NEPC Resources on Equity and Social Justice

The Misguided Push to Reintroduce Standardized Testing During the Pandemic

Newsletter

August 6, 2020

Advocates and educators are calling for the use of standardized assessments to diagnose...

From Katrina to COVID-19: How Disaster, Federal Neglect, and the Market Compound Racial Inequities

Policy Memo

Kristen L. Buras

July 28, 2020

Through history, storytelling, and political analysis, this report illustrates how the ...

We All Want More Teachers of Color, Right?: Concerns and Considerations about the Emergent Consensus

Policy Brief

Thomas M. Philip and Anthony L. Brown

July 21, 2020

There is a near unanimity among researchers and practitioners about the need to recruit...

The Most Important School Desegregation Case You’ve Never Heard Of

Newsletter

July 10, 2020

As statues of racist figures come down amid racial justice protests, there’s an effort ...

Michelle Renée Valladares, Ph.D. and Kate Somerville on COVID-19's Impact on K-12 Education

FYI

Michelle Renée Valladares and Kate Somerville

July 8, 2020

In this interview, Associate Director of the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) Mi...

Austerity, Subsistence, or Investment: Will Congress and the President Choose to Bail Out Our Children’s Future?

Policy Memo

Frank Adamson, Allison Brown, and Kevin G. Welner

June 4, 2020

The aggregate cuts to education budgets currently described as inevitable are in fact a...

NEPC Statement about Police Violence and Civil Unrest

FYI

Kevin G. Welner

May 31, 2020

The nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd express deep pain, as they...

Three Ways to Emphasize Equity During School Closures

Newsletter

May 14, 2020

Educators in diverse settings should ensure everyone has the access to needed resources...

Incarcerated Children During the Pandemic

Newsletter

April 30, 2020

Activists call for states to release most youth from juvenile detention facilities and ...

Coronavirus Testing Cancellations Threatened to Worsen Inequities. So These Students Spoke Out

Newsletter

April 21, 2020

Students are calling for colleges and universities to prioritize equity in the admissio...

Education Interview of the Month: Christopher Saldaña Interviews Educators and Activists About Educational Equity During the Pandemic

FYI

Christopher Saldaña, Jillian McRae, Ann Dealy, Saa’un Bell, Kyle Serrette, and Keith Catone

April 16, 2020

NEPC Researcher Christopher Saldaña Interviews educators and activists about educationa...

Education Interview of the Month: Christopher Saldaña Interviews Ansley T. Erickson and Ernest Morrell About the Educational History of Harlem

FYI

Christopher Saldaña, Ansley T. Erickson, and Ernest Morrell

March 26, 2020

NEPC Researcher Christopher Saldaña Interviews Ansley T. Erickson and Ernest Morrell ab...

Community Research Collaboratives

Policy Memo

Adam York, Siomara Valladares, Michelle Renée Valladares, Jon Snyder, and Matt Garcia

March 24, 2020

This policy memo discusses an approach to research and engagement called Community Rese...

Tracking and the Future of Career and Technical Education: How Efforts to Connect School and Work Can Avoid the Past Mistakes of Vocational Education

Policy Brief

Emily Hodge, Shaun Dougherty, and Carol C. Burris

February 25, 2020

Despite the popularity of Career and Technical Education (CTE), concerns remain about t...

Education Interview of the Month: Christopher Saldaña Interviews Jennifer Jellison Holme and Kara Finnigan About Educational and Urban Politics and Policymaking

FYI

Christopher Saldaña, Jennifer Jellison Holme, and Kara Finnigan

February 18, 2020

NEPC Researcher Christopher Saldaña Interviews Jennifer Jellison Holme and Kara Finniga...

NEPC Valentine’s Day Special: A Dozen Roses for Public Education

Newsletter

February 13, 2020

Public schools face relentless criticism. But this Valentine’s Day, we’re taking a step...

Between-District Desegregation: Three Districts That Are Doing It Right

Newsletter

February 11, 2020

Boston, Hartford and Omaha offer hope in a world where desegregation is often falsely v...

Landmark Voucher Case Could Foster Discrimination and Further Lower the Church-State Wall of Separation

Newsletter

January 30, 2020

The Supreme Court is expected to tell states that they cannot enforce legal barriers in...

Will 2020 Be the Year of Acknowledging Opportunity Gaps?

Newsletter

January 23, 2020

The phrase “opportunity gap” should supplant “achievement gap.” Here’s why.

