All of the Above Podcast

Science! Technology! Engineering! Math! “STEM” has been all the rage in education over the last several years as schools look to prepare students for careers in the rapidly growing tech industry. Unfortunately, as STEM education has grown many of our traditionally marginalized students have been left behind. This week we’re joined by computer science teacher and Justice Code founder Caia Brown to...

This Week: After 4 years of work, hundreds of thousands of public comments, and a late rush of right-wing pushback, the CA State Board of Education adopted an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum this week.  The move paves the way for districts and schools across the state to expand the teaching of ethnic studies, and for a future showdown in the state legislature over adding ethnic studies as a r...

This year of pandemic pedagogy has been tough on students of all ages, most notably those in the early grades. As the debate over school “reopening” continues to rage and battlelines are drawn over whether or not students will be confronted with an onslaught of standardized tests this spring, elementary teachers across the nation continue to step up and serve our little kiddos. This week we’re joi...

This Week: Under the radar congress removed the last barrier for school districts to use federal funds on transportation services for integrating schools. We’ve long known of the pernicious effects of segregation on kids and communities of color, but is integration the right answer today? What about the damaging effects segregation has on white kids? And what about the harm done to us all by havin...

The relationship between the public school system and Black families has a long, tenuous history. After decades of marginalization and miseducation, how can public schools do right by Black families to better engage and strengthen the school-to-home connection? We’re joined by the super dope duo of Dr. Tonikiaa Orange and Dr. Tunette Powell, hosts of “Conversations for the Soul” on Facebook Live,...

This Week: Tik Tok strikes again, as an AP US History  teacher in Florida is caught on video white washing the behavior of slave owners to a black student, and claiming that the n word means ignorant. Just ignorant. Nothing else, under any circumstances. Just ignorant. Lord help us all. Also Manuel and Jeff dig into a listener’s perspective (shout out to Ms. Reilley) about the role of whitene...

How can school leaders build and sustain an effective, humanizing, and empowered school culture on their campus? To help answer this question, we take a look at the work being done at a public high school in one of the most marginalized and underserved communities in Los Angeles. We’re joined by the founding principal of the University Pathways Public Service Academy in Watts, Amen Rahh, to discus...

This Week: It’s the first week of Black History Month, in the first celebration of this month post the racial reckoning of 2020. So you’d think we’d be in for none of the usual shenanigans in our nation’s schools, right? Oh, if only. Teachers in Wisconsin asks the kids to consider how they would punish a disobedient slave, and a school in Utah explains how families are allowed to opt out of Black...

With new leadership at the Department of Education and an increasingly heated national debate over opening schools for in-person learning, what should be the top policy priorities for the new administration? We’re joined by lecturer, policy analyst, and one of Connecticut’s dopest educators Robert Cotto, Jr. to explore the most pressing matters in education policy. But first, Jeff and Manuel explo...

This Week: Amidst the talk of “learning loss” and “COVID slide” plans are being made for what school should look like as we (hopefully) prepare for some version of normal in the fall. But what should we do?  Manuel and Jeff dream BIG about what the next 8 months can look like in schools. Also, the Biden administration plans to get kids back in school in their first 100 days.  Manuel and...

This week: Despite an increasingly deadly pandemic, the governor of California is offering BILLIONS of dollars for schools to go ahead and reopen for in-person instruction. What do these financial incentives--along with new post-pandemic budget proposals--say about what our priorities should be when students eventually return to the schoolhouse?  Jeff and Manuel explore the latest development...

This Week: Remember a week ago?  We were all so thankful 2020 was gone and 2021 was here to save us. Then, white nationalists staged a coup attempt going full Kyle-Rittenhouse-vigilante-style insane, and looted the US Capitol building while Congress hid beneath their desks. W...T...F? Manuel was teaching that day, so he and Jeff get into what did happen and what should happen in the classroom...

