Alex Freidus
@alexfreidus.bsky.social
schools, race, & inequality | author of "Unequal Lessons: School Diversity and Educational Inequality in New York City" | momming & cooking & running & reading romance & mystery | she/her | personal account
www.alexandrafreidus.com
www.alexandrafreidus.com
I periodically post great things I see happening in my kids' schools. Today's highlgiht comes from 9th grade US History (via Google classroom which I generally loathe but may need to change my mind about).
October 27, 2025 at 9:37 PM
I periodically post great things I see happening in my kids' schools. Today's highlgiht comes from 9th grade US History (via Google classroom which I generally loathe but may need to change my mind about).
October 27, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I can't exactly explain why but this might be the headline that entirely breaks me for the rest of 2025.
October 25, 2025 at 1:56 AM
I can't exactly explain why but this might be the headline that entirely breaks me for the rest of 2025.
I spent today as I spent much of the past 3 months - quite uncomfortable, without access effective medicine, unable to focus on my work, and considering the individual and collective costs of ignoring women's pain. But usually the normalization and minimization at least comes with some disclaimers.
September 23, 2025 at 2:42 AM
I spent today as I spent much of the past 3 months - quite uncomfortable, without access effective medicine, unable to focus on my work, and considering the individual and collective costs of ignoring women's pain. But usually the normalization and minimization at least comes with some disclaimers.
This is the right time to talk about politics and policies in NYC schools! I'm really looking forward to this @bkbookfest.bsky.social conversation with @michaelelsenroo.bsky.social and Ryane Straus. Please join us!
www.eventbrite.com/e/diversity-...
www.eventbrite.com/e/diversity-...
September 10, 2025 at 6:35 PM
This is the right time to talk about politics and policies in NYC schools! I'm really looking forward to this @bkbookfest.bsky.social conversation with @michaelelsenroo.bsky.social and Ryane Straus. Please join us!
www.eventbrite.com/e/diversity-...
www.eventbrite.com/e/diversity-...
This important article actually understates how very vague @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social is on public education. 62 of the words in the Mamdani K-12 plank of his platform are about CUNY - a super-important institution that is, ahem, not a K-12 school.
September 8, 2025 at 12:39 PM
This important article actually understates how very vague @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social is on public education. 62 of the words in the Mamdani K-12 plank of his platform are about CUNY - a super-important institution that is, ahem, not a K-12 school.
My 9th grader got a hand-me-down phone when he entered high school this week. That meant my 4th grader got a hand-me-down watch to help him get to afterschool on his own. Of course, this is what happened next:
September 5, 2025 at 7:01 PM
My 9th grader got a hand-me-down phone when he entered high school this week. That meant my 4th grader got a hand-me-down watch to help him get to afterschool on his own. Of course, this is what happened next:
We are managing the late start to the NYC school year with a family vacation and it was 100% the correct call.
August 27, 2025 at 2:11 AM
We are managing the late start to the NYC school year with a family vacation and it was 100% the correct call.
Last night at my book launch, somebody asked me how debates over NYC school integration has changed in the past ten years. My answer: the terms of the debate shift quite a bit. What stays the same is mayors' reluctance to take action.
www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/07/z...
www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/07/z...
August 8, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Last night at my book launch, somebody asked me how debates over NYC school integration has changed in the past ten years. My answer: the terms of the debate shift quite a bit. What stays the same is mayors' reluctance to take action.
www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/07/z...
www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/07/z...
That article was a lot in general, but the part that really stuck out to me was the guy saying, "This system is grossly unfair so I'm going to make as much money from it as possible."
August 7, 2025 at 8:56 PM
That article was a lot in general, but the part that really stuck out to me was the guy saying, "This system is grossly unfair so I'm going to make as much money from it as possible."
This pattern continues to shock but not surprise us - we accept and predict the inequality. And yet, efforts to make schools more diverse can also be rooted in white supremacy.
My book about this comes out today! There's a coupon code for 30% off from NYU Press if you want to know more.
My book about this comes out today! There's a coupon code for 30% off from NYU Press if you want to know more.
August 5, 2025 at 2:35 PM
This pattern continues to shock but not surprise us - we accept and predict the inequality. And yet, efforts to make schools more diverse can also be rooted in white supremacy.
My book about this comes out today! There's a coupon code for 30% off from NYU Press if you want to know more.
My book about this comes out today! There's a coupon code for 30% off from NYU Press if you want to know more.
