African American girls and young women are finally beginning to get their due. There is a palpable energy coalescing in Oakland. I felt the pulse this week at the “Community Forum on the Aspirations of Black Girls” a packed house on a Tuesday night, listening to, and planning action around improving the schools for one…
Whither the Equity Pledge?
Charter schools and district schools are often pitted against one another, despite the fact, they serve basically the same families, face the same challenges, and basically have the same goals. And while there are competitive aspects, there is also real value to sharing and coordination. Over the last couple of years OUSD and the Oakland…
What Really Happened at the Castlemont Charters and What Could Have Been Done
Some ink is starting to spill concerning the recent closure of two Oakland charter schools, Castlemont Junior Academy and Castlemont Primary Academy, assessing what happened, who is to blame, and what should be done. But before we get our chonies too twisted, let’s take a look at what really happened, at least from one perspective.…
The Second Best Charter School in NYC and the Perils of “Accountability”
I worked with one of the top scoring charter schools in NYC. It was also one of the worst schools in the City. This school is a cautionary tale for the unceasing push to simplistic accountability formulas and how schools can manipulate the numbers while not really delivering the goods. The school had the second…
What Is ‘School Accountability’ and Why Should Parents Care About It Anyway?
This is a guest post from education blogger Laura Waters, I thought it might be helpful to some of our readers here at Great School Voices. If you’re a parent like me, at the start of each school year you eagerly learn all about the course content your child will study, the enrichment opportunities…