Terrapin EdTalks

David Blazar, Associate Professor
Why Black Teachers Matter

Black teachers make an incredible difference in kids’ lives and on their educational outcomes. However, there are far too few Black teachers in P-12 public schools, a trend that has not changed much in 30 years despite considerable and growing policy interest. Associate Professor of Education Policy David Blazar encourages us to create race-conscious pathways into teaching that begin early in children’s educational careers.

Segun Eubanks, Professor of Practice
The Story of a School-University Improvement Journey  

Building school district-university partnerships has become a common clarion call in education (mostly in higher education). Yet making such partnerships real is easier said than done. Segun Eubanks, director of the Center for Educational Innovation and Improvement, discusses the unique relationship between the University of Maryland, College Park, and Prince George’s County Public Schools. He shares how they use improvement science as a vehicle for building meaningful and genuine partnerships that lead to better and more equitable outcomes.

Christy Tirrell-Corbin, Clinical Professor
Educators Navigating Inequities: The Power of Partnerships in Mitigating the Effects of Childhood Trauma

Research consistently shows that one caring educator can mitigate the effects of trauma. However, caring too often comes at a cost: educator secondary traumatic stress and burnout (serious mental health and workforce issues). Clinical Professor of Human Development Christy Tirrell-Corbin explains how research-practice-policy partnerships unite key community members around data on local needs and assets, creating actionable, trauma-informed conditions where educators and students can thrive. 

Jade Wexler, Associate Professor 
Rethinking Literacy Instruction Through Schoolwide Approaches

Many middle and high school students struggle to read and understand text, making it difficult to learn content they need to succeed in school and beyond. To support students, all teachers school-wide need to provide evidence-based literacy instruction. However, teachers have varying levels of skill and other competing priorities. Jade Wexler, associate professor of special education, explains innovative ways to support teachers as they help students understand and learn from text.

Jing Liu, Assistant Professor
Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence to Support Teachers

Formative feedback can improve both teachers’ instruction and their students’ outcomes. Yet, the average teacher in the U.S. has limited access to such feedback because conventional classroom observations are labor intensive, costly and subject to evaluators’ bias. Jing Liu, assistant professor of education policy, offers an affordable, scalable and effective tool called M-Powering Teachers to complement human-based classroom observation tools. Combining cutting-edge machine learning, rich educational theory and behavioral sciences, M-Powering Teachers creates automated measures  on complex teaching practices and provides educators with nuanced, specific, actionable feedback.

Doug Lombardi, Associate Professor
Weathering the Storm: Teaching to Counter Disinformation

People are flooded with information, much of which is generated by nefarious actors spreading disinformation and denial. In the midst of this deluge, teachers face challenges educating students on fundamental scientific, historical, social and civic principles. Doug Lombardi, associate professor of human development, makes the case that effective teaching can counter disinformation and misinformation, especially when teachers collaborate with researchers to develop and use instructional tools and strategies that support students’ critical thinking skills.