educational books to read for teachers

29 Must-Have Professional Development Books for Teachers

by AuthorAmy

Summer is a time for recharging, but it can also be a time for professional development. The following is a list of books with the lifelong learner in mind. There’s a little something for everyone – books on classroom management, talking about race, improving literacy, teaching during the digital age, and more. Most professional development books are written with all grade levels and subject areas in mind, but the more targeted books have been noted in the descriptions. 

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1. The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity

by George Couros

Get it HERE .

Couros posits that students first enter schools curious and full of wonder. He suggests that traditional models of education, with scripted and scheduled curriculum, kill this natural innovative mindset students bring to school. Instead of valuing compliance, Couros writes, students should be taught to cultivate an innovative mind. In order to do this, educators must also become innovative thinkers – and this book shows you how. 

2. Teaching with Intention: Defining Beliefs, Aligning Practice, Taking Action, K-5 

by Debbie Miller

Author and teacher Debbie Miller believes that intentional, effective teaching can only occur when an educator has a strong set of intentional beliefs that outlines their education philosophy. In Teaching with Intention , the author shows readers how to deliberately define these beliefs and then how to align those beliefs with classroom instruction. 

3. Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers

by Tom Romano

Tom Romano is passionate about using multigenre papers, in which students demonstrate their knowledge of a subject by writing in multiple genres. He breaks down the process of writing such a paper with concrete instructions and examples that span from upper elementary to high school. The multigenre format is ideal for any teacher who assigns essays or research papers. 

4. Teaching When the World is on Fire

by Lisa Delpit

Delpit knows that tackling difficult topics in the classroom is, well, difficult. But, an effective educator can’t shy away from politics, current events such as Black Lives Matter, issues of sexual assault in the media, and more. These are part of the world we live in, and Delpit believes that an effective educator knows how to address these delicate topics in the classroom in a constructive way. She brings together the voices of experts and writes a book that can be used K-12.

5. An Urgency of Teachers: The Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy

by Jesse Stommel and Sean Michael Morris

This is a collection of essays in which the authors explore the world of online learning. Sometimes, it’s a critique of a system that turns a teacher into nothing more than a proctor. Sometimes, it’s an exploration into ways in which digital technologies can enhance our practices. 

6. Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities

by John Warner

College writing teacher John Warner notes that, bluntly, today’s college kids cannot write. They can apply a formula like the five-paragraph essay but gone from their writing is the vigor and creativity and verve that should indicate a student grappling to communicate new knowledge. He includes a blueprint for fixing what he believes ails the system. 

7. Digital Citizenship in Action: Empowering Students to Engage in Online Communities

by Kristen Mattson

In Digital Citizenship , Mattson writes that the most powerful aspect of digital learning of often overlooked – that of the community it can help build. She encourages educators to leverage today’s modern technology to teach social justice and work toward equity.

8. unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation

by Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson

While this is not strictly a professional development book for teachers, unSpun is nevertheless essential reading. In it, the creators of FactCheck.org teach readers how to separate out fact from fiction, how to identify misinformation on the internet. In an era when we will be returning to school amidst a presidential election and a pandemic, unSpun is a helpful classroom tool.

9. Teach Like a PIRATE: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator

by Dave Burgess

While there isn’t the swashbuckling that could be expected from the title (PIRATE is an acronym), Burgess walks readers through his teaching methods. Burgess, who was a high school social studies teacher before becoming a full-time education speaker, writes his book like a motivational speech. There are lots to “pump you up,” along with some ideas for teaching hooks, and brainstorming ideas to help boost your creativity. Secondary ELA, social studies, and foreign language teachers will get the most out of this book. 

10. For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood … and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education

by Christopher Emdin

Christopher Emdin writes first about his experience growing up as a young person of color. He writes about how he felt invisible in his schools. Then, he applies this perspective plus decades of award-winning teaching and gives readers practical advice about how to teach in urban schools. 

11. Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

by Zaretta Hammond

In Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain , author Zaretta Hammond applies neuroscientific research to the concept of culturally responsive teaching. She includes ten “key moves” for teachers to make to help students in today’s culturally diverse classrooms. 

12. Vintage Innovation: Leveraging Retro Tools and Classic Ideas to Design Deeper Learning Experiences

by John Spencer

This book defines innovation as “better as different” as opposed to “new and flashy.” The author makes a clear case that teachers should compose their toolkits from teaching strategies that work, whether those strategies are vintage or cutting-edge. He shows teachers how to field test new strategies, too. 

13. An Educators Guide to STEAM

by Cassie Quigley and Danielle Herro

This book is geared toward K-8 classrooms and examines the world of STEAM (as opposed to STEM ). The authors include ample examples of STEAM at work in the classroom and include the perspective of many experts in the field. 

14. 180 Days: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents

by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher

Gallagher and Kittle are both award-winning, veteran language arts teachers, but they teach in dramatically different schools. Gallagher teaches in California; Kittle in New Hampshire. They collaborate for a year to find the best literacy practices that work for all students. This book is the result of the year of collaboration. 

15. Cultivating Genius

by Gholdy Muhammad

Muhammad approaches literacy from an equity lens, applying a framework she calls Historically Responsive Literacy. She writes about the ways in which an equitable education benefits all students, not just those who are marginalized. It spans grade levels and is ideal for any teacher interested in equity. 

