I hope the agenda driving criticism of these efforts doesn't undermine the paramount goal: transformative urban schools for kids who have one shot at a 21st-century education.
The study of the black experience could be transformative for schools, police forces, mental health services and other arenas of public life that still have issues with black people.
NAPCS points out that although the country's 5,600-plus charter schools represent only 5percentt of American public schools, they are disproportionally represented on US News & World Report's Best High Schools list -- 17percentt -- and Newsweek's Transformative High Schools list -- 60percentt.
A lone educator might not be able to prevent her black or Latino students' almost inevitable encounter with the criminal justice system, but an organization or union of teachers can help educators learn restorative practices and advocate for a transformative vision of school safety, one that promotes human rights, student leadership, inclusion and community responsibility.
A program called Playworks, which provides coaches who help schools improve the quality of recess, to make it more inclusive and transformative, has helped schools decrease bullying and improved transition times from play to learning.
While a sophomore at MIT, she started working on the film Unorthodox, which weaves her experience with the stories of three Orthodox Jewish teenagers spending a transformative post-high-school year in Israel.
But, leaning against the authoritarians, we have always been able to see thoughtful teaching, community initiative, and transformative experiences in schools.
The NEA Foundation and others are harnessing the power of parents in low-income schools through a transformative way of promoting involvement: school-sponsored home visits by teachers.
When Gong was sixteen, her test scores got her into the top local high school, a transformative moment for a farming family.
