Education Policy Weekly

John is joined by Dr. Erica Buchanan-Rivera, Chief Equity Officer in an Indiana K-12 district, to talk about Erica's recent thoughts on what matters during a pandemic and how leaders can best support their communities during this time. This is part 2 of this discussion. Check out Erica's article https://medium.com/@ebrivera/pondering-what-matters-amidst-a-pandemic-abef82606b5b (here). Sign up for John's newsletter - 5x5 - https://fivebyfive.substack.com/subscribe (here).

John is joined by Dr. Erica Buchanan-Rivera, Chief Equity Officer in an Indiana K-12 district, to talk about Erica's recent thoughts on what matters during a pandemic and how leaders can best support their communities during this time. Check out Erica's article https://medium.com/@ebrivera/pondering-what-matters-amidst-a-pandemic-abef82606b5b (here). Sign up for John's newsletter - 5x5 - https://fivebyfive.substack.com/subscribe (here).

John is joined by Chanea Bond. The pair reflect on what racial justice would look like in our educational system, how to navigate those individuals in schools who think it is about them, and why we must create spaces collectively in support of children. Check out my newsletter, 5x5, http://fivebyfive.substack.com/subscribe (here). Chanea refers to Dr. Bettina Love's work a few times in the episode, and if you haven't read http://www.beacon.org/We-Want-to-Do-More-Than-Survive-P1446.aspx (We Want to Do More Than Survive), you need to now!

John is joined by Chanea Bond, who is a Literacy teacher at a school in Texas. The two talk about re-opening schools, how the pandemic and the movement for racial justice coincide when it comes to schools, and about the media's perception of teachers. Link to John's new newsletter: fivebyfive.substack.com/about.

John is joined by Kathleen Walsh from Building 21, who talks about what it takes to create real world, practical learning in the science classroom. John also breaks down the latest news in the education policy world, including President Trump's push to open schools "quickly, beautifully" and the growing push for some parents hiring teachers to help with remote learning. Subscribe to John's newsletter – 5x5 – here: https://fivebyfive.substack.com/subscribe (https://fivebyfive.substack.com/subscribe).

John speaks with Dr. Molly Buckley-Marudas, who is a professor at Cleveland State University as well as a professor in residence at the Campus International School where she works on projects related to digital literacy. Molly goes through the ways that digital literacy can help with student motivation, parent engagement, and teacher creativity. This conversation is a must listen as we think about 2020-2021. You can check out Molly's work https://csuohio.academia.edu/MollyBuckley (here). https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/9-ways-online-teaching/ (Here's the article) by Cult of Pedagogy's Jennifer Gonzalez. https://www.stenhouse.com/content/not-light-fire (Here's the link) to buy Not Light, But Fire by Matt Kay. https://www.tcpress.com/teaching-for-a-living-democracy-9780807764169 (Here's the link) to buy Teaching for a Living Democracy by Joshua Block.

John speaks with Dr. Jennifer Nelson, who is a post-doctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt's Peabody College, she studies schools as organizations. On this episode, she joins John to talk about her 2019 research in which she studied how organizational minorities form and use social ties at school. You can check out Dr. Nelson's work http://jennifernelson.org/ (here).

John is joined by Bellwether Education's Cara Jackson to talk about school evaluation, the role of effective administration in a school's trajectory, and a new path forward that would focus on helping schools grow in the long run rather than the more punitive approach we currently take. Follow Cara on https://twitter.com/cara__jackson (Twitter). Check out Cara's work at https://bellwethereducation.org/staff/cara-jackson (Bellwether Education).

John speaks with Dr. Karl Reid, the Executive Director of the National Society of Black Engineers, about the importance of creating a pipeline of Black engineers into the workforce, the way that K-12 schools can help stimulate excitement in Black students, and what the trends are regarding Black student engagement in STEM fields. You can check out the work of NSBE here: https://nsbe.org/home.aspx (https://nsbe.org/home.aspx). You can donate to them here: https://connect.nsbe.org/fundraising/generaldonation.aspx (https://connect.nsbe.org/fundraising/generaldonation.aspx).

John interviews Kelly Wickham Hurst about her antiracism work, why working in schools is political, and the three things that are popular educational talking points that we need to re-evaluate. You can donate to Kelly's non-profit, Being Black at Schools, here: https://donate.beingblackatschool.org/campaign/being-black-at-school/c120635 (https://donate.beingblackatschool.org/campaign/being-black-at-school/c120635).

John is joined by Richard Vedder, a professor emeritus of economics at Ohio University and senior fellow at The Independent Institute. The two talk about how college is broken, what it would look like to create alternate professional pathways, and why it will be hard to undo a lot of the results of America's college obsession. For more on how to advocate for more career and technical education and against college as the only option for students, head to https://www.byjohnphillips.com to check out the resources found in the show notes of this episode.

Welcome to Education Policy Weekly! This episode dives into what this show is going to accomplish and why it is vital that we fight for more equitable education policy across the country. John dives into what education policy is, how schools are connected to numerous other systemic aspects of American life, and why we have to fight for change at the policy level.