Here are recommended books on history and current issues in school reform and education policy. We also suggest a subscription to the Rethinking Schools magazine for articles on education from a social justice perspective. Find children's/YA books and more titles on teaching in our full collection of booklists by theme.
Most of the books on these lists are linked for more information or purchase to Bookshop (an indie bookstore platform). A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change.
Titles with reviews on this site are noted with an asterisk (*).
Bringing Human Rights Education to US Classrooms: Exemplary Models from Elementary Grades to University
Edited by Susan Roberta Katz and Andrea McEvoy Spero
Early Elementary Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice
By Courtney Koestler, Jennifer Ward, Maria del Rosario Zavala, and Tonya Gau Bartell
Engaging the African Diaspora in K-12 Education
Edited by Kia Lilly Caldwell and Emily Susanna Chávez
Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth: 20 Strategies for the Classroom and Beyond
By Gabriela Martínez, Monisha Bajaj, et al.
Middle School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice
By Basil M. Conway IV, Lateefah Id-Deen, Mary Candace Raygoza, Amanda Ruiz, John W. Staley, and Eva Thanheiser
The New Teacher Book: Finding Purpose, Balance, and Hope During Your First Years in the Classroom
Edited By Linda Christensen, Stan Karp, Bob Peterson, Moé Yonamine
A People's Curriculum for the Earth: Teaching about the Environmental Crisis
By Bill Bigelow (Editor), Tim Swinehart (Editor)
Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ-Inclusive Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Classroom
By Caitlin L. Ryan and Jill M. Hermann-Wilmarth
Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years: Resources for Teaching about the Impact of the Arrival of Columbus in the Americas
By Bill Bigelow (Editor), Bob Peterson (Editor)
Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World
By Bill Bigelow (Editor), Bob Peterson (Editor)
Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers
By Eric (Rico) Gutstein (Editor), Bob Peterson (Editor)
Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality
By Kim Cosier (Editor), Rachel Harper (Editor), Jeff Sapp (Editor)
Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classrooms
By Noreen Naseem Rodríguez, Sohyun An, and Esther June Kim
Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents: Reading, Writing, and Making a Difference
By Richard Beach, Jeff Share, Allen Webb
Teaching Enslavement in American History: Lesson Plans and Primary Sources
By Chara Haeussler Bohan, H. Robert Baker, and LaGarrett J. King
Upper Elementary Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice
By Tonya Gau Bartell, Cathery Yeh, Mathew D. Felton-Koestler, and Robert Q. Berry III
Education for Extinction
By David Wallace Adams
Educating Harlem: A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community
By Ansley T. Erickson (Editor), Ernest Morrell (Editor)
LGBTQ+ History in High School Classes in the United States since 1990
By Stacie Brensilver Berman
The Lost Education of Horace Tate: Uncovering the Hidden Heroes Who Fought for Justice in Schools
By Vanessa Siddle Walker
Plantation Pedagogy: The Violence of Schooling Across Black and Indigenous Space
By Bayley J. Marquez
Rethinking America's Past: Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States in the Classroom and Beyond
By Robert Cohen and Sonia Murrow
Schooling the Movement: The Activism of Southern Black Educators from Reconstruction Through the Civil Rights Era
Edited by Derrick P. Alridge, Jon N. Hale, and Tondra L. Loder-Jackson
Teaching Critically about Lewis and Clark: Challenging Dominant Narratives in K-12 Curriculum
By Alison Schmitke and Leilani Sabzalian and Jeff Edmundson
Teaching History for Justice: Centering Activism in Students' Study of the Past
By Christopher C. Martell and Kaylene M. Stevens
The White Architects of Black Education: Ideology and Power in America, 1865-1954
By William H. Watkins
Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development
By Enid Lee (Editor), Deborah Menkart (Editor), Margo Okazawa-Rey (Editor)
The Big Lie about Race in America's Schools
Edited by Royel M. Johnson, Shaun R. Harper, and H. Richard Milner
Child Care Justice: Transforming the System of Care for Young Children
Edited by Maurice Sykes and Kyra Ostendorf
The Civil Rights Road to Deeper Learning: Five Essentials for Equity
