The Minimum Every Teacher Needs to Know About Critical Race Theory and the School Policies It Inspires

Teachers Aid

This term, many teachers, school leaders, students, and parents are going to be touched by the discussion seeping into schools around the United States. What is Critical Race Theory, and how did it get on the list of back-to-school things we all need to think about? In this episode, we invited three guests with specialized experience, knowledge, and insight to help us understand the basics.

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Sarah Schwartz is a reporter for Education Week who covers curriculum and instruction. Before joining the staff, she was as an Education Week intern, covering education technology. She has also worked at a middle school in New York.
Janel George is an Associate Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Her work and scholarship focus on racial stratification and inequality in U.S. education. She has written about the resegregation of public schools, discriminatory school discipline practices, Critical Race Theory, and resource equity. She has served as Legislative Counsel in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, during which time her legislative portfolio included child welfare, civil rights, and education issues. As a civil rights attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), she worked with several campaigns and coalitions to leverage legislative and policy advocacy to advance equal educational opportunity. She also helped to advance the federal policy work of the Dignity in Schools Campaign, including securing provisions related to promoting positive and inclusive school climates in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. She has also worked with non-profits on a variety of state and federal policy issues and has served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

Dr. Dorinda Carter Andrews is an internationally renowned professor and the chairperson for the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on racial equity and justice in education and helping school leaders and youth develop and maintain culturally responsive learning environments. She has given two TEDx talks and is widely published on teacher education and culturally relevant teaching.