Conversations with the Dean
Building a Lasting Legacy
As Dean David Chard prepares to say farewell to his role as dean of BU Wheelock, he sat down for a final Conversations with the Dean webinar—but this time, he was the one being interviewed. Chard, who will step down as BU Wheelock dean at the end of June, was interviewed by Mary Churchill, associate […]
Can We Make School Safe and Supportive for All?
While schools need to maintain discipline to function smoothly, many schools err on the side of discipline over inclusion. The result? Students of color and low-income students are disproportionately excluded from the classroom through suspensions, expulsions, and referrals to the juvenile justice system. And once a student has been excluded from the classroom, the likelihood […]
How Can Teacher Preparation Stay Relevant?
Traditional teacher preparation programs housed in institutions of higher education are finding themselves having to adapt to the new reality that fewer people are studying to become teachers. As a result, these programs are building new partnerships, changing their curriculum, and adopting new recruitment methods to keep themselves relevant. For this Conversations with the Dean […]
What Schools Can Do about the Special Education Teacher Shortage
Students with disabilities need kind, empathic teachers to guide them throughout their educational career, but many school districts are struggling to recruit and retrain special education teachers. Inaccessible buildings, a lack of resources, isolation from other teachers, an unmanageable workload, and other inequities are all barriers that face special ed teachers who may be enthusiastic […]