16. Fostering Resilient Learners: A Trauma-Sensitive Classroom

by Kristin Souers and Pete Hall

New research has emerged this decade showing the profound impact trauma has on both social-emotional well-being and learning. The authors of this book show teachers – across grade levels and content areas – how to foster a trauma-sensitive learning environment. 

17. If You Don’t Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students

by Neila A. Connors

If you’re an administrator or school leader, this is the book for you. It’s certainly on the lighter side of professional development, but it offers school principals suggestions for making sure their teachers feel appreciated.

18. Not Light But Fire: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom

by Mathew R. Kay

After this summer’s sweeping cultural change brought about by Black Lives Matter activists, conversations about race will (and should) come up in classrooms of all levels. Mathew R. Kay guides educators through these sometimes-tough conversations.

19. Make or Break Year: Solving the Dropout Crisis One Ninth Grader at a Time

by Emily Krone Phillips

Phillips writes that more than one F during freshmen year dramatically increases a student’s chances of dropping out. In this book, the author looks at how one school in Chicago – Hancock High School – restructured itself to help freshmen navigate the oft-tumultuous first year of high school. The school saw major decreases in dropouts and influenced school structure around the country. 

20. Better Than Carrots or Sticks: Restorative Practices for Positive Classroom Management

by Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey

Research supports the effectiveness of classroom management that teaches students to recognize and correct their behavior, a practice known as restorative classroom management. In this book, the authors examine the research and demonstrate how it is more effective over time than the usual positive/negative reinforcement model most teachers learned to employ. 

21. The First Days of School

by Harry Wong and Rosemary T. Wong

Get it HERE

The First Days of School is a classic that could be worth revisiting this summer in preparation for the fall. In this book, the authors make an argument that good classroom management depends not on discipline but on teaching structure and routine at the beginning of the year. Due to COVID-19, many of our routines will change and students will need to be taught new expectations. The First Days of School can help. 

22. I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids

by Kyle Schwartz

Third-grade teacher Kyle Schwartz stumbled across one question that changed the way she teaches – she asked her students to fill in the blank: “I wish my teacher knew __________.” She was shocked at the insight she gained, and immediately the hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew was born. 

23. Happy Teachers Change the World: A Guide for Cultivating Mindfulness in Education

by Thich Nhat Hanh and Katherine Weare

Basic practices taught by Thich Nhat Hanh are enumerated here and applied to classrooms. This book spans the gamut from preschool to higher education. It starts with the idea that teachers must first establish their own mindfulness practice to then cultivate mindfulness in their students. 

24. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child

by Donalyn Miller

Get it HERE.

Donalyn Miller writes a handbook to help middle school teachers turn their students into voracious readers. She offers practical tips and many examples from her own experience. Her follow-up book Reading in the Wild is equally worth picking up.

25. Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing

by Penny Kittle 

Penny Kittle breaks down how she teaches, assigns, and grades writing using a portfolio model. The backbone of her teaching practice is the fact that she writes with her students, using her own writing to model the revision process. 

26. Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters

by Kylene Beers and Bob Probst

In Disrupting Thinking , the authors examine why students often check out of reading assignments. They suggest this has to do with the fact that educators have misrepresented the way we use reading in our own lives. They present hands-on ideas that can be used to increase student engagement in literacy across grade levels and subject areas. 

27. The New Art and Science of Teaching

by Robert Marzano

Teachers may be familiar with Marzano’s The Art and Science of Teaching , which focuses on teacher outcomes. This new version contains 50 “new strategies for instructional success” designed to improve student outcomes in the classroom. He defines three instructional principles to optimize student learning: first, students must have their basic needs met. Then, students must receive meaningful feedback that follows masterful content instruction. 

28. Raising the Rigor

by Eileen Depka

This is a book about questioning techniques. The author shows teachers how to use questioning to differentiate instruction in order to respond to the diverse needs of our students. She uses many examples to illustrate her main ideas and includes checklists, surveys, and templates for immediate classroom use. 

29. How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms

by Carol Ann Tomlinson

Differentiated instruction recognizes that students learn in different ways at different rates. As today’s classrooms become more diverse, differentiated instruction is more important than ever. This book is a practical guide to how to implement this philosophy in the classroom. 

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Our favorite books for educators in 2021, greater good ’s editors pick the most inspiring and informative education books..

Over the past year, the challenges that teachers, students, and our communities have faced reinforce the value of social and emotional learning, mindfulness, character development, self-compassion, and social justice—and our favorite education books of 2021 explore each of these themes.

If you are looking for practical guides to help you teach mindfulness or infuse social-emotional learning (SEL) into your curriculum, you’ll find two great books below by Linda Yaron Weston and Lorea Martinez. Or if you want to focus on your own well-being, Lisa Baylis’s book Self-Compassion for Educators provides you with self-care tools and practices.

And, if you want to think more deeply about the role of moral and character development in your work, we’ve highlighted three books this year. What are the enduring intellectual virtues that ground us and help us to navigate a topsy-turvy world? How can we educate for human goodness, which is so badly needed right now? Finally, how do the fields of moral development and social justice education complement one another? Read on to learn more.

Mindfulness for Young Adults: Tools to Thrive in School and Life , by Linda Yaron Weston

For educators across the globe, the current mental health crisis is pressing and palpable, and Linda Yaron Weston’s book Mindfulness for Young Adults offers a range of supports for anyone working with secondary or college-level youth in schools and community organizations.

