LA School Report this week which informs us about a new movement among “education advocacy organizations” that h...
Childhood in Gaza, Black Hair in TX Schools, and the Right Wing Chilling Effect on Teachers- Passing Period #120
March 02, 2024 21:49 - 1 hour - 127 MBThis Week: We begin with a moment of reflection on the children of Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where American weapons are being used to steal the childhood of a generation of children. Then, we catch up with a Texas judge’s ruling that a Houston area school district did not discriminate by suspending a Black boy for wearing his natural hair. Then we talk about troubling new Rand Corp. data showing that nearly two thirds of teachers in America are self-censoring content on race, gender, ...
“Surprising” Data about Emergency Credentialed Teachers and Teacher Mental Health - Passing Period #119
February 18, 2024 20:22 - 56 minutes - 105 MBThis Week: New data from NJ and MA shows that teachers who entered the profession through alternative certification programs, particularly following shortages in recent years, show similar gains in test scores and similar performance in teacher evaluations to their peers who were trained in traditional teacher prep programs. But, are we surprised? Also, surprise surprise, kids do better when teachers’ mental health is in a good place. Manuel and Jeff discuss. Get your All of the Above swag...
Double Dose of Dartmouth - Unionized Athletes and Bringing Back the SAT - Passing Period #118
February 10, 2024 23:29 - 1 hour - 139 MBThis Week: Jeff’s alma mater, the Big Green, hit the headlines twice this week with big news about the NLRB recognizing their men’s basketball team as employees -- the first ruling of its kind that may pave the way for seismic change in college athletes nationally. Dartmouth emailed its alumni this week to notify them that they’re tossing aside the pandemic test-optional policy and returning to requiring the SAT/ACT for admission citing that bringing back the testing requirement will help th...
$2B CA Settlement To Address Learning Loss Is A Good Thing, Right? - Passing Period #117
February 03, 2024 22:20 - 58 minutes - 108 MBThis Week: A massive legal settlement coming as the result of litigation that began back in 2020 commits the state of CA to spending $2 billion on addressing learning loss among its most marginalized student populations (LA Times, CalMatters, Ed Source). Citing evidence that the state did not do enough to address digital redlining, lack of instructional time during the height of the pandemic, and failure to train teachers to meet student needs, the state will commit these resources with a sp...
Fewer Cops in Schools… For Now - Passing Period #116
January 20, 2024 22:49 - 58 minutes - 108 MBThis Week: New federal data shows that our nation’s schools have seen a modest decline in the presence of police, for now at least. In the aftermath of the 2020 uprisings and the movement to defund the police a number of school systems partially defunded, or cut school based police. But, fewer took that step than you might think, and with the ongoing crisis of school shootings and the increase of disruptive student behaviors post pandemic, advocates worry that we are seeing a quiet escalatio...
Sending Homeless Students “Home” in CA - Passing Period #115
January 13, 2024 23:37 - 1 hour - 118 MBThis Week: We begin discussing Manuel’s experience as a mentor teacher this year, and the importance of that role in a new teacher’s development. Then, a new study out of UCLA shows a sharp increase in out-of-school suspensions for CA’s most marginalized students -- homeless and foster youth, particularly those of color. Why is this happening, and what would a better way look like in the richest country in history? Manuel and Jeff discuss. Get your All of the Above swag, including your ow...
New Years Ed News Roundup: Harvard Pres, AI, Cops Banning Books, and Ed Dept Resignation Over Gaza - Passing Period #114
January 07, 2024 01:38 - 1 hour - 141 MBThis Week: Happy New Year to the AOTA family. Manuel and Jeff are back in the studio post winter break and doing a roundup of lots of headlines since we’ve last been with you. We got the insanity coming out of Harvard with them chasing a Black, woman president out over racist nonsense. We got a new survey showing that teachers are feeling better about the profession and want to learn more about AI before using it. We got cops in MA coming into a middle school to ban a book after an anonymou...
