Urban Scholar Ann Mantil

With six years working at a charter school in Washington, D.C. under Ann Mantil's belt, HGSE was a natural fit. "The Urban Scholars Program, the doctoral Urban Superintendents Program, the Achievement Gap Initiative, and the many courses that analyze education issues through an urban lens demonstrate HGSE's commitment to this area, which was unique among the many programs I researched," Mantil says. "The opportunity to study with so many of the country's leading education thinkers and researchers was also a major draw."

Why did you choose a career in education? 
When I was a master's student at Princeton University, I had the eye-opening experience of observing a Trenton, N.J., fourth-grade classroom for a semester. The teacher was a talented educator, but the progress of her students was limited by the school's open floor plan, scarcity of instructional resources, and near absence of parental involvement. Seeing the challenges confronted by highly segregated and under-resourced schools in crime-ridden neighborhoods, I realized that most urban children in America were as or more profoundly disadvantaged than children I had met in India, Nepal, and Mexico during previous international development work.

What does it mean to you to be an Urban Scholar? 
I think the Urban Scholars program provides an invaluable opportunity to connect with like-minded students and faculty. Most of my classes are with students in the Education Policy and Management Program, so I feel fortunate to network with my peers in other programs who approach urban education from different perspectives. Our group interacts with HGSE professors through a series of small seminars throughout the year, so we have the chance to meet faculty outside of our classes and discuss the implications of their research for urban education.

What are your thoughts on teaching in an urban school today?
I think it's a tremendously difficult and rewarding job to take on. The task of differentiating instruction to meet the needs of a very diverse group of students is an intellectual and organizational challenge. I taught for almost eight years and never felt that I had mastered the demands of the job. I believe turnover in urban schools is so high because of the lack of targeted professional development to help teachers be successful in that environment, the huge emphasis placed on standardized testing, and the lack of shared leadership within most urban schools.

What would you change about education today?
I would want to address the growing segregation of public schools by race and class. This issue seems to have disappeared from the national debate after the Parents Involved Supreme Court decision in 2007, but I think the lack of diversity in schools today is a powerful driver of the achievement gap and carries adverse future implications for our society and citizenry.