By Kia Darling-Hammond and Linda Darling-Hammond
Courageous Conversations about Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools
By Glenn E. Singleton
Critical Race Theory and Its Critics: Implications for Research and Teaching
By Francesca López and Christine E. Sleeter
Educating Harlem: A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community
By Ansley T. Erickson (Editor), Ernest Morrell (Editor)
Insurgent Social Studies: Scholar-Educators Disrupting Erasure and Marginality
Edited by Sarah B. Shear, Natasha Hakimali Merchant , and Wayne Au
Jim Crow's Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership
By Leslie T. Fenwick
Learning and Teaching While White: Antiracist Strategies for School Communities
By Jenna Chandler-Ward and Elizabeth Denevi
Lessons in Liberation: An Abolitionist Toolkit for Educators *
By Education for Liberation Network & Critical Resistance Editorial Collective
Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching: A Resource Guide for Classrooms and Communities *
Edited by Deborah Menkart, Alana Murray, and Jenice View
The Spirit of Our Work: Black Women Teachers (Re)Member
By Cynthia Dillard
Book is reviewed on Rethinking Schools - Coming Home to Ourselves
Strong Black Girls: Reclaiming Schools in Their Own Image
Edited by Danielle Apugo, Lynnette Mawhinney, and Afiya Mbilishaka
Teach Freedom: Education for Liberation in the African American Tradition
Edited by Charles M. Payne and Carol Sills Strickland
We Can't Teach What We Don't Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools
By Gary R. Howard, Sonia Nieto (Foreword by)
Young, Gifted, and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students
By Theresa Perry, Asa G. Hilliard, III (Joint Author), Claude Steele (Joint Author)
Reflection, Perspective-Taking, and Social Justice
By Jacky Howell, Makai Kellogg, Magy Youssef, and Sabina Zeffler
The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy
By Nicholas Lemann
Pencils Down: Rethinking High-Stakes Testing and Accountability in Public Schools
By Wayne Au (Editor), Melissa Bollow Tempel (Editor)
Shortchanged: How Advanced Placement Cheats Students<2Fh5>
By Annie Abrams
Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education, 7th Edition
By Sonia Nieto, Patty Bode
Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development
By Enid Lee (Editor), Deborah Menkart (Editor), Margo Okazawa-Rey (Editor)
Critical Multicultural Education: Theory and Practice
By Christine E. Sleeter
Indigenizing Education: Transformative Research, Theories, and Praxis
Edited by Jeremy Garcia, Valerie Shirley, and Hollie Anderson Kulago
Multicultural and Gender Equity in the Mathematics Classroom: The Gift of Diversity
By National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Open Minds to Equality: A Sourcebook of Learning Activities to Affirm Diversity and Promote Equity
By Nancy Schniedewind, Ellen Davidson
Racial Literacies and Social Studies: Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning
Edited by Lagarrett J. King and Wayne Journell
Social Studies for a Better World: An Anti-Oppressive Approach for Elementary Educators
By Noreen Naseem Rodriguez and Katy Swalwell
Teachers as Allies: Transformative Practices for Teaching Dreamers and Undocumented Students
By Shelley Wong (Editor)
Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice
By Maurianne Adams (Editor), Lee Anne Bell (Editor)
Blaming Teachers: Professionalization Policies and the Failure of Reform in American History
By Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz
Engagement for Equitable Outcomes: A Practitioner's Playbook
By Kathryn Newcomer, Quentin Wilson, and Allyson Criner Brown
"Lift Us Up, Don't Push Us Out!" Voices from the Front Lines of the Educational Justice Movement
By Mark R. Warren, David Goodman
The Education Wars: A Citizen's Guide and Defense Manual
By Jack Schneider and Jennifer C. Berkshire
Leading and Learning Together: Cultivating School Change from Within
By Lynda Tredway, Matthew Militello, and Joseph Flessa
Planning Cities with Young People and Schools: Forging Justice, Generating Joy
By Deborah L. McKoy, Amanda Eppley, and Shirl Buss
Quality Education as a Constitutional Right: Creating a Grassroots Movement to Transform Public Schools
By Theresa Perry (Editor), Robert P. Moses (Editor), Joan T. Wynne (Editor)
Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life]
By Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis
Teach for America Counter-Narratives: Alumni Speak Up and Speak Out
By Jameson T. Brewer (Editor), Kathleen Demarrais (Editor)
Teachers Speak Up! Stories of Courage, Resilience, and Hope in Difficult Times
Edited by Sonia Nieto and Alicia López Nieto
These Schools Belong to You and Me: Why We Can't Afford to Abandon Our Public Schools
By Deborah Meier, Emily Gasoi
"You Can't Fire the Bad Ones!" And 18 Other Myths about Teachers, Teachers Unions, and Public Education
By William Ayers, Crystal Laura, Rick Ayers
Between Families And Schools: Creating Meaningful Relationships
By Teaching for Change
Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships
By Anne T. Henderson (Editor)
A Cord of Three Strands
By Soo Hong
Parenting 4 Social Justice: Tips, Tools, and Inspiration for Conversations & Action with Kids
By Abigail Healey (Author), Leila Raven (Author), Angela Berkfield (Editor), and Rowan Parker (Editor)
Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher's Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success
By Karen Mapp, Ilene Carver, Jessica Lander
The Dark Fantastic: Race & the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games
By Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
Doing Critical Literacy
By Hilary Janks
Harry Potter and the Other: Race, Justice, and Difference in the Wizarding World
Edited by Sarah Park Dahlen and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
Rethinking Popular Culture and Media - 2nd Edition
Edited by Elizabeth Marshall, Özlem Sensoy
The Day You Begin*
By Jacqueline Woodson, Rafael López
Spanish version available here: El Día En Que Descubres Quién Eres
The Doll Test
By Carole Boston Weatherford and David Elmo Cooper (Illustrator)
Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls' Rights (for Young Readers)
By Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick, abridged and adapted by Sarah J. Robbins
Mamie Tape Fights to Go to School: Based on a True Story *
By Traci Huahn and Michelle Jing Chan (Illustrator)
A Map for Falasteen: A Palestinian Child's Search for Home
By Maysa Odeh and Aliaa Betawi (Illustrator)
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
By Rita Lorraine Hubbard and Oge Mora (Illustrator)
Step by Step! How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice
By Debbie Rigaud, Carlotta Penn
Read: “Marching Mothers” Sue to Desegregate Schools
Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown, and Me
By John A. Stokes, Lois Wolfe, Herman Viola
Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story
By David A. Robertson, Scott B. Henderson, (Illustrator), Donovan Yaciuk (Colourist)
We Want to Go to School! The Fight for Disability Rights
By Maryann Cocca-Leffler and Janine Leffler
When the Schools Shut Down: A Young Girl's Story of Virginia's Lost Generation and the Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka Decision
By Pizzoli Tamara, Yolanda Gladden, and Keisha Morris (Illustrator)
Yefferson, Actually / En realidad, es Yefferson
By Scott Martin-Rowe, Katherine Trejo, and Karla Monterrosa (Illustrator)
55 Strong: Inside The West Virginia Teachers' Strike
Edited by Elizabeth Catte, Emily Hilliard, and Jessica Salfia
Camouflaged: Investigating How the Military Affects You and Your Community
Edited by Edwin Mayorga, Bree Picower, and Seth Rader
Creating the Opportunity to Learn: Moving from Research to Practice to Close the Achievement Gap
By A. Wade Boykin, Pedro Noguera
Education and Capitalism: Struggles for Learning and Liberation
By Jeff Bale (Editor), Sarah Knopp (Editor)
The Impacts of Censorship: Research on the Intersection of Censorship and Teaching English
Edited by Katharine Covino, Ann D. David, et al.
Invest Yourself: A Guide to Action (The Catalogue of Volunteer Opportunities)
By Commission on Voluntary Service & Action
Pedagogy of Insurrection: From Resurrection to Revolution
By Peter McLaren
Peril and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times
By Beverly Daniel Tatum
Teaching Gloria E. Anzaldúa: Pedagogy and Practice for Our Classrooms and Communities
Edited by Margaret Cantú-Sánchez, Candace de León-Zepeda, and Norma Elia Cantú
Teaching Palestine: Lessons, Stories, Voices
Edited by Bill Bigelow, Jesse Hagopian, Suzanna Kassouf, Adam Sanchez, and Samia Shoman
Trouble in Censorville: The Far Right's Assault on Public Education and the Teachers Who Are Fighting Back
Edited by Nadine M. Kalin and Rebekah Modrak
Why We Teach Now
By Sonia Nieto (Editor)