To start, Yaron Weston cautions us that “mindfulness is not a silver bullet designed to save anyone. It is a field that offers tools to navigate experiences with awareness, acceptance, agency, curiosity, openness, and kindness.” She then thoughtfully addresses a range of youth challenges, backgrounds, and experiences with a holistic, integrated approach to wellness that builds on traditional mindfulness-based programs.

Her workbook can be used as a course text or as an instructional supplement if you are already modeling well-being practices in your classroom, organization, or home. Drawing on her background in yoga, English language arts, physical education, and equity work, USC professor Yaron Weston maps out the benefits of mindfulness by referencing a range of health and psychology research, and philosophers and inspiring thinkers like William James, Maya Angelou, and Fred Rogers, while elevating students’ voices and experiences.

In five modules, she focuses on the principles of mindfulness, the body (including unique breath strategies, as well as goal-setting strategies for healthy living), the heart (fostering joy, navigating difficult emotions, and exploring compassion and self-compassion), the mind (working with thoughts and anxiety to increase resilience), and how to integrate mindfulness into one’s daily life.

If you are familiar with mindfulness curricula, you will be particularly impressed with this book’s developmentally appropriate focus on youth identity and social consciousness. For example, in the “Mind” module, students use reflection activities to explore who they are and what it means to live as an engaged citizen of the world—with an attentiveness to family, culture, gender, and sexuality.

Some mindfulness programs can be faulted for presenting mindfulness techniques in a decontextualized, artificial way as sort of an “add-on” life skill or disposition. However, Mindfulness for Young Adults integrates mindfulness—as a way of being—into the lives of teens and college students to help them navigate the challenges they face right now.

Self-Compassion for Educators , by Lisa Baylis

If you’re looking for a psychological boost as you begin 2022, Lisa Baylis’s Self-Compassion for Educators features stories, reflection activities, and personal practices for any adult who supports student learning. This practical guide focuses on helping school staff learn to embody mindfulness and self-compassion, but it also features Baylis’s AWE (Awaken Wellbeing for Educators) method, including her “Seven C’s of Resilience” (courage, curiosity, clearing our way, community, care, culture, and compassion).

Having struggled with burnout herself, the author shares personal stories of her teaching experiences and her wellness journey, including her own children’s reactions to their mom’s mindfulness practices at home. Well-being isn’t necessarily about “balance,” she says, but responsiveness to the rhythms of life. This rings true—and can release us from the desire to have it all figured out. If we can be aware, adaptable, AND kind to ourselves in the process, the challenges we face as educators may not feel nearly as daunting. Baylis believes you can sustain well-being as you learn “(1) to know when you’re under stress or suffering ( mindfulness ) and (2) to respond with care and kindness ( self-compassion ).”

Apart from offering a range of mindfulness and self-compassions practices in her book, Baylis also directs you to a tool that assesses your quality of life and a wellness wheel to help you evaluate seven dimensions of well-being—including the spiritual, social, and intellectual—as well as reflection activities to help you identify your values, write a mission statement, and prioritize time for play in your life, like hiking, dancing, cooking, or just watching cartoons.

If we are well, our students are more likely to be well—and Baylis created this handy resource with the goal of placing “educator well-being at the forefront of school culture.”


 Teaching With the Heart in Mind: A Complete Educator’s Guide to Social Emotional Learning , by Lorea Martinez

Knowing that standalone SEL programs aren’t always sensitive to the specific needs of students and schools, districts across the country need resources to help them thoughtfully integrate key SEL skills into more culturally responsive curricula. In Teaching With the Heart in Mind , Lorea Martinez provides concrete tips and strategies for building trust, increasing educators’ cultural competence, and creating safe, emotionally connected spaces for learning.

“Justice is not an afterthought or an add-on to our curriculum but a way of being and relating to ourselves and others in the classroom,” says Martinez. Her book serves as a roadmap for educators, featuring the “why” of SEL—including the four research-based conditions for learning—and the specific SEL skills teachers and students need to thrive in classrooms.

Then, in clear, accessible language, she guides her readers through the “what” and “how” of her “HEART in mind” model, mapping out five key skills (in the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive realms) with a focus on concrete classroom applications and grade-level “indicators of mastery.”

To support teacher planning, she approaches each SEL skill with multiple implementation examples, including direct instruction (e.g., teaching students how to label and relate to their emotions), integration with teaching practices (e.g., project-based and cooperative learning), and integration with academic content (e.g., character analyses in language arts). In addition, she includes a whole chapter featuring tips for integrating this model into virtual classrooms.

Martinez reminds us that “we cannot separate SEL from effective teaching”—and the tools she provides will be empowering for teachers at all levels. If you are looking for a step-by-step guide to help you and your colleagues build on students’ cultural assets as you incorporate social and emotional skills into academic content and pedagogy, this is it.

Deep in Thought: A Practical Guide for Teaching Intellectual Virtues , by Jason Baehr

“What’s the point of what I’m doing? Am I really making a difference? What can I reasonably hope to accomplish as a teacher?”

Deep in Thought responds to these nagging questions in a re-examination of the key aims of education through the lens of intellectual virtues —“the personal qualities and character strengths of good thinkers and learners.” Drawing on extensive psychological research, his work in the field of virtue epistemology , and his experience working with teachers and cofounding the Intellectual Virtues Academy , Jason Baehr presents nine key intellectual virtues and the “principles, practices, and postures” for teaching them.

