Denisha Jones: The Day Joe Biden Lied to Me About Standardized Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog

Denisha Jones: The Day Joe Biden Lied to Me About Standardized Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog

Denisha Jones: The Day Joe Biden Lied to Me About Standardized Testing

Denisha Jones explains here what happened at a televised event in Pittsburgh when she asked candidate Joe Biden if he would eliminate standardized testing. Denisha is a highly accomplished woman and a champion for children.

Biden’s Broken Promise: Time to Opt Out! 

On December 14, 2019, I asked President Biden a question about standardized testing. Seeking the Democratic nomination, he had joined other presidential candidates at a Public Education Forum, the creation of a collective of organizations, including the Schott Foundation, Network for Public Education, and Journey for Justice, live-streamed and moderated by MSNBC.

I had all day to frame my question–Biden was last in the lineup. Given the widespread havoc that standardized testing has wreaked, I had to cover a lot of ground. I wanted to demonstrate the negative impact of standardized testing on teacher autonomyand early childhood education. I needed to emphasize the racist history of standardized testing to remind everyone how CONTINUE READING: Denisha Jones: The Day Joe Biden Lied to Me About Standardized Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”

Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian

Jesse Hagopian and Denisha Jones (livestream)

Black Lives Matter at School

Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 6:00PM Pacific

$5.00 / Free for youth 22 and under

Event Description

How can educators help destroy entrenched inequalities and enact the values of Black Lives Matter in their classrooms, schools, and communities?

Jesse Hagopian and Denisha Jones, both educators and members of the Black Lives Matter at School movement, join us via livestream to discuss this question. They believe that the United States is in the midst of an urgent moral and legal crisis over the safety, liberty, and well-being of Black young people. In an edited collection, Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, they have gathered essential essays, interviews, poems, resolutions, and more from educators, students, and activists who have been building the Black Lives Matter Movement across the country. Hagopian and Jones lay bare the institutional racism inherent in our educational system, and present a critical call to radically reshape learning environments to make them safe, supportive, and transformative for all students.

Jesse Hagopian is a member of the Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and teaches Ethnic Studies at Seattle’s Garfield High School. Hagopian is an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine, the co-editor of the book Teaching for Black Lives, and the editor of the book More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High Stakes Testing. Hagopian serves as the Director of the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award.

Denisha Jones is a member of the national Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and Director of the Art of Teaching, graduate teacher education program, at Sarah Lawrence College. Denisha is an education justice advocate and activist. She serves as Co-Director for Defending the Early Years, Inc, and is the Assistant Executive Director for the Badass Teachers Association. Currently, her research focuses on utilizing the BLM at School curriculum as cultural citizenship and documenting the value of play as a tool for liberation with an emphasis on global approaches to play.

$5.00 / Free for youth 22 and under

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register NOW! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register Today! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register NOW!

Dear readers,

I am writing to invite you to the book launch event for the new book I co-edited with Denisha Jones, Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice! 

I could hardly be any more excited to join Denisha Jones and Brian Jones, the Associate Director of Education at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, for our book event on Wednesday, December 2nd at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. You can Register for the event here. There will be time for Q and A, so bring your questions.

This book was the product of a lot of amazing educators, students, and parents in the Black Lives Matter at School movement around the country and we will be holding future book events with these other authors! I’m especially grateful to the educators in Philadelphia who helped launch the BLM at School movement on a national level and tell their story beautifully in the book.

Opal Tometi (co-founder of Black Lives Matter) wrote a powerful foreword, telling the story of her own experiences in school as a student and as a teacher, linking the broader BLM movement to education, and generalizing the lessons from the Black Lives Matter at School movement. 

I’m truly humbled by the great feedback initial feedback we are getting for the book. The Washington Post just ran a great review of the book, including excerpts from two chapters of the book. Ibram X. Kendi (National Book Award-winning and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author) said of our book, “’Black Lives Matter at School’ is an essential resource for all those seeking to build an antiracist school system.” You can check out the new video trailer for the book to learn more.

