Posts by meria@meriacarstarphen.com
NCEED Director’s Desk: Beyond Compliance – The Human Work of Special Education
Some commitments are not just professional. They are deeply personal. My commitment to inclusion began long before I became a superintendent, researcher, or director. It began as a child, watching my cousin with Down syndrome move through school in ways that made clear he was too often treated as separate rather than as fully belonging.…
Read MoreNCEED Director’s Desk: Supporting The Whole Child
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina have ended, baseball’s spring training is in full swing, and the annual NCAA college basketball tournament, March Madness as it is often called, is almost done! It is an exciting time for sports fans – and K-12 students are no different. In our public schools, athletics also play an…
Read MoreNCEED Director’s Desk: Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness, and Black History Month
People often say that our public schools try to do too much; that schools should not be responsible and accountable for “all of society’s problems.” However, the reality is that schools do not get to choose which issues they get to address and which are someone else’s responsibility. In every community, kids come to school…
Read MoreNCEED Director’s Desk: The Power of Partnership in a New Year
Each January, the calendar resets, classrooms reopen for a new semester, and we are collectively offered another opportunity to do school differently—and better. As we turn another page on Equity Express and step into a new year of work at the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED), I am filled with both…
Read MoreNCEED Director’s Desk: Year One Review
It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year and not just because it’s the holiday season! I’ll also be celebrating the joy of our research center’s first successful year in publishing our newsletter. Looking back over our inaugural editions of the Equity Express, NCEED’s newsletter, I see growth in reach and depth with…
Read MoreNCEED Director’s Desk: Thanksgiving, Food Insecurity, and Politics
November marks the beginning of the holiday season – holiday parties, breaks from school, and family gatherings. For many, it is also a time of gastronomic indulgences – turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, ham, crab cakes (if you are in Maryland), or perhaps baked macaroni and cheese – depending on your family traditions. As…
Read MoreNCEED Director’s Desk: Principal Leadership and Effective Change
October is National Principals Month, and we at NCEED celebrate their excellent work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), principals manage budgets, building maintenance, safety and security, school activities and staff members, establish and oversee class schedules, implement and maintain curriculum standards, counsel and discipline students, observe teachers and evaluate their performance, meet…
Read MoreNCEED Director’s Desk: Implementation of the Maryland Comprehensive PreK-3 Literacy Policy
On August 26th, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) released the results of the 2024-25 Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP). According to the state’s release, “English Language Arts proficiency has now reached 50.8%, up from 48.4% the previous year and 45.3% percent in the 2021-22 school year. Black/African American student performance in ELA increased…
Read MoreNCEED Directors Desk: Back-to-School: Culture and Climate
As school summer breaks come to a close, in this month’s Equity Express, we’re turning our attention to the interconnected challenges of school climate, especially chronic absenteeism, culture, and equity. Setting expectations at the start of a school year – which for many districts across the country is as early as next week – is…
Read MoreNCEED Directors Desk: Getting Ready for “Day One”
The July Equity Exchange newsletter focuses on summer learning and the work that takes place during summer months to prepare for successful “Day One” school openings. This month, we also examine the 2025 Kids Count report and what the newest data tells us about the priorities for the upcoming school year. Most people think of…
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