Has "No Child Left Behind" Failed High Poverty Urban Schools?

Panelists and Moderator Bios

Christopher Emdin
Christopher Emdin is a faculty member in the Science Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. He completed his doctoral study in Urban Education with a specialization in Science, Mathematics and Technology at the Graduate Center of City University of New York. Dr. Emdin has taught middle school mathematics and physical science, high school physics and chemistry, and science education courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Emdin recently won both the Outstanding Dissertation Award and Emerging Leader Award from Phi Delta Kappa.

Winthrop R. Holder
Winthrop R. Holder taught high school in New York City for the past twenty years. In addition to founding two highly acclaimed student journals, Crossing Swords and CounterCurrents, which foster critical and creative writing to challenge the anti-intellectual myth about urban students, Holder has written numerous articles on ways to critically engage and empower students, including, "Unplugged: Releasing the Creative Potentials of Urban Students" in Teaching City Kids: Understanding and Appreciating Them  and "How Can Urban Students Become Writers" in 19 Urban Questions: Teaching in the City. He is also the author of Classroom Calypso: Giving Voice to the Voiceless. Holder has received numerous awards for his innovative teaching methods, including the Samuels Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Fund for NYC Public Education. He serves on the Founding Scholars Advisory Board of The Paulo and Nita Freire Project for Critical Pedagogy. 

Marcus A. Winters
Marcus A. Winters, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute,  conducts research and writes extensively on education policy. Winter's focus includes topics such as school choice, high school graduation rates, accountability, and special education, ad his research has been published in the journals Education Finance and Policy, Economics of Education Review, Teachers College Record, and Education Next. His op-ed articles have appeared in numerous newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA Today, and he is often quoted on education issues. Winters previously worked as senior research associate with Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Jay P. Greene at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Winters received his B.A. in political science from Ohio University in 2002, and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Arkansas in 2008.

R. L’Heureux Lewis (moderator)
R. L’Heureux Lewis is an assistant professor of sociology and Black studies at the City College of New York. With specializations in race and ethnic relations, Dr. Lewis concentrates his research and activism on education, youth culture, public policy, and mental health. He is known for his fresh take on issues facing African-Americans and the African Diaspora, and his commentary has been featured in U.S. News and World Report, Diversity in Higher Education, and the Detroit Free Press, and on National Public Radio and theRoot.com.