Before the 2023-24 school year got underway, educators enjoyed an opportunity to pause, reset, and focus on all of the important work ahead. Over the summer, our team here at Accelerate Institute took some time to step back and reflect on our schools’ accomplishments in the previous school year. We sat in celebration with our …
How Do We Ensure a Successful School Year? By Keeping Students First! Read More »
In the years since the pandemic forced schools to close and educators to shift to remote learning, fears about how — or whether — students would be able to keep pace with pre-pandemic academic benchmarks have persisted. These fears were confirmed in June, when the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) federal …
As Students Play Catch-Up, These School Leaders Are Rising to the Challenge Read More »
It’s official. With its ruling last week that effectively ended the role of affirmative action in college admissions, the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a devastating blow to diversity efforts in America’s highly selective universities. So, what’s our next move as K-12 school leaders following this seismic shift in higher education? It is abundantly clear …
Most of us feel pressure to conform to the people around us throughout our lives. For some of us, this feeling can be compounded by a lack of acceptance from others. For Timothy R. Faust, a participant in Accelerate Institute’s Leadership Bridge program, the pressure to conform was foundational. “As a Black gay man in …
How Celebrating Pride is Helping Chicago-Area Students Embrace Their True Selves Read More »
As Founding Principal of KIPP Academy Chicago Primary (KACP), Jarell Lee was on track to help his students exceed their educational goals. “Our student culture was really strong, our family engagement was strong,” Lee shares of founding KACP in 2019. “Our teacher satisfaction was high. But the thing that we really hung our hat on was …
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, schools across the country collectively shifted to a remote learning model. Families found themselves wondering, Can my child receive an adequate education if they’re not in the classroom? Without question, the pandemic and the virtual landscape it called for spelled new territory for educators nationwide. However, for just as many …
Perspectives on Schools Today from Growth Accelerator Leaders Read More »
The most valuable lesson Melissa Jones Clarke ever received was from a friend she’d invited to work as a substitute at one of her schools. At the time, Clarke felt that something was off — not only at the school, but in her career — and she needed an outside perspective. So, she turned to …
It was just another seemingly ordinary day late in the school year at Uncommon Schools’ North Star Academy Clinton Hill in Newark, New Jersey the day that Principal Jody-Anne Jones was honored with the 2018 Ryan Award. Or so she thought. As Jody settled into her regular routine, little did she know that Accelerate Institute …
Catching up with Ryan Award Winner Jody-Anne Jones Read More »
In the mission of working to provide an equitable education for all students, the importance of giving students of color access to educators who look like them simply cannot be overstated. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, though, just 46% of public school students identify as white — while more than three-fourths of …
The new year is officially underway — and what a year 2023 is shaping up to be! Here at Accelerate Institute, we’ve been busy this month putting in the work to establish a strong foundation for achieving our goals throughout the rest of this year. Before we got started, though, the Accelerate team took some …
Watch as the Accelerate Institute Team Shares Our Resolutions for 2023 Read More »
