We continue our conversation with LaToya Baldwin Clark of UCLA School of Law. Dr. Baldwin Clark explains how the special education system advantages White middle class families. Poor families and families of color tend to lack cultural capital to navigate the system and advocate effectively for their children. While resources flow to White children with special needs, Black children tend to be stigmatized and placed in more restrictive settings. Dr. Baldwin Clark offers recommendations.

Overview

00:00-01:00 Intros

01:00-01:54 Racial disparities in special education

01:54-06:41 How White parents/children benefit from social and cultural capital in special education process

06:41-08:59 Parental participation fails to protect Black children from segregation in special education placements

08:59-14:01 Process of mandated parental participation exacerbates/legitimizes racial inequities

14:01-20:22 Racial breakdown of children placed in more or less restrictive special education environments; greater physical segregation of Black children

20:22-21:53 Suspensions and expulsions

21:53-24:13 Recommendations for change

24:13-28:42 Disproportional suspensions of Black youth; biases and stereotypes of Black girls

28:42-29:51 Responsibility of school districts to ensure White middle class students do not get more resources

29:51-32:46 Need to educate White middle-class parents about equitable distribution of resources

32:46-34:15 Outro

Transcription

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References

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

We speak with Dr. LaToya Baldwin Clark, assistant professor at UCLA School of Law. Dr. Baldwin Clark explains how school boundaries are used for racial exclusion. In many cases, schools don’t just reflect, but cause, segregated neighborhoods. Dr. Baldwin Clark argues that closing the education gap isn’t just about bringing up the bottom, but bringing down the top as well. Parents, teachers, and administrators need to work together to prevent children from benefiting from unearned privilege. Inequality is intrinsically detrimental.

Overview

00:00-00:57 Intros

00:57-03:12 Schools are not preparing all students to be lifelong learners

03:12-13:16 Education as property; cultural and social capital

13:16-15:28 Schools as community enterprises

15:28-18:20 “Schooling in Capitalist America;” caste; legacies of slavery

18:20-21:32 Enforcement of school district boundaries

21:32-25:28  School segregation and housing segregation

25:28-28:20 “Bringing up the bottom and bringing down the top”; reducing the relative distance between the bottom and the top

28:20-31:30 Making the gap less consequential

31:30-35:10 What Culver City (CA) is doing to address inequality in a relative way

35:10-37:44 Implications for Black students when “good schools” look like “White schools”

37:44-40:50 Aggressions and microaggressions in predominantly White schools

40:50-42:15 Outro

Transcript

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References

We speak with Dr. Julie Sugarman of the Migration Policy Institute about meeting the needs of English Learners. We discuss the meaning and implications of ELs “falling behind” during virtual instruction and difficulties administering upcoming English language proficiency tests. Dr. Sugarman talks about a model for incorporating ELs into planning. She also talks about what is lost (and gained) through technology, given the importance of personal relationships to teaching and learning.

Overview

00:00-00:40 Intros

00:40-02:32 English Language Learners (ELs) and how they receive instruction

02:32-03:31 What research shows about language acquisition

03:31-11:46 Legal and ethical aspects of English language instruction; status around the country

11:46-15:00 Challenges facing ELs and ENL teachers during the pandemic and efforts to overcome them

15:00-17:05 Involvement of parents during the pandemic

17:05-17:50 Varying terms/ synonyms for ESL/ESOL/ENL teachers

17:50-18:22 Nashville as an example of a district centering ELs in planning

18:22-21:30 Issues with taking the English language proficiency test during the pandemic

21:30-23:20 English language proficiency tests’ quality

23:20-25:04 Experience with Betsy DeVos’s  Education Department

25:04-26:56 Recommendations to Biden Administration

26:56-30:20 Technology and ELs post-pandemic

30:20-31:45 Outro

Transcript

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Credits

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

We speak with Dr. Judith King-Calnek, United Nations International School’s first Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Since UNIS faculty and students come from all over the world, they draw on one another’s backgrounds and lived experience in presenting and analyzing social issues. Faculty, parents, alumni, and, especially, students are involved in new DEI initiatives. Students are actually writing curriculum, providing feedback, and delivering DEI modules to other students.

Overview 

00:00-00:52 Intros

00:52-01:41 UNIS

01:41-03:25 Anthropological viewpoint

03:25-08:05 Teaching history: Decentering Europe; globalization

08:05-09:26 Priorities as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

09:26-13:33 Restorative mindset and practices

13:33-15:56 Student DEI committee

15:56-19:40 Students writing curriculum

19:40-23:39 Approaching controversial issues

23:39-27:41 Faculty conversations on curriculum and pedagogy

27:41-30:29 Handling microaggressions

30:29-34:04 Students as ethnographers

34:04-37:51 An ethical environment

37:51-39:30 Outro

Transcription 

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Credits

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

Photo facebook.com/UNISNY

We speak with Samuel E. Abrams of Teachers College, Columbia University. The root problems in K12 education — including poverty-related stress and underpaid and underprepared teachers — are pervasive and expensive to fix. So instead, the U.S. has  adopted a “commercial mindset,” measuring success through standardized test scores and increasingly outsourcing school management to for-profit and nonprofit corporations. Dr. Abrams explains what we can learn from Finland’s education system.

Overview

00:00-00:42 Intros

00:42-03:01 What “education and the commercial mindset” means

03:01-05:26 Examples of for-profit and non-profit privatization 

05:26-13:57 Effects of privatization

13:57-20:01 What can be done to enable public education to better meet student needs

20:01-21:45 Separation of church and state

21:45-28:37 Potential positive lessons from business; W. Edwards Deming; rejecting value-added measurement

28:37-32:13 Comparison of U.S. and Finnish education systems

32:13-35:27 Key changes that can be made in U.S. education system

35:27-36:50 Outro 

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

References

Credits

Soundtrack by Podington Bear