AI and DEI: Oklahoma Bans DEI in Schools, and Stanford Study Says AI Doesn’t Increase Cheating - Passing Period #113
December 17, 2023 19:40 - 52 minutes - 97.8 MBThis Week: It’s alphabet soup this week! The State of OK bans DEI in schools, using the 14th Amendment and made up ideas about promoting one race as superior to another, and pronoun mandates. And a new study out of Stanford says that our concerns about AI causing an increase in student cheating are not supported by their data, which shows student cheating as flat… at two in three saying they’ve engaged in cheating behavior in the last month. Manuel and Jeff discus. Get your All of the Abov...
#111 - Justice, Hope, and Teaching Fiercely w/ Kass and Cornelius Minor!
December 09, 2023 10:42 - 1 hour - 72 MBThere is so much work to be done to create the type of joyous and just schools that our students deserve, and each day seems to bring yet another trauma or challenge to contend with. To help us unpack and find a path forward during these challenging times, we chat with Kass and Cornelius Minor, two titans of dope teaching who together lead the Minor Collective. We explore Kass’ new book Teaching Fiercely, reflect on Cornelius’ celebrated 2018 book We Got This, and explore the potential of ra...
Christianity and Big Oil Intrude on Science Textbooks, and Silencing Teachers on Palestine - Passing Period #112
December 03, 2023 01:30 - 59 minutes - 111 MBThis Week: Oh Texas… sigh. Will we ever get good news about education coming out of the Lone Star State? Today is not that day. The TX Board of Ed approves new science textbooks, but only after clear modifications to the curriculum that include bending to the oil and gas industry’s propaganda around the uncertainty of climate change, and right wing Christian desires to have their version of creationism taught in science class. Also, a story our of Maryland shows us a glaring example of the c...
The Growing Importance of College, and CA Now Requires Teaching Kids to Recognize Fake News - Passing Period #111
November 18, 2023 21:36 - 53 minutes - 99 MBThis Week: By 2031 nearly 3 in 4 jobs will require some postsecondary education. What does this mean for public education? And a new law in CA makes it one of a handful of states requiring teachers to integrate media literacy into instruction to spot fake news. But with no money for training, and no additional resources for training, librarians and media specialists, and more, will this have the intended effect, or just be another unfunded mandate? Manuel and Jeff discuss. Get your All of t...
#110 - The Palestinian Experience in U.S. Schools Today w/ Dr. Sawsan Jaber!
November 04, 2023 09:30 - 1 hour - 80 MBThe crisis is ongoing and our students are seeing the horrific videos of death and destruction in Gaza. To address this issue with care and provide some much needed perspective, we invited teacher extraordinaire and former AOTA Show guest Dr. Sawsan Jaber back on the show. The daughter of Palestinian refugees, Dr. Jaber is a National Board Certified teacher and one of the founders of the Arab American Education Network (AAEN). She’ll help us explore the ongoing crisis through the lens of tea...
#109 - School leadership in today’s climate w/ UCLA’s Dr. Tonikiaa Orange!
October 28, 2023 10:30 - 1 hour - 71.1 MBBeing a school administrator has never been easy, but today’s education climate has made the work of many school leaders downright unsustainable. With ongoing narratives of so-called learning loss, a return to test-centered teaching, political shenanigans at local school boards, and the apparent deprioritizing of culturally responsive teaching and SEL, how can principals sustain themselves and do right by their students and staff? This week we’re joined by Dr. Tonikiaa Orange, the Director o...
How We Talk About Palestine and Israel in School, and a New Law Requiring Cursive Instruction in CA - Passing Period #110
October 21, 2023 21:41 - 1 hour - 115 MBThis Week: We got some great feedback from the audience after our last episode about Palestine, Israel, and the manufactured controversy around ethnic studies. In particular today we’re responding to comments from a Jewish member of the AOTA family who had some great questions for us. It’s a reminder that we may not always agree, but we can do so from a place of love and respect. And, something that barely made headlines this week, the state of California passed a new law requiring elementar...
Palestine, Israel, the Manufactured Controversy Around Ethnic Studies, and Where We Go From Here - Passing Period #109
October 14, 2023 21:07 - 1 hour - 127 MBThis Week: As graphic images and stories of the march towards ethnic cleansing in Palestine and Israel saturate the largely one-sided American media landscape, we dig into the weaponization of accusations of antisemitism against the expansion of ethnic studies here in California. Whose stories get told in America’s schools, and whose don’t? How do we confront the strange bedfellows of right wing, white supremacists and right wing, pro Israeli occupation forces who join together to suppress e...
