The issue of school segregation – particularly, the trend toward re-segregation – is once again in the news in Boston, with a Boston Globe analysis finding that 60 percent of schools were “intensely segregated” (defined as at least 90 percent students of color). This was up from 42 percent of schools two decades ago....

For 35 years, Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (MI Theory) has reassured us that people are more than the sum of any intelligence test. MI Theory has found special resonance among educators, who every day see tremendous variation in what students do well and where they struggle.

In addition to helping us understand individuals, MI Theory may also be instructive for how we understand schools. After all, schools...

Recently, I was reminded just how important it is that we live our values out loud, especially when it comes to what we decide to say (or not say) about race.

On the mornings when I take my kids to school on the train, I’ve taken to telling them stories about when I was growing up. My four-year-old has really come to relish these stories and asks for them. “Tell a story about when you and Uncle John were growing up,” she says from her perch on the back of the stroller.

Telling “my story” to my kids has also become more than just a way to fill time and mark our walk...