Anti-racism and culturally responsive therapy highlights a new series of TED-like talks on school equity launched by The Fordham Graduate School of Education.
The YouTube series will pay special attention to issues concerning underrepresented and underserved students, said Akane Zusho, the school’s dean.
The anti-racism talk will be delivered by assistant professor Alea Holman. The second talk in the series covers innovative solutions for eliminating “book deserts,” featuring associate professor Molly Ness.
“As experts and influencers, they share their insights on issues of importance in an effort to generate understanding, create dialogue, and open the gateway to solutions that impact the future of our educational system,” Zusho says.
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Black students are too often labelled by schools psychologists s having intellectual or emotional disabilities, and placed on tracks that lead to more limited academic experiences and career opportunities, Holman says in her talk.
“The fact that Black students are overrepresented in the categories of disabilities that require a high degree of judgment on behalf of the psychologists, and that the psychologists making these decisions about Black students are overwhelmingly white, it is evident that our present process of special education, referral, assessment and placement are riddled with biases that are negatively impacting Black students, ” Holman says.