Education Interview of the Month: Christopher Saldaña Interviews Daniel Markovits About American Meritocracy

FYI

Christopher Saldaña and Daniel Markovits

January 16, 2020

NEPC Researcher Christopher Saldaña interviews Daniel Markovits about American meritocr...

The Starts and Stumbles of Restorative Justice in Education: Where Do We Go from Here?

Policy Brief

Anne Gregory and Katherine R. Evans

January 14, 2020

Schools are implementing Restorative Justice in Education (RJE) initiatives across the ...

The Dark Side of Parent Fundraising

Newsletter

December 17, 2019

While we celebrate when parents donate money to their children’s schools, the practice ...

Are Zillow and Realtors Contributing to School Segregation?

Newsletter

December 12, 2019

When home buyers and renters seek out neighborhoods with good schools, what are they re...

How to Start a Social Justice Reading Group in Four Easy Steps

Newsletter

December 3, 2019

A recently finalized guide explains how communities can start a multi-generational read...

NEPC Review: Fewer Children Left Behind: Lessons From the Dramatic Achievement Gains of the 1990s and 2000s (Fordham Institute, October 2019)

NEPC Review

Jaekyung Lee

November 26, 2019

Education Interview of the Month: Christopher Saldaña Interviews Kevin Kumashiro About Education Deans for Justice and Equity Alliance

FYI

Christopher Saldaña and Kevin K. Kumashiro

November 21, 2019

NEPC Researcher Christopher Saldaña interviews Kevin Kumashiro about the Education Dean...

Trauma Belongs in Schools. This New Book Explains Why.

Newsletter

October 31, 2019

A new book explains how and why literacy instruction should incorporate the difficult e...

Seven Trends to Reform U.S. Teacher Education, and the Need to Address Systemic Injustices

FYI

Education Deans for Justice and Equity

October 10, 2019

In this statement, over 350 deans and other leaders are calling for a significant shift...

Five Charts That Show Why We Really Need to Track Educational Equity

Newsletter

October 8, 2019

A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report proposes 16 indicato...

White Fragility. What it Looks Like in Schools

Newsletter

October 1, 2019

In this Q&A, NEPC Fellow Paul Thomas discusses how White fragility plays out in sch...

Who “Gets” to Be Bilingual?

Newsletter

September 24, 2019

In this Q&A, NEPC Fellow Beatriz Arias discusses issues related to emerging bilingu...

Neo-Segregation: Communities That Divorce Their School Districts

Newsletter

September 19, 2019

A new study finds that school district secessions in the South contribute to racial seg...

Bad and Better News about School Segregation

Newsletter

September 12, 2019

A recent study finds that Latino children are becoming more racially segregated in scho...

Six Ways Trump “Public Benefits” Policies Could Harm Children

Newsletter

August 22, 2019

Policy changes could damage the health and educational opportunities of immigrant child...

Recasting Families and Communities as Co-Designers of Education in Tumultuous Times

Policy Memo

Ann M. Ishimaru, Megan Bang, Michelle Renée Valladares, Charlene Montaño Nolan, Henedina Tavares, Aditi Rajendran, and Katherine Chang

July 16, 2019

This policy memo, jointly released by the National Education Policy Center and the Fami...

This Professor Studied Undocumented Students. Then He Started a Scholarship for Them

Newsletter

June 6, 2019

In the past decade, NEPC Fellow Jaime Del Razo has raised $94,000 in scholarship funds ...

Backpedaling on Brown: The Re-Segregation of Our Nation’s Schools

Newsletter

May 16, 2019

As the nation marks the 65thanniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, a new report ca...

Voluntary Integration in the Age of Trump: A Q&A with NEPC Fellow Erica Frankenberg

Newsletter

April 9, 2019

In this Q&A, NEPC Fellow Erica Frankenberg takes stock of voluntary integration eff...

Advice on Keeping Immigrant Students Safe at School

Newsletter

April 4, 2019

NEPC Fellow and Stanford Law professor Bill Koski offers tips on practical steps school...

Education Interview of the Month: Greg Smith Interviews Mark Warren, Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, and Jonathan Stith About the Educational Justice Movement

FYI

Gregory A. Smith, Mark R. Warren, Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, and Jonathan Stith

March 26, 2019

Lewis and Clark College Emeritus Professor of Education Gregory A. Smith interviews Mar...