The pandemic rages. Schools remain closed. But college sports? The show must go on! In the wake of a national uprising for racial justice and a tragic global pandemic, how do we advance justice for our student-athletes right now and ensure that their educational needs are being met? We’re joined by pro ballplayer-turned professor Dr. Eddie Comeaux to explore the intersections between college athle...

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is all the buzz in education, but what does it look like in the wake of remote learning and pandemic schooling? David Adams, the Senior Director of Strategy at the Urban Assembly and super-dope SEL specialist, returns to our show to help us explore how schools should approach SEL in a way that makes sense for these times. But first, Jeff and Manuel explore recen...

This Week: You’ve seen the map . It’s a sea of COVID red and purple, and yet there seems to be renewed momentum to push for the reopening of schools in the new year. Why? Is this even something we should consider? And what does this mean for kids and educators? Also, as the fall semester comes to a close, Manuel and Jeff discuss what to do about the always sticky question of grading. Passing Perio...

We’ve reached the halfway mark of a truly historic, unprecedented, and momentous school year. How do educators feel about how pandemic-schooling has gone thus far? Our Senior Middle School Correspondent Geneviève DeBose joins us to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly from the fall semester of remote learning. But first, Jeff and Manuel explore recent headlines in education including a story ab...

It was a school board race that set national records for outside spending and was characterized by some as a battle between charter and union forces. The dust has settled and attention now turns to the future of the nation’s second-largest school district, LAUSD. Today we’re joined by super-dope educator and incoming school board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin to reflect on the good, the bad, and the...

This Week: like a 90s ballad, we’ve come to the end of the road for Betsy Devos and company at the US Dept of Ed. Manuel and Jeff give a brief rundown of her ignominious record - everything from guns for grizzlies to her war on public schools - and share their thoughts about what should be top priority for the new administration. Passing Period is an AOTA Podcast Extra that gives us a chance to ch...

This Week: the first post election weekend is here, and it kicks off with big news from the presidential election. Looks like Betsy will be packing her bags, but what does it mean for education?  Hardly a word was spoken about education on the campaign trail, and even less coverage has been given to state and local issues.  Manuel and Jeff get into it with a full post election education...

Ivy league dopeness in the building!! Today we’re joined by the faculty director of teacher education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Dr. Christina “V” Villarreal! She shares with us her approach to helping current and future educators de-center whiteness in education as well as the importance of embracing ethnic studies at the graduate level. But first, Jeff and Manuel explore recent...

This Week : It’s ten days from election day and the country is buzzing. And so are the nation’s youth, who live with the consequences of elections, but can’t vote.  A proposition on the ballot in California could stand to change that, at least for a slice of the state's teenagers.  If approved, prop 18 would allow 17 year olds who will be 18 by the time of the general election to vote in...

Genius level dopeness on the show today!! Celebrated author and educator extraordinaire Dr. Gholdy Muhammad joins us to discuss her framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Her book Cultivating Genius is a must-have for educators everywhere and today she shares with us a bit about her framework, her playbook for creating a liberating school system, and her secret for sustaini...

This Week: as Halloween approaches, are we staring down an American education horror story? Hundreds of thousands of students - especially kindergarteners - are missing from school, an already concerning teacher shortage could get much worse, and the budget cliff states and districts face from the COVID recession hasn’t even really hit school yet.  Manuel and Jeff discuss and do some prognost...

How can science teachers engage in the growing movement to adopt anti-racist curriculum and teaching practices? After previously discussing math classes and English Language Arts classes, we now take a look at science! We’re joined by Dr. Terence Keel, a super-dope professor with a split appointment in the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics and UCLA’s Department of African American Studies. B...

This Week: The escalation of hostility towards the teaching of truth about America’s history of racism continues, as Donald J. announces not only the intent to defund those schools and institutions teaching critical race theory, but the establishment of a “1776 Commission” to “promote patriotic education.”  Queue Orwellian nightmares now.  Manuel and Jeff discuss educators’ collective re...