#108 - Dope teaching and doctoral work w/ LaMar Timmons-Long!
October 07, 2023 10:05 - 1 hour - 66.3 MBBrooklyn’s in the house!! This week we talk to high school English teacher, NYU doctoral student, and NCTE diversity committee member LaMar Timmons-Long about how he cultivates a vibrant classroom experience that stands firmly in the intersection of justice and joy. How does one navigate the multitude of oppressive systems and bring justice-oriented pedagogy and practice to the classroom? And why should other dope educators out there consider dipping their toes into academia by pursuing doct...
Virginia “compromise” shows us what we get from right wing intrusions into education gets us - Passing Period #108
October 01, 2023 01:38 - 54 minutes - 101 MBThis Week: As a federal government shutdown looms, we dig into the often overlooked potential impacts on the education landscape, from Head Start Programs to student loan repayments. Also, in a fascinating profile of “compromise” that stands in contrast to the total insanity of what’s happening in places like Florida, Virginia recently passed new Social Studies standards that provide a provocative case study into the dramatic shifting of the national narrative to the right that reveals the c...
Virginia “compromise” shows us what we really get from bending to right wing intrusions into public education - Passing Period #108
October 01, 2023 01:38 - 54 minutes - 101 MBThis Week: As a federal government shutdown looms, we dig into the often overlooked potential impacts on the education landscape, from Head Start Programs to student loan repayments. Also, in a fascinating profile of “compromise” that stands in contrast to the total insanity of what’s happening in places like Florida, Virginia recently passed new Social Studies standards that provide a provocative case study into the dramatic shifting of the national narrative to the right that reveals the c...
#107 - Unearthing joy amid troubling times w/ Dr. Gholdy Muhammad!!
September 23, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 79.3 MBBack for a second time! The illustriously dope Dr. Gholdy Muhammad comes back to All of the Above today to fill us in on all the wonderful things that she’s been up to since her first appearance a few years ago. Then, she serves up a lesson on the importance of joy in education! Gholdy breaks down her latest work, Unearthing Joy, and helps us explore what the concept of joy means and what role it should play in teaching and learning, especially at a time of heightened right-wing attacks on e...
Should Kids be Punished for Following Dangerous Social Media Accounts? - Passing Period #107
September 16, 2023 20:52 - 50 minutes - 94.4 MBThis Week: An NYC principal threatens to punish students with suspension, cancellation of social activities, and more, if they follow dangerous social media accounts. The Instagram accounts contain bullying, threats against students, and other racist and humiliating messages specific to the school. It raises big questions about the ethics and constitutionality of such a move, as well as the risks and benefits of anonymous social media use for minors. Also, next weekend - Sat 9/23 - we ...
UC Profs Clap Back and Teachers Forced to Choose Between District Policy and State Law - Passing Period #106
September 09, 2023 20:48 - 1 hour - 121 MBThis Week: Last week we talked about the wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing nature of the CA Gov’s letter to school leaders with “guardrails” for Ethnic Studies curriculum. This week we discuss the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council’s clap back letter, and the raw truth it tells about the right wing, anti-Arab intrusion into ethnic studies. Also, as conservative anti-trans policies expand across CA districts, teachers are faced with the impossible choice to follow state and federal law, or increasingl...
Toxic Equity and the CA Gov (sort of) Supports Ethnic Studies - Passing Period #105
September 02, 2023 22:16 - 1 hour - 123 MBThis Week: An elementary school in Florida puts all the Black kids in an assembly to talk about the problem with their data, start a competition to get test scores up, and win McDonalds. How could this go wrong? It’s a fitting example of what can happen when the pressure to close equity gaps in test scores meets race-neutral policies absent any historical context on how we got here in the first place. Also, the California Gov’s administration issues a letter ostensibly in defense of the comi...
Self-Inflicted Wounds: Principal Autonomy and Conditions for Success - Passing Period #104
August 19, 2023 23:09 - 59 minutes - 110 MBThis Week: The school year has begun in much of the country, and for the rest, the gears are turning on all that infamous beginning-of-year PD and meetings to launch the work. We dig into an article by Chalkbeat Chicago looking at the impact of principal autonomy on student achievement, and expand the convo to a broader look at the conditions for success - or lack thereof - in place for educators across the country. There’s so much we spend on stuff that’s so not effective, while we get so l...
