Launched in 2023, Prep Period with the UChicago Consortium on School Research is a collaboration with The White Rhino Blog for educators who work with low-income students of color. The episodes bring the Consortium's research together with student, family, and teacher voices for insights on the most important conversations in schools today. 

Episode 1: Pandemic experiencese. Hear reflections from Chicago students about their experience learning during the pandemic. 

Episode 2: Students' reflections. Chicago students insightfully discuss the factors that help young people become life-long learners in any context. 

Episode 3: Adolescent development. Hear reflections from Consortium researcher Camille Farrington on how classrooms need to be alive with ideas that engage students’ natural curiosity and desire to learn in school and out. 

Episode 4: Family-School Relationships. Aida Palma Carpio of COFI discusses the realities of school/family relationships, followed by research findings about how to best improve school-family communication and engagement. 

Episode 5: Principal Trust. Ray Salazar, along with Grace Moody and Raul Magdaleno, principals at Alcott and Kelly College Preps respectively, discuss the importance of trust from a principal perspective, detailing their growth as leaders, vulnerability, and the two-way relationship between teachers and principals.