Class of Her Own

The documentary captures Gloria Merriex’s transformation into an educational innovator and shows her engaging her math, reading, and science students at the most effective levels through unconventional teaching practices, which included hip-hop and dance routines.

[1] Gloria Jean Merriex grew up on the east side of Gainesville, Fla.. She earned an education degree from the University of Florida and spent her entire career at Duval Elementary School.

Dvir found inspiration for the film after talking with Don Pemberton, director of UF’s Lastinger Center for Learning, who had previously sent professors and doctoral students to watch Merriex's teaching methods.

Dvir admitted that after working on the film, his own thinking had shifted: "[Class of Her Own] made me feel quite differently about standardized testing.

[10] In her op-ed in the St. Augustine Record, Pam Thor called Class of Her Own a "fabulous documentary" and urged all teachers and policymakers to watch it.