Here, you’ll learn more about intellectual virtues like curiosity, humility, courage, autonomy, and open-mindedness while exploring why and how they are fundamental to learning and deep understanding. You’ll explore the “postures” (or attitudes) that help you to develop each virtue, and you’ll learn about concrete instructional approaches for teaching each virtue, including targeted language for the classroom (definitions and slogans), and self-reflection and assessment tools, as well as questioning and perspective-taking practices you can incorporate into daily lessons.

Baehr also highlights the “ thinking routines ” that tap a range of virtues. For example, routines called “Step Inside” or “Circle of Viewpoints” may help your students to practice open-mindedness, while protocols like “See-Think-Wonder” stimulate deeper curiosity in the classroom.

Although the featured tools primarily serve secondary classrooms, they are adaptable to younger and older students. Perhaps most importantly, however, Baehr leads you through an exploration of your beliefs and values in his book—how you model them and how you can think more systematically and practically about the virtues that inform a meaningful and purposeful life of learning. As Baehr reminds us, “Good teaching has as much to do with who we are as teachers as it does the instructional methods or practices we employ in the classroom.”

Moral Education for Social Justice , by Larry Nucci and Robyn Ilten-Gee

How can the fields of moral development and social justice education inform each other? One school of thought tends to be associated with more individualized, values-based judgments and actions and the other tends to focus on the social conditions that constrain individuals and groups. One may more readily use the language of “fairness,” while the other uses the language of “justice.”

In Moral Education for Social Justice , scholars Larry Nucci and Robyn Ilten-Gee explore how moral reasoning, critical pedagogy, and community activism come together, helping educators to see how these approaches complement each other and inform the ways we view teaching and learning.

To begin, the authors draw on research to define morality, distinguishing it from social or religious conventions and personal choices. In other words, deciding whether to steal something (moral) differs from choosing to wear a religious garment (conventional) or determining who you want to be your best friend (personal).

With a fundamental understanding of moral development, the authors explore how educators can create a moral classroom climate (in the thoughtful creation of school rules and the application of restorative justice practice). And the final section of the book focuses very practically on how to integrate moral development and social justice learning into your curriculum and instructional approaches. In this section, you’ll find strategies for leading productive student discussions and sample lesson plans, as well as action projects that are designed to respond to moral and ethical challenges (with a special focus on critical digital media literacy).

The authors propose that moral development lessons go hand in hand with students’ experiences as they work collaboratively, identifying “moral harm” or injustice, and responding with action plans that support positive social change.

PRIMED for Character Education: Six Design Principles for School Improvement , by Marvin Berkowitz

In his latest book, PRIMED for Character Education , developmental psychologist Marvin Berkowitz argues that “we can build a better world by understanding, committing to, and acting upon what is most effective in nurturing the flourishing of human goodness, especially in kids.” After the last two years, how can anyone argue with that?

But Berkowitz doesn’t stop at just naming what we’re educating for. In PRIMED , he offers a practical blueprint of how to make this vision a reality, starting with making character “THE most important goal of schooling.” This may be a leap for many schools that look to character education, SEL, mindfulness, and other prosocial initiatives to increase academic achievement, but he argues that “we must value nurturing goodness simply because goodness matters.”

For educators and school leaders who are tired of working in a demoralizing educational system that diminishes the human spirit in children and the adults who work with them, then PRIMED will come as a breath of fresh air. Reading it is like listening to Berkowitz speak (which I’ve done several times): matter of fact, insightful, confident—and bluntly honest. He doesn’t hold back when telling the reader that we, the adults, have to start with ourselves. He also doesn’t offer a list of character traits, avoiding the cultural and religious biases for which character education programs are often criticized.

Instead, his PRIMED framework (i.e., Prioritization, Relationships, Intrinsic motivation, Modeling, Empowerment, and Developmental pedagogy) helps educators see character as a way of being , not just doing . He also offers many inspiring stories, tools, and reflection exercises to help us get started with ourselves and our students (see here , here , and here for examples). The pandemic has given us an opportunity to rethink how we do education. Perhaps it’s time to try, as Berkowitz suggests, putting human goodness at the center.

About the Authors

Amy L. Eva, Ph.D. , is the associate education director at the Greater Good Science Center. As an educational psychologist and teacher educator with over 25 years in classrooms, she currently writes, presents, and leads online courses focused on student and educator well-being, mindfulness, and courage. Her new book, Surviving Teacher Burnout: A Weekly Guide To Build Resilience, Deal with Emotional Exhaustion, and Stay Inspired in the Classroom, features 52 simple, low-lift strategies for enhancing educators’ social and emotional well-being.

Vicki Zakrzewski

Vicki Zakrzewski, Ph.D. , is the education director of the Greater Good Science Center.

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The Top 50 Best Books for Teachers – Professional Development Education Books You’ll Love

Table of Contents

1. the innovator’s mindset: empower learning, unleash talent, and learn a culture of creativity – george couros.

• 2. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way To Build Good Habits And Break Bad Ones – James Clear

3. So Much Reform, So Little Change: The Persistence Of Failure In Urban Schools – Charles M Payne 

4. vintage innovation: leveraging retro tools and classic ideas to design deeper learning experiences – john spencer.

• 5. An Educator’s Guide To STEAM: Engaging Students Using Real-World Problems – Cassie F Quigley, Danielle Herro, Deborah Hanuscin
• 6. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brene Brown
• 7. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything – Ken Robinson, Lou Aronica
• 8. The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change – Adam Braun
• 9. Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform, – Elise Ballard

Related articles:

10. the coddling of the amerian mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure – greg lukianoff, jonathan haidt, 11. the whole-brain child: 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child’s developing mind – daniel j. siegel, tina payne bryson, 12. the power of place: authentic learning through place-based education – tom vander ark, emily leibtag, nate mcclennen.