White Supremacist Historical Fantasies and a “Crisis” of Teacher Quality? - Passing Period #103
August 12, 2023 21:14 - 1 hour - 120 MBThis Week: States across the country are banning the teaching of truthful history, and replacing it with the likes of the white supremacist, historical fantasy, propaganda videos we saw go viral this week from Prager U. These patently offensive videos feature a blue eyed Columbus excusing slavery as something to be seen as "no big deal," and a Santa Claus-ified Frederick Douglass extolling the virtues of the founders of the US government for patiently sacrificing the end of slavery as a mast...
A week of right wing insanity, and what we should do about it - Passing Period #102
July 29, 2023 22:54 - 57 minutes - 107 MBThis Week: In just the last 8 days there have been so many utterly insane stories capturing the escalating right wing attacks on public education and the marginalized communities our nation’s schools serve, it’s hard to know where to begin this week. To start, here’s the 9 most egregious stories (and there’s more!) we mention in this week’s episode: Temecula school board adopts social studies curriculum, avoids fine but faces civil rights inquiry California school board battles over LGBTQ+...
#106 - Certification, Credentialing, and Finding Community w/ Dr. Christopher Davis!
July 22, 2023 10:05 - 1 hour - 67.8 MBCultivating high-quality teachers of color doesn’t begin and end with recruitment. From revisiting credentialing practices to creating spaces for BIPOC teachers to pursue National Board Certification, the effort to diversify the teaching profession is complex and ongoing. This week we explore such efforts with Dr. Christopher Davis, a Teacher Representative on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing who also works in the National Board Resource Center at Stanford University as a s...
The Best Way to Teach - Passing Period #101
July 15, 2023 19:45 - 53 minutes - 98 MBThis Week: A study out of the UK suggests that the “best” way to teach might look differently from subject to subject. Shocker, we know. But the interesting part is that the results might be counterintuitive in this era of common core math, and more progressive pedagogy aimed at achieving college readiness for all. Also, this week the Biden administration announced plans to fix administrative flaws in the income driven repayment plans for federal student loan borrowers, automatically crediti...
#105 - Preparing Teachers for Ethnic Studies w/ Dr. Jason Kim-Seda!
July 08, 2023 10:05 - 1 hour - 76.1 MBThe Ethnic Studies dopeness keeps on coming! In our latest look at the growth and implementation of K-12 Ethnic Studies, we explore a university-school partnership focused on preparing current classroom teachers for excellent high school Ethnic Studies implementation. We’re joined by Dr. Jason Kim-Seda, a researcher, instructor, and program designer for the College of Education at CSU Los Angeles whose work includes building capacity of Ethnic Studies teacher teams. He speaks with us about E...
#104 - Gen Z Enters the Teaching Profession w/ Bryant Odega!
June 24, 2023 10:01 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBFrom low compensation, rising costs of living, and the tragic reality of school shootings to book bans, critical race hysteria, and threats against “woke” teachers–this sure seems like a hell of a time to decide to enter the teaching profession. And yet, a whole new generation of teachers are spending this summer getting ready to start their credentialing programs or prepping for their first year of teaching. How do we support and sustain this aspiring group, and what’s their outlook on the ...
#103 - Avoiding Burnout with Rebekah Shoaf and Meredith Matson!
June 10, 2023 10:01 - 1 hour - 67.1 MBWhy am I doing this? Is this still right for me? Why am I not finding the same type of joy and meaning in my work that I once did? These are a few of the questions that many educators grapple with when experiencing burnout. In a profession that is especially grueling for justice-oriented folks, how do we sustain talented, dedicated, super-dope educators who are questioning whether they still have it? This week we’re joined by Rebekah Shoaf and Meredith Matson–authors of Educating with Passio...
