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Schools have more student data than ever before. Attendance rates, grades, behavior referrals, assessment results, and credit accumulation can all tell us something about how a student is doing. But identifying a problem is not the same as solving it. In the final conversation of our attendance series, longtime educator and Michigan Department of Education EWIMS lead Bersheril Bailey shared a story that illustrates the difference. As a high school administrator, Bailey once h

Chronic absenteeism is one of the most persistent challenges facing schools. When attendance numbers remain stubbornly high, it can be tempting to look immediately toward the school: What are teachers doing? What interventions are in place? Is the principal paying enough attention? But the research of Dr. Jeremy Singer offers a more complicated—and perhaps more hopeful—way of understanding the problem. Singer describes absenteeism as an ecological problem. Students and famili

When schools talk about attendance, the conversation can quickly become centered on numbers: days absent, students chronically absent, or percentages that need to improve. But educator and community organizer Jekeia Murphy offers a different starting point. Attendance may be an issue for schools, but solving it requires understanding the relationships, experiences, and communities surrounding students. Murphy brings a unique perspective to the conversation. Her experience spa

For years, schools have largely treated attendance as a numbers problem: students are either present or absent. But Scott Martin, an educational consultant with the Michigan Department of Education and former teacher and principal, challenges educators to think differently. Rather than simply asking whether a student came to school, Martin argues that educators should consider how much learning time students are actually accessing. A student sitting in the principal’s office,

For many educators, success is often measured through visible outcomes: grades, graduation rates, awards, advanced coursework, and achievement data. But Dr. Terah Chambers challenges practitioners to look beyond the celebration and ask a deeper question: What does success cost students along the way? Drawing from her own experiences as a student, educator, and scholar, Dr. Chambers’ research explores the concept of racial opportunity cost — the idea that students of color, pa

For educators and school leaders, conversations about equity often focus on student outcomes, staffing diversity, or curriculum reform. But the work of Dr. Tom Drake asks practitioners to examine a deeper and often less visible question: How do racialized perceptions shape who is viewed as legitimate leadership inside schools? Drawing from his experiences as a teacher and leader in Detroit, New York City, and Massachusetts, Dr. Drake’s research explores the relationship betwe

For Dr. Omar Hakim, education has always been rooted in a simple but transformative belief: students should not merely experience school—they should help shape it. In Episode 8 of Coffee with the Doctors, Dr. Hakim reflected on a career that has stretched from high school English classrooms to international fellowships and now into educational public media through Detroit Public Television and the Michigan Learning Channel. Across each role, one thread has remained constant:

Dr. Shayla Young’s work offers a powerful lens on what it means to build an education system that actually supports students—not just in theory, but across the full span of their lives. Her path into education didn’t begin in a classroom, but in social work and youth development, where the goal was simple: help people. That grounding continues to shape how she understands systems today—not as abstract structures, but as lived experiences that either support or fail the young

The effectiveness of a school principal is one of the most powerful in-school factors influencing student success. While research shows that highly effective principals can significantly shape student outcomes, far less attention is given to the conditions that enable—or constrain—their success. Superintendent Coby Fletcher’s research brings this tension into focus, arguing that principal effectiveness is not simply a matter of individual skill, but of system design. At the c

In an era where schools are increasingly asked to solve complex, real-world problems, design thinking offers more than a framework—it offers a posture. In the work of Dr. Amanda Unger and Dr. Simeon Frang, design thinking is not simply a process to be implemented, but a commitment to centering the voices of those most affected by educational systems. Their leadership demonstrates how empathy, iteration, and shared ownership can transform not only decisions, but the very cultu

Educational equity is often discussed as an ideal, but achieving it requires more than good intentions. It demands intentional leadership, systemic reflection, and a willingness to examine how everyday decisions shape outcomes for students. At its core, equity work asks educators to confront a difficult reality: the systems schools operate within often produce outcomes that do not serve all students equally. For educational leaders, the challenge is not simply identifying the

Across the country, school systems continue to wrestle with teacher shortages, achievement gaps, and strained relationships between schools and families. While these challenges are often addressed separately, research and practice suggest they are deeply connected. At the center of this connection is a simple but powerful truth: who teaches matters—not only for students, but for entire communities . A growing body of research shows that students benefit academically and socia

What would happen if Michigan truly treated early literacy not as a set of isolated initiatives, but as a coherent, connected system from preschool through grade twelve? In a recent conversation with Dr. Mary Behm of Genesee ISD, this question emerged as more than a hypothetical. It became a vision for how Michigan might fundamentally rethink literacy practice in Pre-K classrooms—and beyond. At the heart of her insights is a deceptively simple idea: literacy improvement begin

Last year, author and University of Michigan professor Michelle Adams released her groundbreaking book, The Containment: Detroit, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for Brown v. Board of Education (2023). In it, Adams tells the story of how the landmark case Bradley v. Milliken came to be. For those unfamiliar with Bradley v. Milliken (1974), it is helpful to review the broader history of school segregation and desegregation in the United States first. In 1954, the U.S. Suprem

Recent reports have once again placed Michigan near the bottom nationally in student academic outcomes. Headlines focus on comparisons—Can Michigan replicate the “Mississippi Miracle”? Should we look to Finland or Norway for the blueprint? These questions are understandable, but at the Equity Collaborative, we believe the most powerful solutions aren’t overseas or out of state. They’re already here. Research on collective efficacy —the shared belief among educators that they

In Michigan and across the nation, conversations about educational equity often focus on teachers and students. Yet, as Dr. Kyron Harvell’s research makes clear, school leaders—particularly administrators of color—play a critical and often overlooked role in shaping equitable, thriving school communities. Dr. Harvell, principal of Romulus High School and a scholar-practitioner with over two decades of experience in urban education, centers his research on a pressing question:

Each year, Michigan lawmakers convene to finalize the state budget—a critical step that allows school districts and community...

School funding has been at the center of educational discourse for as long as most can remember. Advocates and education leaders often...

While teacher shortages have long been on the minds of policymakers who’ve seen the alarming declining enrollment trends in teacher...

In 2025, EdTrust Midwest released its latest report, Closing the Opportunity Divide , which examines the growing disparities in access to...