Schools for All

Schools that participate in a network called Schule ohne Rassismus – Schule mit Courage, which translates to School without Racism – School with Courage, incorporate lessons on anti-racism and discrimination into every facet of the curriculum, from hosting daylong workshop series to tasking students to produce films about bias or organizing field trips to cultural centers that highlight the experiences of minorities. The network includes more than 5,000 schools serving roughly 2.4 million students.

After Brooklyn's District 15 replaced selective admissions with a lottery system, economic segregation in sixth grade decreased by 55 percent and racial segregation decreased by 38 percent compared with the previous year. Though challenges remain in creating truly inclusive school cultures, parents and educators say community attitudes are shifting around what makes for a "good" or desirable school.

In an attempt to close a gap in graduation rates for Black students, campuses in the California State University system, including San Diego State University and Sacramento State University, have shifted hiring practices to improve diversity among faculty and staff, opened resource centers, and implemented new career development programs for Black students. Between 2016 and 2022, Sacramento State's Black graduation rate improved from 21st out of 22 campuses in the system to ninth in the system, though Black students there still graduate at lower rates than average.

Schools in the Richardson Independent School District of Texas are updating the methods and measurements they've used to identify gifted students. One way is by testing all second and sixth graders in the district, which helps diminish implicit bias coming from teachers who may discriminate against certain students. Students' scores are also being judged differently by comparing them against others from similar backgrounds, from within their own school, and nationally.

The Cherry Creek School district is using apprenticeships to create a more racially diverse pipeline of K-12 educators in Colorado. High school juniors and seniors are paid to participate in the apprenticeship, and are able to earn college credit as well. This is one of the ways the district is working on having its workforce reflect its student bodies more accurately. Currently 85% of teachers are white, and half of its student body is kids of color. Now in its second year, the program has grown from an initial cohort of 12 youth apprentices to 26,

A progressive funding model has been a boon to schools in Berlin’s poorer neighborhoods, which receive a baseline of staff and resources. But schools in poorer neighborhoods face a myriad of struggles that additional resources haven’t been able to quell, due to the deep socioeconomic disparities between the home neighborhoods of wealthy and poor students. However, one elementary school seems to have succeeded in desegregating students by offering a choice of academic tracks.

Part 2 of 3 in Series "The Social Wall: Universal Lessons in Berlin's Attempt to Integrate Schools" - A progressive funding model has been a boon to schools in Berlin’s poorer neighborhoods, which receive a baseline of staff and resources. But schools in poorer neighborhoods face a myriad of struggles that additional resources haven’t been able to quell, due to the deep socioeconomic disparities between the home neighborhoods of wealthy and poor students. This "social wall" lies exactly along the lines of the once physical Berlin wall and now divide the haves and have-nots.

Part 1 of 3 - A progressive funding model has been a boon to schools in Berlin’s poorer neighborhoods, which receive a baseline of staff and resources that would make them the envy of many of their counterparts in Pennsylvania. But schools in poorer neighborhoods face a myriad of struggles that additional resources haven’t been able to quell, due to the deep socioeconomic disparities between the home neighborhoods of wealthy and poor students. This "social wall" lies exactly along the lines of the once physical Berlin wall.

Part 2 of the "Equity or Bust: Are Ontario's Public Schools a Model for Pennsylvania" Series: Ontario has become widely lauded for its education system, celebrated for both high performance and relatively smaller achievement gaps between wealthy and poor students, particularly compared to the system in Pennsylvania. Keys to Ontario's success include celebrating diversity and catering education modules to the varied backgrounds of their students, as well as increased parent-teacher involvement.

As tensions over race and education continue to be compounded by growing economic inequality and political rhetoric, one school in Connecticut bridges an otherwise widening divide. Schools like R.J. Kinsella Magnet School of Performing Arts - once the poorest and one of the most racially segregated schools in the state - are inspiring voluntary desegregation by offering successful magnet programs and busing students safely and efficiently across neighborhoods. The successful demonstration of integration in Kinsella is serving as a positive model for other schools around the nation.