Pride Month Protest and Mentoring for New Teachers - Passing Period #100
June 03, 2023 22:07 - 46 minutes - 86.4 MBThis Week: It’s Pride Month, and there’s some not good news coming out of the city of LA, where a group of hateful community members showed up to protest a Pride Month assembly at a local elementary school. And, we dig into a fascinating story from NPR on new teacher mentoring, rooted in rural Alaska, where a mentor takes 3 planes and a snowmobile to mentor new teachers in remote villages. Manuel and Jeff discuss the role and effectiveness of mentoring and reflect on their own experiences a...
#102 - Ethnic Studies in High Schools w/ Dr. Theresa Montaño and Lupe Cardona!
May 27, 2023 10:30 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBCalifornia’s high school class of 2030 will be the first statewide cohort in the nation required to pass an ethnic studies course in order to graduate. Although this groundbreaking step stands in sharp contrast to the banning and censorship efforts taking place in states like Florida, California’s ethnic studies mandate is not without its critics and detractors. This week we sit with Dr. Theresa Montaño and Lupe Cardona to explore the promise and the pushback around offering ethnic studies a...
SURPRISE!!! Studies Show More Funding Improves Student Outcomes - Passing Period #99
May 20, 2023 21:44 - 49 minutes - 91.9 MBThis Week: The notion that “throwing more money at schools” isn’t a serious policy solution has dominated the policy landscape for decades, thanks in significant part to one Eric Hanushek. His work has been cited in court cases, and public discourse since the 80s to suppress efforts at more just and equitable funding for schools. Well, turns out that even Hanushek's own research now supports the very idea he has spent a career opposing. Maueul and Jeff discuss the religious pseudoscience o...
Bulletproof Whiteboards and Civil Rights Complaints - Passing Period #98
May 13, 2023 22:47 - 1 hour - 115 MBThis Week: we got a bunch of hood stuff to get into today! Manuel’s students present their ethnic studies genius, AOTA listener Mike chimes in on last week’s episode on teacher pay with an interesting debate, a MN school district buys bulletproof whiteboards for kids to fend of school shooters, and one person files more than 7k civil rights complaints to the US Dept of Ed all by themselves last year. Manuel and Jeff discuss! Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Trut...
Civics Scores Are No Bueno, and Debating Teacher Pay in High Poverty Schools - Passing Period #97
May 07, 2023 15:40 - 1 hour - 116 MBThis Week: The 2022 NAEP 8th grade civics scores are out, and the clickbait headlines are flowing. But what does the data really mean, and how should we feel about the lack of progress? Also, Manuel and Jeff weigh in on an age-old debate - should teachers who work in hard to staff schools, or schools serving marginalized communities, be paid more? Is the opposition from unions just entrenched politics of the past that preserve an unfair system? Are these policies a temporary band aid that w...
Celebrations and Hidden Problems with College Decision Day 2023 - Passing Period #96
April 29, 2023 20:40 - 55 minutes - 103 MBThis Week: It’s a growing annual tradition, schools celebrating college decision day with fanfare, pomp and circumstance. With that backdrop in mind, Manuel and Jeff explore a record setting senior who was admitted to 125+ colleges and earned more than $9M in scholarships, and students in CA who got into their dream school, got max financial aid awards, and still can’t afford to go. Plus, the College Board backtracks on their capitulation to white supremacists, but is it enough to resolve th...
#101 - Larry Ferlazzo on boosting student motivation!
April 22, 2023 17:23 - 1 hour - 72.5 MBIt’s an age-old question: Why aren’t my students as excited about this super-awesome lesson plan as I am?? Of course, it would be wonderful if every student arrived to class with deep, passionate motivation to learn each day. Seeing as how that’s not quite the reality in our schools, this week we explore what role teachers play in creating the conditions for students to develop an intrinsic motivation for learning. We’re joined by veteran teacher and author extraordinaire Larry Ferlazzo to e...
Bumps in teacher prep program enrollment could mean good news…maybe? - Passing Period #95
April 15, 2023 21:37 - 53 minutes - 99.6 MBThis Week: Manuel heads to Sacramento to hang out with all the most brilliant educators in CA working on teacher diversity, and a new piece in The 74 cites federal data showing, surprisingly, a bump in enrollment in teacher prep programs throughout much of the country. Could this mean the beginning of the end of the teacher shortage crisis? Or is this just a blip on an otherwise downward trending graph? Manuel and Jeff discuss. Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the...