This article details the demise of a small multicultural and democratic school in a large urban district. After a successful 25-year run, a public school built on principles of progressive and democratic education was dismantled and destroyed. The article attempts to expose the contradictions and untruths in the story of Mission Hill School's…

Reflections on the ways in which decisions about the foundation and organization of a small progressive public school exemplify the challenges and trade-offs of living in and with democracy. For the Mission Hill School, democracy was not only an aspiration, it was a way of conducting school life so that every community member felt a sense of…

Patricia Carini valued children's own play and work--writing, drawing, sculpting, building--as a critical mode of meaning-making and learning. Modern education often places little emphasis on such play and work: standards-based programs and projects absorb every moment of the school day, often requiring even more time than is available. Yet…

Patricia Carini's philosophy and ways of seeing and doing were born at a small, independent school in rural Vermont, but the reach of her ideas extended to teachers working in a variety of different settings. This article documents the impact of Carini's work on the practices of the staff at The Cedar School (pseudonym) a small, progressive,…

In this personal account, the author recounts navigating a school uniform policy as a new teacher in a large public high school in Baltimore. He loosely situates this telling in the recent history of the public school uniform movement, of which Baltimore was central. Writing in an urgent present tense, the author details the many complexities…

This article describes the evolution of a theoretical model of school quality drawn from my experiences teaching at different schools, pursuing graduate studies, leading district policy and support networks, and partnering with school systems, as I presently do at Bank Street College of Education. The model positions schools as the key lever for…

This article shows how City-As-School, a progressive public school in New York City, used descriptive inquiry to deepen shared decision making, which is a central value of the school and part of a democratic way of life. Descriptive inquiry is a democratic knowledge-making process that was developed at the Prospect School in North Bennington,…

Given the current challenges facing our democracy in the United States, the role of public schools in forming habits of democratic practice in our citizenry is as important today as ever. To explore this urgent topic, the author interviewed 13 leaders of 10 New York City public schools committed to educating for and with democracy. Six patterns of…

In this article, I aim to analyze the perceptions regarding excellence shared by students of high-performing public schools in Santiago de Chile and simultaneously to reflect on the way in which they experience it, inside and outside of school. Through the analysis of 24 focus groups conducted in six schools, I conclude that students share…

This article is an inquiry into the work of educators at the James Baldwin School (JBS), a New York City public school with an explicit commitment to democracy in its mission and core values. The author was founding principal at JBS for the first six years, has stayed in touch, and recently went back to talk with faculty about how their work has…

This essay examines the author's experiences with becoming a teacher-researcher-leader across many years within two contrasting urban public school contexts. The article works against a traditional "myth" that views teaching as de-professionalized, low-skill and instead argues for teaching as professional, collaborative, political, and…