Dr. David E. Kirkland is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of forwardED, an organization dedicated to advancing equity and excellence in education by transforming systems and improving the work of educators and the people they work with. Dr. Kirkland is a former secondary English teacher and high school administrator, who served on the faculty of New York University for over 15 years as a professor of urban education. While at NYU, Dr. Kirkland also served as the inaugural Vice Dean for Equity, Belonging, and Community Action, and seven years as the executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools.  A leading national scholar and advocate for educational justice, Dr. Kirkland’s transdisciplinary scholarship explores a variety of equity related topics, including: culturally responsive-sustaining education, restorative practice, school climate and discipline; school integration and choice; social-emotional learning; vulnerable learners; and the science of school transformation. With over 100 groundbreaking publications to his credit, Dr. Kirkland has analyzed the cultures, languages, and texts of vulnerable youth, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods to answer complex questions at the center of equity and justice-related education. 

Dr. Kirkland has received many awards for his work, including prestigious awards from the American Educational Research Association, Ford Foundation, NAEd/Spencer Foundation, and the National Council of Teachers of English, among other organizations. In addition, he currently serves on several advisory boards and boards of directors for organizations such as Facing History and Ourselves and exalt Youth.  A Search Past Silence: The Literacy of Black Males, the fifth book that Dr. Kirkland has authored, is a TC Press bestseller and winner of the 2015 Daniel E. Griffiths Research Award, the 2014 AESA Critics Choice Award, and the 2014 David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research. He is also co-editor of Students Right to Their Own Language, a critical sourcebook published by Bedford/St. Martins Press. Dr. Kirkland’s new book, How to Teach Our Kids to Fly, will be available in 2024.