2021: Magazine Writing

12 features and six columns published for national organizations

Below are magazine articles I’ve written (with links and descriptions) that were published in 2021. Link not working? Send me an email here:

Features

Pressure Points (December 2021): For generations, K-12 schools have found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the culture wars, but the level of vitriol, outbursts, and threats against educators has reached new heights in a deeply divided nation. School boards are feeling the brunt of public anger over vaccine and mask mandates, policies involving LGBTQ rights and anti-racist curriculum, and distrust fueled by the contentious 2020 presidential election and its aftermath. Written for American School Board Journal (ASBJ), the magazine of the National School Boards Association.

Anything Is Possible (October 2021): Aldine Independent School District's Carver High School offers award-winning programs in visual arts, vocal and instrumental music, dance, and theatre, giving its students—many of whom live in poverty—a safe environment to discover and be themselves. Written for ASBJ.

A Commitment to AAPI Students (Fall 2021): In the wake of a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students since the start of the pandemic, schools across the U.S. are working to draw more attention to the challenges they face. Here is what is happening in New Jersey. Written for the New Jersey School Boards Association’s magazine School Leader.

Construction Stories (August 2021): A profile of school districts in Maryland, Texas, and Washington, looking at the biggest challenges they faced in creating buy-in to replace or rebuild aging school buildings. Written for ASBJ.

Preparing for the Staffing Surge (July-August 2021): As major employment shifts take place nationwide in the post Covid-19 world, staffing firms are faced with a recruitment ecosystem that has dramatically changed over the past 18 months. Automation and digitalization have replaced face-to-face meetings as the go-to standard for recruiting, at least in the short term, and many staffing firms are leaner than ever as they face a flood of candidates looking to return to the workforce this fall. Written for Staffing Success, the magazine of the American Staffing Association.

A Focus on DEI (Summer 2021): Like other districts across the nation, New Jersey’s Long Branch Public Schools found itself forced to deal with the twin forces of racial and social justice protests and a pandemic that further exposed the inequities students of color face daily. And in the middle of this turmoil, the board also had to do a midyear search for a superintendent. Written for the New Jersey School Boards Association’s magazine School Leader.

Love Not Hate (June 2021): Many of the challenges Asian American students deal with — poverty, language and cultural barriers, teachers who don’t look like them — are no different from other communities of color. However, these students also are facing what AAPI groups have dubbed the “model minority myth” — the perception that Asian Americans are collectively more successful, smarter and more studious than their classmates. As a result, many of the challenges Asian American students face are ignored or pushed aside, especially in highly diverse communities. Written for ASBJ.

Data Driven Equity (April 2021): A look at how data gathering and analysis provides a system-level approach to creating more equitable learning experiences for K-12 students. Written for ASBJ.

The Diversity Big Picture (March-April 2021): Women and minorities have fewer opportunities for advancement in the staffing industry than their white male counterparts, according to new survey by Clearly Rated. In addition to diversifying the staff you hire, here are some strategies for engaging, retaining and promoting your employees to achieve a truly equitable and inspirational company culture. Written for Staffing Success.

Diverse Teachers Matter (February 2021): A story on how districts across the country are developing a racially diverse workforce through grow your own programs, strategic partnerships, and other initiatives. Written for ASBJ.

Staffing Success: Linda Cardenas (January-February 2021): A profile of Linda Cardenas, the 2021 National Staffing Employee of the Year. A nurse employed by Assured Healthcare Staffing, Cardenas was working in an elementary school when Covid hit and shut things down. She quickly and eagerly set her sights on her next challenge: Helping elderly patients in a memory care center deal with the challenges of a global pandemic. Written for Staffing Success.

Overhauling Higher Education (January 2021): Statements you have probably heard about higher education: The cost is too high. The rules are too rigid. Students, if they graduate, finish with astronomical debt and without the skills they need for today’s global workforce. All of those statements were made before COVID-19 and the global reckoning over issues of racial justice and systemic racism. What does that mean for the future of higher education? And how will it affect PhD and postgraduate programs? Written for The Physiologist, the magazine of the American Physiology Association.

Columns

I write a communications/public advocacy column six times a year for American School Board Journal. Here are recent pieces:

Community Connections (December 2021): Austin Independent School District is one of 400 districts that uses an app to dispatch parent inquires to the appropriate office, offering first-class customer service across the district’s 125 schools.

Race and Equity Training (October 2021): Shayla Reese Griffin, co-founder of the Justice Leaders Collaborative, discusses the importance of training educators on bias, diversity, race, and the long-term effect of poverty on generations of students.

Justice Leaders (August 2021): Washtenaw Intermediate School District Interim Superintendent Naomi Norman discusses how the Michigan district prioritizes equity, including its work with educators and nonprofit and church leaders, to provide training on bias, diversity, race, and the long-term effect of poverty on generations of students.

Turn Stereotypes Upside Down (June 2021): Almost a decade ago, Nora Carr and I collaborated on Telling Your Story: A Communications Guide for School Boards. Published by the National School Boards Association in 2012, the guide is a basic primer designed to help board members do their jobs better. We catch up to talk about equity work in schools today.

Lessons Learned (April 2021): Over the past several months, since the pandemic started and protests over racial and social justice began, I’ve written a series of features on districts dealing with the long-standing inequities that students and staff of color face. Throughout my reporting, I’ve been struck by the daunting task district leaders face in unpacking generations of policy and practice as they turn their attention—in some cases belatedly, if at all—to the subject of equity. Several themes emerged that you should consider when discussing this work with your internal and external audiences. 

Equity Lens (February 2021): In Washington state, Highline Public Schools Superintendent Susan Enfield knows that “how we talk to, with, and about our children matters.” A look into the district’s policies shows what the school board-approved equity lens looks like in practice.