When the New York Times in a student opinion piece asked “How do you think American education could be improved?”, Skye Williams from Sarasota, Florida wrote, ”I think that the American education system can be improved by allowing students to choose the classes that they wish to take or classes that are beneficial for their future. Students aren’t really learning things that can help them in the future such as basic reading and math.” Skye’s comment captures the fact that schooling experiences of American children is far from homogenous and the multitudes of factors that shape their beliefs, behaviors, performance, and identities vary dramatically based on the context, systems, and learning environments.
On this episode, Senior Research Associate and Director of the Equitable Learning and Development Group at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, Camille Farrington, Ph.D., discusses how school structures and teacher practices can and do empower young learners to make sense of their daily schooling experiences and help transform them into well-prepared young adults...