Educational equity is a topic that is near and dear to early childhood educators. It is a subject that can never be exhausted, because we can always learn more and do more to spur great educational outcomes in all of our students, regardless of where they start their educational journeys.

The Energy Environment Research Center, the brainchild of high school science teacher Nathaniel Wight and his students at the Bronx Design and Construction Academy, is just one example of the great work that CTE educators and their students do in their schools every day.

Teachers instinctively know that helping students develop noncognitive skills — such as self-confidence, perseverance, grit and persistence — contributes to their academic success. New research confirms the vital importance of these skills. 


The UFT's new vice president for middle schools introduces himself, describes his passion teaching middle school and says there is an opportunity now in the city to transform middle school education.

I am honored to represent you, our union’s approximately 40,000 members who are not employed by the DOE, as the UFT’s first-ever vice president for non-DOE members. Although we are called the United Federation of Teachers, we are a union of professionals and encompass far more than just teachers and other DOE employees.

Amid all the upheaval in high schools over the past 12 years, there are success stories that support a different vision. I invite you to consider how the Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School in East Flatbush advances teaching and learning and shared voice.

With the encouragement and full support of President Mulgrew, I approached the Department of Education and Cornell University with a proposal to create a consortium to provide schools with a systemic and research-based approach to understanding, assessing and supporting positive student behavior.

I’m not against assessments, but we can’t let our efforts targeted toward a test get in the way of igniting that spark of learning in our students. The teachers I meet are staying true to their mission and bringing education to life for their students by adapting the new demands to what they know works.

The UFT will, in partnership with the AFT’s Albert Shanker Institute, be co-hosting a conference that will bring together CTE educators, experts and industry partners on Oct. 10 and 11 to map out our vision for the future of career and technical education.

Typically, at this time of year the recipe for my final column would contain the usual ingredients: a large measure of looking back on the school year seasoned with a few tablespoons on how to keep one’s pedagogical skills from wilting during the summer months. But the items on the menu for the end of this school year are so varied and full of promise (and challenge) that I am reluctant to even declare this school year will close.