Biography
I am a long-time reporter who became an education writer when my two children began public school. Since 2004 I have worked at The Education Trust, a national education advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. During that time I have authored two books and co-authored a third about high-performing and rapidly improving high-poverty and high-minority schools. I now write regularly about schools and education for Huffington Post. In October, 2013, I was honored to be given the Millman Award for my contributions to education research.
Before joining Ed Trust I wrote the Homeroom column for The Washington Post for five years. Prior to that I was senior writer and executive editor of Black Issues In Higher Education (now Diverse).
My career includes stints as:
* free-lance writer for publications as varied as Education Week, American Educator, and The Washington Post Magazine.
* local general assignment reporter for the Montgomery Journal, where I won numerous awards for my work; and
* foreign correspondent as a stringer for United Press International where, among other things, I covered the 1981 military coup in Turkey.
I am a graduate of Columbia University's School of Journalism.