Jamaal Abdul-Alim is a freelance journalist and a Washington correspondent for Diverse Issues in Higher Education. His articles have appeared in Education Week, Washington Monthly, and U.S. News & World Report. Abdul-Alim is also a chess journalist whose articles regularly appear in Chess Life Magazine and Chess Life Online. He is a former staff writer for Youth Today and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He is a 1996 graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and a 2008 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan.

As a Spencer Education Journalism fellow, Abdul-Alim plans to explore the impact of various efforts to hold teacher preparation programs more accountable for student achievement.

Published work on teacher prep reform:

Teacher Prep Report Raises Questions About Diversity

Teacher Issues ‘Call to Action’ on Teacher Prep Program Reform

Education Secretary Arne Duncan Unveils Proposal Giving Responsibility to States to Identify Weak Teacher-Preparation Programs

Panel: Higher Ed. Institutions Have a Role in Teacher Evaluation Reform