Dr. Mark Naison 

We recently spoke to Dr. Mark Naison. He is a Professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University and Director of Fordham’s Urban Studies Program. He is the author of six books and over 200 articles on African-American History, urban history, and the history of sports. The Bronx African-American History Project, Dr Naison’s most recent venture, was launched collaboratively with the Bronx Historical Society in the Fall of 2002 . Dr. Naison is an education activist, and he wanted to talk about the changes to public education that have been happening under the Cuomo administration—specifically the addition of more standardized testing under Common Core, as well as the administration’s efforts on behalf of the charter school movement. He and many other veteran educators are advocating for fighting these changes. He blogs about education matters at ‘With a Brooklyn Accent‘. 

He has some interesting things to say about the way testing is making education worse–especially in schools in poor urban areas. Give a listen.