This 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, shockingl

Survey Shows Broad AAPI Support for Teaching About Racism and History - Passing Period #127

29 days ago 47m 4s

This 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

#114 - Fighting Back Against the Attacks on Public Education w/ Dr. Heather Harding!

May 18th, 2024 1h 23m

From 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+ s

The Confederacy is Back in Style in Virginia - Passing Period #126

May 11th, 2024 30m 43s

This 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

#113 - The Promise and Dangers of A.I. in Education with Priten Shah!

May 4th, 2024 1h 14m

It 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

Campus Uprisings and the Age Old Question: to Become an Administrator, or Not to Become an Administrator? - Passing Period #125

Apr 27th, 2024 1h 5m

This 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, suspen

USC and Ronny D, Leading the Way In White Supremacist Nonsense This Week - Passing Period #124

Apr 20th, 2024 1h 9m

This 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

#112 - The Way Forward for PLCs with Dr. Anthony Muhammad!

Apr 13th, 2024 1h 26m

There’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 school

The Benefits of Black Teachers and Chicago Reverses Course on Per Pupil Funding - Passing Period #123

Mar 23rd, 2024 1h 6m

This 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 serv

Data Shows Benefits of Reading Banned Books, and Learning Loss = $31 Trillion - Passing Period #122

Mar 16th, 2024 1h 2m

This 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, a

Is Erasing School Attendance Zones the Path to Liberation, or the New Tool to Undermine Public Education? - Passing Period #121

Mar 10th, 2024 59m 57s

This 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 Ame

Childhood in Gaza, Black Hair in TX Schools, and the Right Wing Chilling Effect on Teachers- Passing Period #120

Mar 2nd, 2024 1h 8m

This 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 H

“Surprising” Data about Emergency Credentialed Teachers and Teacher Mental Health - Passing Period #119

Feb 18th, 2024 56m 37s

This 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

Double Dose of Dartmouth - Unionized Athletes and Bringing Back the SAT - Passing Period #118

Feb 10th, 2024 1h 14m

This 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

$2B CA Settlement To Address Learning Loss Is A Good Thing, Right? - Passing Period #117

Feb 3rd, 2024 58m

This 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, E

Fewer Cops in Schools… For Now - Passing Period #116

Jan 20th, 2024 58m 13s

This 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 partiall

Sending Homeless Students “Home” in CA - Passing Period #115

Jan 13th, 2024 1h 3m

This 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 ma

New Years Ed News Roundup: Harvard Pres, AI, Cops Banning Books, and Ed Dept Resignation Over Gaza - Passing Period #114

Jan 7th, 2024 1h 15m

This 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

AI and DEI: Oklahoma Bans DEI in Schools, and Stanford Study Says AI Doesn’t Increase Cheating - Passing Period #113

Dec 17th, 2023 52m 40s

This 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 concer

#111 - Justice, Hope, and Teaching Fiercely w/ Kass and Cornelius Minor!

Dec 9th, 2023 1h 18m

There 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 challe

Christianity and Big Oil Intrude on Science Textbooks, and Silencing Teachers on Palestine - Passing Period #112

Dec 3rd, 2023 59m 59s

This 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

The Growing Importance of College, and CA Now Requires Teaching Kids to Recognize Fake News - Passing Period #111

Nov 18th, 2023 53m 23s

This 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 t

#110 - The Palestinian Experience in U.S. Schools Today w/ Dr. Sawsan Jaber!

Nov 4th, 2023 1h 27m

The 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. S

#109 - School leadership in today’s climate w/ UCLA’s Dr. Tonikiaa Orange!

Oct 28th, 2023 1h 17m

Being 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

How We Talk About Palestine and Israel in School, and a New Law Requiring Cursive Instruction in CA - Passing Period #110

Oct 21st, 2023 1h 2m

This 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 fa