And of course, the other problem is with college courses that do not engage in very basic practices of good teaching: scaffolding, feedback, and differentiated support. It's true college courses often lack this. But it doesn't have to be this way. (5/n)
July 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM
And of course, the other problem is with college courses that do not engage in very basic practices of good teaching: scaffolding, feedback, and differentiated support. It's true college courses often lack this. But it doesn't have to be this way. (5/n)
The problem is with test-focused HS courses that preclude authentic opportunities for learning. This is true whether the external drivers are "state tests" or "the AP exam." A view of HS students as passive recipients is a major part of the problem. (4/n)
July 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The problem is with test-focused HS courses that preclude authentic opportunities for learning. This is true whether the external drivers are "state tests" or "the AP exam." A view of HS students as passive recipients is a major part of the problem. (4/n)
But the distinction this article makes that HS courses that teach content and college courses that teach skills is, in my view, a huge part of the problem. It's insulting. HS teachers can and should teach disciplinary skills. To assume otherwise demeans both teachers and students. (3/n)
July 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM
But the distinction this article makes that HS courses that teach content and college courses that teach skills is, in my view, a huge part of the problem. It's insulting. HS teachers can and should teach disciplinary skills. To assume otherwise demeans both teachers and students. (3/n)
I, too, am quite skeptical of AP and other programs that impose "college level" curricula - often focused on breadth rather than depth - on high school classrooms. All too often, these programs do not help TEACHERS develop the skills required to help STUDENTS develop their own skills. (2/n)
July 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I, too, am quite skeptical of AP and other programs that impose "college level" curricula - often focused on breadth rather than depth - on high school classrooms. All too often, these programs do not help TEACHERS develop the skills required to help STUDENTS develop their own skills. (2/n)
Really pleased this open access paper is now out! The goal is to help all of us rethink the intersections of disability, ableism, AND school choice. As someone who is constantly navigating extremely stratifying choice policies for my own disabled kid, these questions are more than academic.
June 27, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Really pleased this open access paper is now out! The goal is to help all of us rethink the intersections of disability, ableism, AND school choice. As someone who is constantly navigating extremely stratifying choice policies for my own disabled kid, these questions are more than academic.
Here's the one that got me. Hmmm, what do these two candidates have in common that nobody else on the ballot has? Such a choice.
June 23, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Here's the one that got me. Hmmm, what do these two candidates have in common that nobody else on the ballot has? Such a choice.
These are.... not the moves of someone who prioritizes privacy.
June 17, 2025 at 2:17 AM
These are.... not the moves of someone who prioritizes privacy.
We got a package this week and everyone in our apartment is pretty excited (and unusually quiet)!
June 11, 2025 at 9:09 PM
We got a package this week and everyone in our apartment is pretty excited (and unusually quiet)!
Y'all, I'm pretty excited that @publisherswkly.bsky.social called my book "an urgent wake-up call" and "a must-read for educators!"
www.publishersweekly.com/9781479827817
Pre-order here and get a 30% discount using NYUAU30:
nyupress.org/978147982781...
www.publishersweekly.com/9781479827817
Pre-order here and get a 30% discount using NYUAU30:
nyupress.org/978147982781...
![Screenshot of Publishers Weekly review of Unequal Lessons reading: "Classroom diversity, specifically the integration of more white students into predominantly Black schools, does not lead to better outcomes for Black students, according to this disquieting debut study. Education scholar Freidus focuses on New York schools that, due to gentrification, are experiencing an influx of white students. Drawing on interviews and her own immersive ethnographic observations conducted over nearly six years, she finds that diversity and integration—especially via an increase in the proportion of white students—are treated by teachers, administrators, and parents as a de facto solution for racial inequality, and yet this is emphatically not the end result. Instead, Freidus observes that Black students’ experience of diversity entails a “hidden curriculum” that “reinforces deeply rooted [racial and class] assumptions about [them] and their families.” For instance, she notes several instances in which Black and white students with similar behavioral problems received disproportionate treatment, resulting partly from educators’ assumptions that the white student was more likely to be from a good family. At the same time, diversity does offer benefits for students—mostly in terms of enrichment, or new experiences—but as Freidus persuasively demonstrates, solving inequality is not one of them. This urgent wake-up call is a must-read for educators. (Aug.)"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7js3r4xdyhiics6bsegplyvq/bafkreih2z6ytyvi2sqof2vbgwfu4sqf2hy6gsrpwzsv52gv5kpqzyd64ci@jpeg)
May 28, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Y'all, I'm pretty excited that @publisherswkly.bsky.social called my book "an urgent wake-up call" and "a must-read for educators!"
www.publishersweekly.com/9781479827817
Pre-order here and get a 30% discount using NYUAU30:
nyupress.org/978147982781...
www.publishersweekly.com/9781479827817
Pre-order here and get a 30% discount using NYUAU30:
nyupress.org/978147982781...
Well, this is exciting!
April 24, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Well, this is exciting!
I have never ever before wondered whether a NY Times headline was actually from the Onion:
April 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I have never ever before wondered whether a NY Times headline was actually from the Onion:
Very popular image when I went to school there:
March 27, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Very popular image when I went to school there: