Stories by Jill Anderson

The safety of its students and staff should be of top priority to a school. But when a school is implementing new security measures when do the precautions — security cameras, closed campuses, restricted movement for the students — become too much? “There is a point of diminishing returns for fortifying schools," says University of California, Berkeley's Calvin Morrill, professor of law and sociology and co-author with Michael Musheno of the new book, Navigating Conflict: How Youth Handle Trouble in a High-Poverty School. "It may be that some security measures can reduce, for example, the...

As a preschooler, Angela Santomero was children's television pioneer Fred Rogers' biggest fan. As an adult, she is carrying on his legacy by creating engaging, entertaining, educational programming, such as Blue's Clues and Rogers-inspired Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. To Santomero (left, with Daniel Tiger), this marriage of education, child development, and media is the perfect way to promote social-emotional and cognitive learning to the largest audience possible. “I thought if we could put the very best curriculum on television, we could move the needle with millions of kids at a time,...

With the recent rise of movements around gender discrimination and sexual harrassment, such as #TimesUp and #MeToo, Jackson Katz, Ed.M.'92, feels encouraged. But the author, educator, and activist, who has devoted his career to issues of gender, race, and violence, knows that there is still a long way to go. “We need to make this more routine," says Katz, noting that men need to recognize that these issues do not just belong to women, but do, in fact, belong to men themselves. “Until men are involved on all levels, we are just cleaning up after the fact.” The general inclination is to view...

For Lecturer Beth Simpson, Ed.M.’10, it has been evident for a while that Harvard College students’ interest in education careers is on the rise. Senior Lecturer Kay Merseth's undergraduate education course, has been tremendously popular since its launch in 2011, inspiring many to enroll in the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program at Harvard University, the program Simpson directs. But, recently, Simpson has noticed that her students — many of whom are planning to become teachers — are starting to look beyond just working in the classroom. “Many of these students aren’t sure what there is...

Behavioral issues. Learning difficuties. Attention problems. Asthma. These are issues that teachers see in their students every day. All are conditions on their own, but could they also be a symptom of a greater problem? Perhaps, says Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician whose work has shown the links between childhood adversity and harmful effects to long-term health. It is possible, she says, that these issues could be symptomatic of a disregulated stress response resulting from high doses of adversity; in other words, toxic stress. And teachers should be paying attention. “Many young people...

It's a common feature of all classrooms: kids who insist on their own way, who resist the rules of the classroom and stand out as different because of their behavior. It is also common to label these students troublemakers, but to do that would be missing an important opportunity, says Carla Shalaby, Ed.M.'09, Ed.D.'14, a former elementary school teacher and author of Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School. Teachers should understand that an individual's "behavior is interactional with the context," not merely indication that intervention is needed. “Understanding ['...

Doctoral candidate Dara Fisher — an engineer by training — found her calling in education when, as a graduate student studying technology and policy, she was invited to help create the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), a new institution established in 2012 in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During her routine visits to Singapore, coordinating inter-university exchange programs, and helping Singaporean students develop extracurricular activities, she found herself questioning the role of culture in how these collaborations develop. “I turned...

How do black parents communicate information to their children about their personal and group identities as it relates to race, intergroup relationships, and their place in the racial hierarchy? It's a delicate and challenging talk to have, says Columbia University Assistant Professor Raygine DiAquoi, Ed.M.'11, Ed.D.'15. But parents of minority children have been having this talk for generations. "While it's a feature of black life, or a feature of the lives of many minoritized populations, it is also very much a public part of American life," says DiAquoi. "The talk reflects what's happening...

Over the past year, HGSE has followed Kari Croft, Ed.M.’15 (pictured, center, with RISE assistant principal, Erin Whelan, right), as she worked on launching RISE High — an innovative high school aimed at serving the unique needs of Los Angeles-area homeless and foster youth. In August 2017, RISE High opened and now serves over 80 students across two sites with its unique model that ensures transient students can receive steady access to quality education tied to wraparound services. RISE was named one of 10 $10-million winning school projects by XQ: The Super School Project — a national...

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari. Ghana President John Kufour. Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness. These are just some of the leaders that 15-year-old documentary filmmaker Zuriel Oduwole has sat down with to talk about access to education for girls. In her latest documentary, Follow the Ball for Education, Oduwole chronicles some of her efforts to gain support for girls' education from leaders around the globe. Her advocacy work began at only age 9. While working on a project about the Ghana revolution, it caught her attention...