The IRT application is now open for scholars wishing to begin a graduate program in the fall of 2027.
The application will close on March 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. EST – please note that no extensions will be granted.
Catherine Wong, Associate Director & Manager of Programs attended a virtual workshop with Kevin Kumashiro, Ph.D. on transformative frameworks for educational leadership
What if the very act of supporting a scholar through their graduate school application is fundamentally transforming educational institutions? That’s the powerful realization that emerged from Catherine Wong’s three-day virtual intensive with Kevin Kumashiro, Ph.D. this January. Over the course of the workshop, “Impactful Leadership of Schools of Education in Difficult Times,” Kumashiro didn’t just share leadership strategies, he challenged participants to fundamentally rethink what it means to lead for justice. His central provocation? That we must name and engage with contradictions rather than resolve them, that resistance is inevitable and must be worked through rather than avoided, and that transformative change happens through collective movements, not siloed actions. For those of us committed to supporting aspiring scholars at IRT, these insights landed with particular resonance. After all, when we sit with a scholar crafting their personal statement, aren’t we doing exactly what Kumashiro describes: historicizing their journey to reveal enduring paradoxes, reframing their experiences to illuminate what others might miss and creating space to work through the discomfort of unlearning limiting narratives about who belongs in graduate education?
Continue reading “Impactful Leadership of Schools of Education in Difficult Times”Leislie Godo-Solo, IRT ’91
Education Programs Specialist, Institute for Recruitment of Teachers
Recently, I was chosen to participate in the 4th annual cohort of the Phillips Academy Head of School Leadership Development Program (HOS-LDP) alongside 11 other individuals from the following schools: Pomfret School, St Paul’s School, Deerfield Academy, Lick- Wilmerding High School, and Phillips Academy. The 8-month program consisted of an in person, two-day leadership retreat, twice-monthly cohort meetings with guest lecturers and readings, 10 hours of professional coaching, the opportunity to enroll in a leadership course taught by Harvard’s online Business School, a capstone project and presentation that addressed a departmental or institutional priority, and a closing dinner including a certificate award ceremony.
Continue reading “The IRT Effect: Charting Ph.D. Completion”Finding Clarity in the Chaos; Harnessing the Power of Intergenerational Women of Color Stealth Leadership Part I and Part II
NCORE Presenters: (L-R) Catherine Wong, M.Ed., Patricia Lowrie, M.S.
and Jacquelyn Reza, Ed.D.
Higher education faces unprecedented threats to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) initiatives, driven by new state laws and internal resistance, leading to institutional restructuring, defunding of DEIJ efforts, and a diminished sense of belonging. This critical juncture, exacerbated by generational shifts in leadership, necessitates a pivot toward “stealth leadership” for Women of Color. To navigate this complex landscape and sustain socially just systems, it’s crucial to cultivate adaptive skills, including intergenerational coalition-building and decolonized dreaming, and to implement stealth strategies that foster inclusion and belonging. This workshop empowered mid- to senior-level administrators, particularly women and Women of Color, with the tools to analyze real-world cases, understand the historical impacts of colonization on DEIJ, and leverage centriarchy to create “Islands of Equity” within their institutions.
Catherine Wong & Alyssa Stryker – IRT ’14
IRT Associate Director and Manager of Programs Catherine Wong attended the 36th Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE®) held on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i. The IRT has attended NCORE® over the last few years, engaging in the five-day conference focusing on community engagement, exchanging knowledge and ideas as it relates to race and ethnicity on campus, and meeting up with IRT alumni and colleagues.
Do you have a conference whereby you feel that you can show up as your full scholar activist self without being second guessed, silenced or stereotyped? Do you have an annual conference or national forum that allows you to embrace your growing edges with other fellow changemakers?
NCORE® has been that conference for me since my entry into higher education more than 2 decades ago. I feel fortunate to have found a conference where critical dialogues are the norm, not the exception, where friendships grow from collegial relationships, and where creativity is a collective effort. Therefore having NCORE® select my home state of Hawai’i for its conference site for the first time in its 36 year history and during API month was wonderfully affirming and exciting.
Continue reading “NCORE: May 28 – June 1, 2024”
Institute for Recruitment of Teachers 
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