Journal of a Black Teacher

"...If we treated education the way we treat sports, failing leaders wouldn't survive a season. Coaches who can't win get fired. Players who don't produce get pushed harder to improve. But in education, the most important playing field of all, we tolerate failure year in and year out."  By Don Allen, Journal of A Black Teacher  Walk into most Twin Cities schools today, and you'll see gleaming new lockers, polished hallways, and floors freshly waxed. They gleam like museum pieces of what "progress" is supposed to look like. This also depends on the location of the school. I had a friend who said his classroom was mopped twice in the 2024-2025 school year. His building served African American students in one of Minneapolis’ poorest neighborhoods. But scratch below the surface and you'll find that too many children still cannot read at grade level, do basic mathematical calculations, or pass science benchmarks. The truth is unavoidable: children di...

“I can’t help but wonder about the odds.” Pull Quote. By Don Allen - Journal of A Black Teacher (2025) Since the Minnesota State Lottery launched in the Fall of 1989, I have bought three or four tickets. Every time I scanned one, the kiosk flashed the same verdict: “ Not A Winner .” Not exactly life-changing, just a gentle smack to my daydreams of a $300 million jackpot: a Bentley in the driveway, a 10-bedroom home on five acres, and a full country spread, farm (corn, watermelons, tomatoes, herbs), sheep, goats, horses, hogs, cows, dogs, cats, barns, the works. I get it, the lure of ‘winning’ is a sophisticated construct built on powerful digital marketing platforms. Poor people (me) want more. It's interesting to think about the lottery. While I buy that ticket for a shot at millions, I can’t help but wonder about the odds. Paying a dollar feels like a small investment, but in reality, the chances of winning anything significant are incredibly slim. It sort of feels like a gamble...

Many educators and parents rightly argue that MCA assessments fail to capture the full brilliance and potential of each student. If these scores are unreliable measures of learning, then school and district leaders have a responsibility to adopt more precise, classroom-based systems for identifying student success and struggle. It is no longer acceptable to rely on outdated, one-size-fits-all tests. The time is now to leverage technology, specifically, adaptive algorithms, to monitor real-time progress, diagnose learning patterns, and ensure every student receives the support they need to succeed. Anything less is educational malpractice. By Don Allen, Ed.S., M.A. Ed., MAT  - Journal of A Black Teacher (2025) In the data-rich but insight-poor school systems of today, leaders of school districts need to adopt technology to monitor and assist student learning from grades 6 to 12. The stakes are too significant to depend on conventional grading or antiquated assessments such as the MC...