See you at the book launch!

-Jesse Hagopian

Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register Today! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

‘Black Lives Matter at School’ — a new book on anti-racist work in education - The Washington Post

‘Black Lives Matter at School’ — a new book on anti-racist work in education - The Washington Post

'Black Lives Matter at School’ — a new book on anti-racist work in education

To the Black children of the future who will one day all be taught the epic story of how Black people finally got free, and who will grow up knowing that their lives matter at school — and everywhere else.

That’s the dedication to a new book, “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice,” which springs from a movement that started several years ago to resist racism and imbue anti-racism in school curriculums as well as educational practices and policies.

The book — edited by educators and activists Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian — is a collection of essays, interviews, poems, lessons and more from educators, students and parents who have become involved with the movement. It discusses the movement’s four demands: ending zero-tolerance discipline and implementing restorative justice; hiring more Black teachers; mandating Black history and ethnic studies in K-12 curriculum; and funding counselors and not police officers in schools.

The movement — connected to but not directly linked to the Black Lives Matter movement — sponsors an annual event called Black Lives Matter at School Week in early February, with the aim of teaching students about Black identity and history, restorative justice and related issues. Thousands of people took part in schools across the country in each of the past two years, according to the organizers, and it has been supported by school boards, unions and other organizations, as well as public officials.

The book is a follow-up to the 2018 “Teaching for Black Lives,” a collection of writings that help educators humanize Black people in curriculum, teaching and policy and connect lessons to young people’s lives.

On Wednesday, Hagopian and Jones will launch the book they co-edited during an online discussion of anti-racist education with Brian Jones. You can tune in to the conversation by getting tickets here.

Hagopian, who teaches ethnic studies at Seattle’s Garfield High School, is a member of the national Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine. Denisha Jones is also on the steering committee and is director of the Art of Teaching, a graduate teacher education program at Sarah Lawrence College. Brian Jones is associate director of education at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and writes about Black education history and politics. CONTINUE READING: ‘Black Lives Matter at School’ — a new book on anti-racist work in education - The Washington Post

President-Elect Biden: Keep Your Promises! | Diane Ravitch's blog

President-Elect Biden: Keep Your Promises! | Diane Ravitch's blog

President-Elect Biden: Keep Your Promises!

During the campaign, Joe Biden made clear commitments to support community public schools. He promised transparency and accountability for privately managed charter schools, as well as a ban on federal funding for charters operated for profit. He also unequivocally took a stand against standardized testing in a public meeting with hundreds of educators in Pittsburgh. NPE board member Denisha Jones asked him at that time if he would commit to ending standardized testing in the schools. He unequivocally said yes.

The Network for Public Education, joined by dozens of other groups, calls on President-Elect Biden to keep his promises.

To add your group’s name, contact NPE.
https://networkforpubliceducation.org/about-npe/

President-Elect Biden: Keep Your Promises! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Announcing the new book, “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–co-edited by Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian, foreword by Opal Tometi – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Announcing the new book, “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–co-edited by Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian, foreword by Opal Tometi – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Announcing the new book, “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–co-edited by Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian, foreword by Opal Tometi

ORDER YOUR COPY OF “BLACK LIVES MATTER AT SCHOOL” TODAY

The educators, students, and community activists whose stories are documented here are fighting for a transformative vision of what public schools can be, and the grassroots efforts we will need to get there. “Black Lives Matter at School” is an essential resource for all those seeking to build an antiracist school system.—Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author 

With a powerful foreword from Opal Tometi (co-founder of Black Lives Matter), Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice succinctly generalizes lessons from successful challenges to institutional racism that have been won through the Black Lives Matter at School movement. 

Join the book editors and Brian Jones on Wednesday, December 2nd at 5:00pm Eastern for a live book release event—Register today!

This book will inspire educators to join the Black Lives Matter at School movement at a moment when antiracist work in education could not be more urgent.

