All of the Above Podcast

This Week: A new data set from orgs that study the impacts of heat and lack of canopy coverage on school campuses sheds light (no pun intended) on the extent of a long-standing problem with California’s public schools. Extreme heat, lack of tree canopy coverage, and the combination often being present in the communities serving the most marginalized communities across the state. And, we check back in on the rising, and spreading, student-led protests across Europe, now popping off in Greece, as well as France and Albania. What does it mean to be a student, or an educator, in these revolutionary times? Manuel and Jeff discuss!

All of the Above was named one of the top podcasts on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

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Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

This Week: Remember Betsy Devos?  Remember how she used her power back in 2020 to make it easier for predatory men to get away with sexual harassment and assault on college campuses? Well, we do, and we’re sure that has absolutely nothing to do with what happened at Cornell. And, for our main story today, we dive into grades. Specifically, a fascinating story out of Indianapolis where the district has reversed (sort of) its pandemic era policy banning zero grades for failing assignments. What’s fair when it comes to grading? Do grades even matter? Is there a better way we should be doing this? Manuel and Jeff discuss!

All of the Above was named one of the top podcasts on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

This Week: Nearly 2000 high schools across France are closed amidst a wave of student protest that has taken over the nation. Demanding change to dilapidated conditions of school facilities, extreme heat and cold, leaky ceilings, exposure to toxic chemicals in aging buildings, staffing shortages, and more, the student protests have drawn an expanding set of the French population into a larger movement for change.  Of course, violent police crackdowns are now capturing the eyes of the world as more than 5000 students have been arrested, and students have lost body parts, including eyes, limbs, and sustained brutal injuries from police attacks. Meanwhile, here in the land of the free, a draconian Texas law that seeks to ban free speech for any student efforts to challenge the status quo has wound up in federal court. While students practice democracy to force change in France, here in America, even speaking on issues of consequence after 10pm could be a crime. Manuel and Jeff discuss! 

All of the Above was named one of the top podcasts on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

This Week: Few things have gotten more people in America to have a (hopefully) substantive conversation about the core issue of segregation in American public education than has this phenomenal article by the legendary Nikole Hannah Jones in the NY Times magazine this week. In the nation’s largest school system, in a city boasting with pride about its democratic socialist mayor and its proud tradition of progressivism, lurks one of the most deeply segregated school systems in America. And, it is much more alike the rest of the nation in this regard than perhaps any of us would like to admit. Parents, especially those of Black kids, face the impossible choice. Do I put my child in a segregated, under resourced, and/or failing school with children (and sometimes educators) who look like them and can offer an identity affirming experience, or do I send them to a mostly white space where they are likely to get better academic preparation, and greater resources, but experience the psychological violence of racism? Whew, we’re getting deep today yall. Manuel and Jeff discuss!    

All of the Above was named in the top 20 on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

This Week: Who knew the plastics industry was infiltrating K-12 science curricula with lessons that help kids do things like pretending to be an employee of Dow Chemical and building a better plastic bag, or understanding the ubiquitous and positive nature of plastics in our lives?  Yeah, it’s happening. Also, a sad, if not shocking piece in the Hechinger Report calls out persistent disproportionality in Black boys being retained a year in school, even as overall rates of retention fall across the country. What’s at play here, and how do we solve this seemingly intractable issue? Manuel and Jeff discuss!    

All of the Above was named in the top 20 on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

This Week: It has been a busy few weeks of stories in education, so we begin with a lightning round of headlines covering everything from a hero teacher saving 900 students in Nepal, to the Catholic Bishops in Florida telling the attorney general to kick rocks. Then, we dig deep into the big news out of the nations’ two largest school systems - NYC and LA - which have both taken bold moves to restrict generative AI tolls and usage in schools, as well as screen time during the school day, especially for younger learners. But, some folks are saying this is purely reactionary policy that is shortsighted, and is actually exacerbating equity issues when it comes to tech literacy. Is this progress, or regression? Manuel and Jeff discuss!

All of the Above was named in the top 20 on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Today on AOTA Shorts: Varsity Tutors for Schools, one of the nation’s largest virtual tutoring providers, has abruptly closed up shop. Citing a lack of evidence of effectiveness, it appears their district partners had begun seeking other providers. As we emerge from the pandemic era, where billions in additional federal funding for education sparked a wave of high-dose tutoring and other ed tech based service providers, schools and districts are now forced to grapple with both costs and the harsh reality of whether these providers were able to deliver results. Varsity, it appears, did not. But the closure of a company that’s not delivering results is a good thing… right? Manuel and Jeff discuss!

All of the Above was named #30 on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Today on AOTA Shorts: A group of families and education advocates in Massachusetts join a growing number of lawsuits challenging school segregation across the country.  Since the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, America begrudgingly inched forward in its efforts to integrate public schools, and then almost immediately began backtracking on that promise systematically. Today schools are more segregated than they’ve been in decades, and with entrenched racial housing patterns, and a federal government that has weaponized the civil rights infrastructure against us, the problem is clear, but the solutions are not. What did we gain and lose in the era following Brown? And what lessons should we learn in this renewed fight against segregation? Manuel and Jeff discuss!

All of the Above was named #30 on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Today on AOTA Shorts: Citing a lack of evidence showing any systemic pattern of antisemitism, a federal judge dismissed a Trump admin lawsuit against Harvard University. This is the latest in a growing number of legal losses the administration and its allies are experiencing as legal scrutiny is applied to their weaponized allegations of antisemitism, their fascist attempts to constrain free speech and suppress ideas they don’t like, and their manufactured hysteria about DEI. It’s one step in the right direction, with many more steps to go to undo the chilling effects of their policy agenda in higher education. Manuel and Jeff discuss!

All of the Above was named #30 on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com

This Week: Turns out if you invest resources equitably to meet the needs of students and communities who have been systematically underserved, you do see results. Shocker. In Los Angeles, the district’s Black Student Achievement Plan has faced racist legal challenges and the doom of an impending budget crisis. And yet, state test scores show the achievement gap for Black students is shrinking. And, in Texas a group of faculty have sued the Texas A&M System over a dystopian policy banning “advocacy” of race and gender ideology, whatever the hell that even means. The policy, which is a clear example of censorship, and a flagrant violation of first amendment rights, is now facing legal challenges by faculty who have faced rejection of courses, censorship of texts and topics, and even cancellation of a course already in session.  Wild times, and hopefully more good news coming from the courts soon.  Manuel and Jeff discuss!

All of the Above was named #30 on the Best 100 Education Podcasts in the US by MillionPodcasts.com. Check us out, like, subscribe, and drop a rating :) 

MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com 

Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!

Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify 

Website: https://AOTAshow.com