Skip to Content

Knowledge Center

Common Core

We’ve declared Racism as a Public Health Crisis, Now What?

Since 2019, 50 municipalities and three states have declared racism as a public health crisis. The declarations are meaningful, but how do they lead to real organizational change?   Despite the already huge and growing…
read more

“I’m not good at Math” in the midst of COVID

The Math struggle is real. Starting in third grade, I became convinced that I was just no good at math. As an educator, I saw hundreds of students who had the same belief I did,…
read more

No Justice? No Shit.

Black people suffering at the hands of white people happens so frequently that it’s hard not to become numb to it. Niecy Nash’s YouTube video is funny because it’s so true. But the deadly reality...
read more

Tiger Teams: Added Capacity to Reinvent for Next School Year

Today’s mission critical task in education is reinvention. The problem is that transformation requires creativity, time and capacity—all in short supply after COVID-19 has left our education systems exhausted. Yet to address learning gaps and...
read more

Keeping it Reel

If a picture is worth a thousand words, picture this snapshot of the company culture at UPD. We work hard, and we spend a lot of time together on project teams. But “all work and…
read more

Implementing Early Childhood (PDG B-5) State Plans 

As states receiving Preschool Development Grant (PDG B-5) funds from the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) complete their needs assessments and strategic plans, they should already be thinking about implementation. Proposals for…
read more

Our schools are not failing – they’ve been abandoned.

We all know that money alone won’t fix our urban education systems, but we also know that without appropriate resources, we can’t make the significant changes in systems, practices, and opportunities that students need to…
read more

Getting to the Core of Our Work

When I was a little girl, I was not very athletic but I was very social. I wanted to be where everyone else was and do what they were doing, even if I was not…
read more

Early Work in Ed-Fi Early Warning Systems

Does the Ed-Fi framework have the potential to serve as a foundation for a spectrum of approaches to early warning systems? I believe it does. But let’s ask ourselves a few key questions: Should Ed-Fi provide…
read more

Across the Board: Who Else is Responsible for the Atlanta Cheating Scandal?

The media in recent weeks has focused a great deal of attention on the cheating scandal in Atlanta in which authorities have indicted 35 officials and teachers in the Atlanta Public Schools system for allegedly…
read more

MENU