Check out the new video trailer for the book and share it with an educator, parent, student, or community organizer who may be interested in joining the movement:

Pre-orders for the forthcoming, Black Lives Matter at School are available by clicking this link

An amazing group of educators, students, writers, and organizers are contributing authors to Black Lives Matter at School:

Tamara Anderson, Awo Okaikor Aryee-Price, Wayne Au, Takiema Bunche-Smith, Erika Strauss Chavarria, Rosy Clark, Anthony Dandridge, Marshé Doss, Maria C. Fernandez, Brian Ford, Rosie Frascella, Laleña Garcia, Beth Glenn, Nathaniel Genene, Kiersten Greene, Angela Harris, Raquel James-Goodman, Jennifer Johnson, Brian Jones, Erika Jones, B. Kaiser, Makai Kellogg, Bettina L. Love, Dana Morrison, Cecily Myart-Cruz, Dermott Myrie, Israel Presley, Marynoel (Noel) Naa Lamiley Riby-Williams, Christopher Rogers, Kalani Rossman, and Jeff Stone.

Praise for Black Lives Matter at School:

“We need this book right now. The shadow-loving fungus of white supremacy won’t continue to send its spores to infect our children if we act now to bring the curative light of anti-racist knowledge, compassion, and justice into their lives. Built upon the Black Lives Matter at School organization’s Week of Action, this volume provides the adults in our educational institutions with inspiration, organizing principles, strategies, and examples to take ‘bold action against anti-Blackness.’ The authors – visionary educations of what is possible – call on all of us to radically reshape learning environments to make them safe, supportive, and transformative for all students (and teachers). Please read ASAP!” — Lisa Delpit, Executive Director of the Center for Urban Education and Innovation at Florida International University

ORDER YOUR COPY OF “BLACK LIVES MATTER AT SCHOOL” TODAY

“There is no easy way to talk about the complexities of race facing our school system in America—but we have to talk about it if we are ever going to achieve the schools our children deserve. The Black Lives Matter at School movement has been disrupting the complacency of those who, for too long, have been comfortable not having these conversations about the impact of racism in the schools. Black Lives Matter at School is a playbook for undoing institutional racism in the education system. — Michael Bennett, NFL defensive lineman, Superbowl champion, and author, Things That Make White People Uncomfortable

“This book asserts that we are at a critical moment in time, where the racial uprisings underpin the absolute need to transform education and it’s foundational practices. Black Lives Matter is a movement sweeping the globe and affirms that our babies lives matter. It’s time for educators to be bold, standing up for our students and communities. Our students are looking to us to lead the fight against injustice and dismantle systemic racism as we aspire to realize the schools our students deserve.” — Cecily Myart-Cruz, UTLA President, NEA Black Caucus Chair

“This book makes the strong case for why we need to elevate Black lives and people in our curriculum and pedagogy year-round. This book serves as a blueprint to achieve this honorable goal.” — José Luis Vilson, author, This Is Not A Test, A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education

“Black Lives Matter at School centers the humanity of our children. It is a sharp rebuke of white supremacy—the very thing that interrupts the healthy development of Black youth. School communities must affirm Black lives. Educators have to dismantle systems of oppression—systems that we influence daily. We have to be radically different from the missionary educator depicted in popular culture. BLM at School is essential. Period.”— Stacy Davis Gates, Vice President, Chicago Teachers Union

“Toni Morrison reminds us: ‘If you can’t imagine it, you can’t have it.’ This book helps us to imagine Black Lives Mattering in schools. With accounts from teachers across the country doing the work, along with student interviews, poems, posters, and historical background, this is a primer for anti-racist educators to see the way forward in terms of reshaping school curriculum, diversifying teacher hiring, and transforming school discipline.” — Jeanne Theoharis, author, A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History

Order your copy today!

Announcing the new book, “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–co-edited by Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian, foreword by Opal Tometi – I AM AN EDUCATOR