What would it take for a single high school to meaningfully change the trajectory of first-generation college students? Can institutions historically shaped by inequality become engines of opportunity? And how do history and policy intersect to shape what is possible inside American schools?

Erika Kitzmiller is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. She studies historical and contemporary policies that contribute to educational inequality and identifies practical solutions to advance equity. She is the author of The Roots of Educational Inequality: Philadelphia’s Germantown High School, 1907–2014 and Unchartered: How One High School Transformed First-Generation College Success. Her work bridges archival research, policy analysis, and on-the-ground practice to better understand how institutions shape opportunity.

In this episode, Erika and I explore how inequality is embedded within educational institutions and how deeply rooted structures continue to shape students’ lives. She explains how looking historically at one school reveals broader national patterns, showing how race, class, and policy decisions accumulate over time to produce vastly different outcomes. We discuss the limits of reform efforts that fail to account for institutional history and the importance of understanding schools as living systems shaped by decades of policy and power.

At the same time, Erika offers a compelling account of what meaningful transformation can look like. Through her research on first-generation college success, she demonstrates how intentional structures, supportive networks, and inquiry-driven leadership can create real change. This conversation challenges us to think more carefully about what equity requires, not just in theory but in practice, and what it would mean to build educational systems that genuinely expand opportunity rather than reproduce inequality.