Luisa Sparrow teaches fifth and sixth graders with intellectual disabilities in a multi-grade, self-contained special education setting at the Oliver Hazard Perry School in Boston, Massachusetts. She serves on her school’s inclusion planning team and designed her school’s inclusive Cooking Club to create accessible environments where everyone feels a sense of belonging. She is passionate about developing her students’ literacy skills across content areas and fostering a classroom community where all students can learn, grow and be embraced exactly as they are.  

Sparrow began her teaching career in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas as a 2005 Teach for America corps member and then worked as an educator in Costa Rica, Delaware and Philadelphia before moving to Massachusetts. She mentors Boston teachers who are pursuing National Board Certification through the Boston Public Schools/Boston Teachers Union National Board Program and serves as a Teach Plus Senior Policy fellow. She is an inaugural member of the Education Week Teacher Advisory Panel.  

Sparrow holds a Bachelor of Science in human development from Cornell University, a Master of Education with a focus in language and literacy from Harvard Graduate School of Education and National Board Certification as an exceptional needs specialist. Outside of school, she spends her time hiking, taking road trips with family and friends, supporting youth who are experiencing state custody through the foster care system, working with elders to document their life stories and reading and having dance parties with her two amazing toddler daughters.