He not only diagnosed what he considers to be the greatest challenges facing equity in today’s schools, but also offered some prescriptions, including diversifying the teaching force and organizing structures around the students with the highest needs —  although he warned against silver bullets....

Last spring, we asked the educators, administrators, and students to sit down with us and talk about their reasons for pursuing integrated schools.

Jamie Smith was teaching at Bowman Elementary School in Lexington, MA at the time.

When Smith was a child, she was one of the only students of color in her class, an experience she describes "as having to do a very narrow tight-rope walk trip every day."

That feeling is what inspires her to work toward true integration today. 

"We've struggled, and it's important that the...

Earlier this month, hundreds of educators, students, academics and activists descended onto Appian Way, home of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, for the annual Alumni of Color Conference. The theme this year was “Radicalize, Reimagine, Reconstruct,” and so RIDES’s work on reimagining integration fit right in.

For one of the panels, educators and one student who we’ve worked with talked about how they are reimagining integration at their schools, with a special focus on the role of students.

Here are some highlights...