Interviewers John Hendron and Kathleen Vail recently sat down with our very own, Starr Sackstein, a well-known author and educator, about her past year authoring the Career Confidential column in Kappan magazine.

Sackstein received National Board Certification in 2012 and was recognized as an outstanding educator by Education Update. She is also a certified Master Journalism educator through the Journalism Education Association (JEA) and served as JEA’s New York State Director. She was named an ASCD “Emerging Leader” class of 2016, a Champion in Education in 2022, and had the opportunity to give a TEDx Talk called “A Recovering Perfectionist’s Journey to Give Up Grades,” and has spoken on The Red Dot Cafe in affiliation with TEDx San Antonio about grading practices. In 2024, she was named a Distinguished Educator Fellow with PDK International. In 2025, Starr was named to the Fulbright Specialist Roster and currently awaits the opportunity to work on a foreign project.

She is the author of many educational books, including Blogging for Educators, Teaching Students to Self-Assess: How Do I Help Students Grow as Learners?, The Power of Questioning: Opening Up the World of Student Inquiry, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School, Peer Feedback in the Classroom: Empower Students to Provide Effective Peer Feedback, Assessing with Respect: Everyday Practices that Meet Students’ Social and Emotional Needs and From Teacher to Leader: Finding Your Way as a First Time Leader Without Losing Your Mind. She blogged on Education Week Teacher at “Work in Progress” and has contributed to several other publications.

For PDK International, Sackstein serves as the Educators Rising state coordinator for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She will join us again on November 5th for a webinar focused on her experience writing books and supporting future teachers. Career Confidential can be found at http://kappanonline.org/