• 13. The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life – Chris Guillebeau
• 14. Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative – Ken Robinson
• 15. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are – Brene Brown
• 16. Walking on Water: Reading, Writing and Revolution – Derrick Jensen
• 17. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – Daniel H. Pink
• 18. The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact – Michael Fullan

19. Flipping Leadership Doesn’t Mean Reinventing the Wheel – Peter M DeWitt

• 20. Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator – Dave Burgess
• 21. Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools – Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
• 22. Shifting the Monkey: The Art of Protecting Good People From Liars, Criers, and Other Slackers – Todd Whitaker
• 23. The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools – Multiple Authors
• 24. What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most – Todd Whitaker
• 25. The Tech-Savvy Administrator: How do I use technology to be a better school leader? – Steven W. Anderson
• 26. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character – Paul Tough
• 27. Mindsets in the Classroom: Building a Culture of Success and Student Achievement in Schools – Mary Cay Ricci
• 28. The Way of Mindful Education: Cultivating Well-Being in Teachers and Students – Daniel Rechtschaffen
• 29. The Way They Learn – Cynthia Ulrich Tobias
• 30. Why Don’t Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom – Daniel T Willingham
• 31. The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child – Richard Lavoie
• 32. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning – Peter C Brown
• 33. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching – Multiple Authors
• 34. Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning – John Hattie
• 35. Design For How People Learn (Voices That Matter) – Julie Dirksen
• 36. Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools – Michael B Horn, Heather Staker
• 37. The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning – Tom D Whitby, Steven W. Anderson
• 38. Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success – Carol Dweck
• 39. School Culture Rewired: How to Define, Assess, and Transform It – Steve Gruenert, Todd Whitaker
• 40. Shaping School Culture: Pitfalls, Paradoxes, and Promises – Terrence E Deal, Kent D Peterson
• 41. Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School – Andy Hargreaves, Michael Fullan
• 42. Cultures Built to Last – DuFour Richard, Fullan Michael
• 43. The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive And Thrive – Michael Fullan
• 44. Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World – Tony Wagner
• 45. Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day – Jonathan Bergmann, Aaron Sams
• 46. Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School – Laura Fleming
• 47. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners – Multiple Authors
• 48. Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner – Persida & William Himmele
• 49. Disrupting Class, Expanded Edition: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns – Multiple Authors
• 50. Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding – Jay McTighe, Grant Wiggins
• 51. The Understanding by Design Guide Set (2 Books)– Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe
• 52. Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty – Elizabeth F Barkley
• 53. Reinventing Writing: The 9 Tools That Are Changing Writing, Teaching, and Learning Forever – Vicki Davis
• 54. Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom – Sylvia Libow Martinez, Gary S Stager

More Professional Development Books and Educator Books For Teachers Reading List

There are a LOT of great books for teachers out there. Picking just fifty is no easy feat, but we’ve done our best to cover the best books for teachers from five different angles .

All of these are exceptional reads for teachers. They are in no particular order ; number one’s content is just as significant a teacher resource as number fifty. So, take a browse through the list or jump directly to your area of interest as a teacher, whether it’s inspiration, mindfulness, leadership ways, classroom management, improved student outcomes, teaching, learning culture, or educational psychology.

Top Professional Development Books For Teachers Compared

One of our favorite professional development books for teachers, The Innovator’s Mindset, contains numerous practical examples of innovative leadership. George Couros encourages any school teacher and administrator to shape students’ natural curiosity by empowering them to question and explore. Innovation starts at the top; this book shows educators how to become innovative thinkers. 

2. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way To Build Good Habits And Break Bad Ones –  James Clear

While not strictly a professional development book, it is one of my favorite books for teachers. In Atomic Habits, world-renowned habits expert James Clear explains how small changes can transform a teacher’s life and impact student learning and student behavior. This practical book reveals simple life hacks and explains why they form good habits and break bad ones.  

In this book, Charles M Payne vividly portrays the weakness of the social infrastructure and daily realities in today’s urban schools. However, the last decade has brought hope with insights into the causes of school failure and how some schools succeeded in improving.

John Spencer’s professional development books answer questions real teachers have about being innovative in the classroom without the best technology, spark creativity within constraints, and how to use vintage tools and approaches in new ways. Vintage Innovation shows the relevance for teachers to look back and forward, using timeless skills and strategies in new ways. 

5. An Educator’s Guide To STEAM: Engaging Students Using Real-World Problems –  Cassie F Quigley, Danielle Herro, Deborah Hanuscin

An Educator’s Guide to STEAM is a practical book to help K-8 grade teachers understand STEAM. The conceptual model illustrates key STEAM teaching aspects like integrating STEAM content and the correct teaching environment. One of the best STEAM-related professional development books for teachers, this book also offers strategies and elements of connected learning to help learners connect STEAM to real-world issues. 

6. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brene Brown

In Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability. Based on twelve years of research, she argues that vulnerability is not weakness but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection. Understanding these concepts can help a teacher in teaching learners and classroom management.

7. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything – Ken Robinson, Lou Aronica

The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve their highest levels. With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the Element and those that stifle that possibility.

8. The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change – Adam Braun

The riveting New York Times bestseller is about a young man who built more than 250 schools worldwide—and the steps anyone can take to lead a successful and significant life. The Promise of a Pencil chronicles Braun’s journey to find his calling, as each chapter explains one clear step that every person can take to turn their most significant ambitions into reality. An inspiring book to add to the reading list of professional development books for teachers.

9. Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform, – Elise Ballard

Have you ever experienced an epiphany, a life-changing moment, or a realization? Elise Ballard has, and she was so stunned by its effect on her life that she started asking others if they had ever experienced these kinds of breakthroughs.

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First Amendment expert Greg Lukianhoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt make a case for how three terrible ideas in childhood education are the origins of new problem trends on college campuses. The three untruths are: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker, Always trust your feelings, and Life is a battle between good people and evil people. Embracing these untruths has a negative influence on the social, emotional, and intellectual development of children, hence poor school discipline and relationships. According to them, cognitive behavioral psychology (CBT) has tools to evaluate and rectify these situations. Excellent reading material for teachers, parents, and mainstream society concerned about a generation setup for trauma and failure. 

Teachers are lifelong learners, and this book is a great practical book on how to develop healthy brain development in children. New York Times bestsellers, the authors, offer a revolutionary approach to rearing children. Based on the latest neuroscience research on how young children’s right brain emotions rule over their logical left brain, they offer 12 key age-appropriate strategies to cultivate healthy emotional and intellectual development. According to the authors, the brain is “under construction” until a child is in their mid-twenties. This is a recommended reading not just for parents and new teachers in elementary education but for all teachers with a passion for teaching; an excellent.

Placed-based education (PBE) is adaptable learning anytime and anywhere where learning leverages the power of place for personalized learning. Since birth, children learn from their surroundings, and history shows that before industrialized education, the community was the classroom. Instead of the American classroom becoming an aspect of learning, it became the place where parents send their children to learn. This book provides teacher educators with ideas on how to enhance the benefits of place-based learning in the teaching profession. Another good read to add to parents’ and teachers’ bookshelves.

13. The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life – Chris Guillebeau

A remarkable book, the content, like his other books, will guide and inspire the teacher and students in the classroom. The Happiness of Pursuit reveals how anyone can bring meaning into their life by undertaking a quest. When he set out to visit all of the planet’s countries by age thirty-five, compulsive goal seeker, Chris Guillebeau never imagined that his journey’s biggest revelation would be how many people like himself exist – each pursuing a challenging quest.

14. Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative – Ken Robinson

“It is often said that education and training are the keys to the future. They are, but a key can turn in two directions. Turn it one way, and you lock resources away, even from those they belong to. Turn it the other way, and you release resources and give people back to themselves.” Learning to be Creative is one of the best books for teachers to inspire learners and educators to think and act differently toward each other.

15. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are – Brene Brown

In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown, a leading expert on shame, authenticity, and belonging, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living—a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.

16. Walking on Water: Reading, Writing and Revolution – Derrick Jensen

Remember the days of longing for the hands-on classroom clock to move faster? Most of us would say we love to learn, but we hate school. Why is that? This book addresses what happens to creativity and individuality as we pass through the educational system. How can we change our lesson planning to help students retain their love for learning?

17. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – Daniel H. Pink

Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink. In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction at work, at school, and home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

18. The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact  –  Michael Fullan

One of the best-known leadership authors in education, Fullan, explains why the answer isn’t in micro-managing instruction nor autonomous entrepreneurialism. He systematically shows how the principal’s role should change, demonstrating how it can be done in short order, at scale.

Part of The Corwin Connected Educator series, in this volume, you’ll use the principles of connectedness and flipped learning to engage stakeholders—teachers, administrators, and parents—digitally, so they’re ready for productive discussion when you meet in person.

20. Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator  –  Dave Burgess

Based on Dave Burgess’s popular “Outrageous Teaching” and “Teach Like a PIRATE” seminars, this development book offers inspiration, practical techniques, and innovative ideas that will help the teacher increase student engagement, boost your creativity and transform your life as an educator.

Also, see Fractus reviews of  Play Like a Pirate  and  Explore Like a Pirate .

21. Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools  –  Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

One of the best professional development books for teachers on leadership, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (Managing Director of Uncommon Schools), shows leaders how to raise their schools to greatness by following a core set of principles. These seven principles, or “levers,” allow for consistent, transformational, and replicable growth. With an intentional focus on these areas, leaders will leverage much more learning from the same amount of time investment.

22. Shifting the Monkey: The Art of Protecting Good People From Liars, Criers, and Other Slackers  –  Todd Whitaker

Poor employees get a disproportionate amount of attention. Why? Because they complain the loudest, create the greatest disruptions, and rely on others to assume the responsibilities they shirk. Learn how to focus on your good employees first and help them shift these monkeys back to the under-performers.

23. The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools  –  Multiple Authors

Why do some leaders double their team’s effectiveness while others seem to drain the energy right out of the room? Using insights from more than 100 interviews with school leaders, this development book pinpoints the five disciplines that define how Multipliers bring out the best across their schools and classroom.

24. What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most  –  Todd Whitaker

In the third edition of this renowned book, you will find pearls of wisdom, heartfelt advice, and inspiration from one of the nation’s leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness. With wit and understanding, Todd Whitaker describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions of great teachers and explains what they do differently.

25. The Tech-Savvy Administrator: How do I use technology to be a better school leader?  –  Steven W. Anderson

How can school leaders use technology to be more effective? In this professional development book, award-winning blogger and educational technology expert Steven W. Anderson explain how and why leaders should use technology and outlines what should be in every leader’s digital toolkit.

26. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character  –  Paul Tough

How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people’s lives inside and outside the classroom.

27. Mindsets in the Classroom: Building a Culture of Success and Student Achievement in Schools  –  Mary Cay Ricci

When students believe that dedication and hard work can change their performance in school, they grow to become resilient, successful students. Inspired by the popular mindset idea that hard work and effort can lead to student success, Mindsets in the Classroom provides educators with ideas for building a growth mindset school culture. Learners are challenged to change their thinking about their abilities and potential.

28. The Way of Mindful Education: Cultivating Well-Being in Teachers and Students  –  Daniel Rechtschaffen

With attention spans waning and stress on the rise, many teachers are looking for new ways to help students concentrate, learn, and thrive. The Way of Mindful Education is a practical guide for cultivating attention, compassion, and well-being in these students and mindfulness in teachers themselves.

29. The Way They Learn  –  Cynthia Ulrich Tobias

Draw out the best in your children—by understanding the way they learn. If you’re frustrated that your child isn’t learning the way you did, chances are they are too! In this practical resource, Cynthia Ulrich Tobias explains that understanding how you learn can make all the difference.

30. Why Don’t Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom  –  Daniel T Willingham

Easy-to-apply, scientifically-based approaches for engaging students in the classroom. Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His professional development books will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn.

31. The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child  –  Richard Lavoie

The Motivation Breakthrough explores proven techniques and strategies—based on six possible motivational styles—that will revolutionize the way teachers and parents inspire kids with learning disabilities to succeed and achieve. Backed by decades of experience in the classroom, educator and acclaimed author Rick Lavoie explodes common myths and gives specific advice for motivating children with learning disabilities.

32. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning  –  Peter C Brown

Drawing on cognitive psychology and other fields, Make It Stick offers techniques for becoming more productive learners and cautions against study habits and practice routines that turn out to be counterproductive. It’s one of those professional development books that speak to students, teachers, trainers, athletes, and all those interested in lifelong learning and self-improvement.

33. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching  –  Multiple Authors

Distilling the research literature and translating the scientific approach into language relevant to college or university, this book for teachers introduces seven general principles of how students learn. The authors have drawn on research from a breadth of perspectives to identify a set of fundamental principles underlying learning, from how effective organization enhances retrieval and use of information to what impacts motivation.

34. Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning  –  John Hattie

Visible Learning for Teachers brings the results of more than fifteen years of research to an entirely new audience. Written for students, pre-service, and in-service teachers, it explains how to apply the principles of Visible Learning to any classroom anywhere in the world.

35. Design For How People Learn (Voices That Matter)  –  Julie Dirksen

Products, technologies, and workplaces change so quickly today that everyone is continually learning. Many of us are also teaching, even when it’s not in our job descriptions. Whether it’s giving a presentation, writing documentation, or creating a website or blog, we need and want to share our knowledge with other people.

36. Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools  –  Michael B Horn, Heather Staker

Blended is the practical field guide for implementing blended learning techniques in K-12 classrooms. Readers will find a step-by-step framework to build a more student-centered system, along with essential advice that provides the expertise necessary to make the next generation of K-12 learning environments.

37. The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning  –  Tom D Whitby, Steven W. Anderson

This information-packed resource from digital experts Anderson and Whitby makes it easy to build a thriving professional network using social media. Easy-to-implement ideas, essential tools, and real-life vignettes help a teacher learn to: Find and choose the best social media tools, products, and communities. Start and grow a collaborative, high-quality PLN using Twitter, blogging, LinkedIn, and more.

38. Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success  –  Carol Dweck

In decades of research on achievement and success, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea of the power of our mindset. Dweck explains why it’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success – but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset.

39. School Culture Rewired: How to Define, Assess, and Transform It  –  Steve Gruenert, Todd Whitaker

Your school is a lot more than a center of student learning–it also represents a self-contained culture with traditions and expectations that reflect its unique mission and demographics. In this groundbreaking book for teachers, education experts Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker offer tools, strategies, and advice for defining, assessing, and ultimately transforming your school’s culture into one that is positive, forward-looking, and actively working to enrich students’ lives.

40. Shaping School Culture: Pitfalls, Paradoxes, and Promises  –  Terrence E Deal, Kent D Peterson

In this thoroughly revised and updated edition of their classic book, Shaping School Culture, Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson address the latest thinking on organizational culture and change. They offer new ideas and strategies on how stories, rituals, traditions, and cultural practices create positive, caring, and purposeful schools.

41. Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School  –  Andy Hargreaves, Michael Fullan

Winner of the 2015 Grawemeyer Award in Education! In this latest and most important collaboration, renowned educators Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan set out a groundbreaking new agenda to transform the future of teaching and public education.

42. Cultures Built to Last  –  DuFour Richard, Fullan Michael

Take your professional learning community to the next level! Discover a systemwide approach for re-envisioning your PLC while sustaining growth and continuing momentum on your journey. You’ll move beyond isolated pockets of excellence while allowing every person in your school system—from teachers and administrators to students—the opportunity to be an instrument of lasting cultural change.

43. The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive And Thrive  –  Michael Fullan

Successful organizations adjust quickly and intelligently to shifts in consumer tastes, political climate, and economic opportunity. How do they do it? The Six Secrets of Change explores essential lessons for business and public sector leaders to thrive in today’s complex environment.

44. Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World  –  Tony Wagner

In this groundbreaking book, education expert Tony Wagner provides a powerful rationale for developing an innovation-driven economy. He explores what parents, teachers, and employers must do to develop the capacities of young people to become innovators.

45. Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day  –  Jonathan Bergmann, Aaron Sams

It started with a simple observation: students need their teachers present to answer questions or provide help if they get stuck on an assignment; they don’t need their teachers to listen to a lecture or review content. From there, authors Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams began the flipped classroom – one of the best professional development books for a modern classroom.

46. Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School  –  Laura Fleming

Get the nuts and bolts on imagining, planning, creating, and managing a cutting-edge Makerspace for your school community. Nationally recognized expert Laura Fleming provides all the answers. From inception through implementation, you’ll find invaluable guidance for creating a vibrant Makerspace on any budget.

47. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners  –  Multiple Authors

Visible Thinking is a research-based approach to teaching thinking, a proven program for enhancing students’ thinking and comprehension abilities. Begun at Harvard’s Project Zero, the teaching way develops students’ thinking dispositions while at the same time deepening their understanding of the topics they study.

48. Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner  –  Persida & William Himmele

Total Participation Techniques presents dozens of ways to engage K 12 students in active learning and allow them to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge and understanding. The book provides easy-to-use alternatives to the stand-and-deliver approach to teaching that causes many students to tune out–or even drop out.

49. Disrupting Class, Expanded Edition: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns  –  Multiple Authors

Filled with fascinating case studies, scientific findings, and unprecedented insights on how innovation must be managed, Disrupting Class will open your eyes to new possibilities, unlock hidden potential, and get you to think differently. Professor Christensen and his coauthors provide a bold new lesson in innovation that will help you make the grade for years to come.

50. Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding  –  Jay McTighe, Grant Wiggins

What are essential questions, and how do they differ from other kinds of questions? What’s so great about them? Why should a teacher design and use essential questions in your classroom? Essential questions help target standards as you organize curriculum content into coherent units that yield focused and thoughtful learning.

51. The Understanding by Design Guide Set (2 Books) –  Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe

Unit creation and planning made easy for Understanding by Design novices and veterans alike! Introduction to version 2.0 of the UbD Template is one of the most practical professional development books for teachers. It allows you to download fillable electronic forms to help you more easily incorporate standards, advance your understanding of backward design, and improve student learning.

52. Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty  –  Elizabeth F Barkley

Student Engagement Techniques is a comprehensive resource that offers college teachers a dynamic model for engaging students. It includes over one hundred tips, strategies, and techniques proven to help teachers from various disciplines and institutions motivate and connects with their students.

53. Reinventing Writing: The 9 Tools That Are Changing Writing, Teaching, and Learning Forever  –  Vicki Davis

In this much-anticipated book from acclaimed blogger Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher), you’ll learn the key shifts in writing instruction necessary to move students forward in today’s world. Vicki’s book describes how the elements of traditional writing are being reinvented with cloud-based tools.

54. Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom  –  Sylvia Libow Martinez, Gary S Stager

There’s a technological and creative revolution underway. Excellent new tools, materials, and skills turn us all into makers. Using technology to make, repair or customize the things we need brings engineering, design, and computer science to the masses. Fortunately for educators, this maker movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing.

• The Teacher’s Guide To Self-Care: Build Resilience, Avoid Burnout, And Being A Happier And Healthier You To The Classroom – Sarah Frost
• I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything For Our Kids –  Kyle Schwartz
• Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Succes – John C Maxwell and other Professional Development and Leadership Books by John C Maxwell
• Teach Like A Champion 3.0: Techniques That Put Students On The Path To College – Doug Lemov
• Educated: A Memoir –  Tara Westover
• Whole Brain Teaching: 122 Amazing Games!: Challenging Kids, Classroom Management, Writing, Reading, Math, Common Core/State Test s – Chris Biffle
• What School Could Be: Insights And Inspiration From Teachers Across America – Ted Dintersmith
• The First Days Of School: How To Be An Effective Teacher – Harry Wong
• Disruptive Thinking: Why How We Read Matters – Kylene Beers, Robert E. Probst

What are your best books for teachers? Leave your favorites in the comments below.

The founder of Fractus Learning, Nick is a pizza-loving Aussie living and working in Dublin, Ireland. With a background in education, engineering and digital product development, Nick launched Fractus to connect people with a shared passion for technology and how it can bring education to life.

10 Comments

This is a great list, and very current. I would add Debbie Silver’s Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Teaching Kids to Succeed. It’s a wonderful blend of theory, practice and narrative.

Thanks Susie! Appreciate the recommendation and it’s now on the Amazon Wish List ;)

Excellent List! Thanks very much for creating and sharing it!

Another great book that was recently published and is a real self-training manual for language teachers is the book ‘Optimise your Teaching Competences: New Teaching Methodologies and CLIL Applications in Foreign Languages’. It contains innovative teaching methodologies and approaches as well as a wealth of teaching ideas for pair-work and group-work activities.

Thanks Eugenia, sounds great! Who is the author?

Great list, but I would have liked to see some more critical works that can incite discussion about the systems and conditions of learning. For example, Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Pedagogy of Freedom, McLaren’s Life in Schools, hooks Teaching to Transgress, Kumashiro’s Bad Teacher and Against Common Sense. As teachers we need to engage in theory and practice to make our reflections more than just a practitioner’s work.

Thanks for the comment and recommendations Chris!

Now many self help books are in the markets. But I couldnot understand why the readers are decrasing . I can’t say why the majority peoples hate books.

Great list. Some of your books are now on my order list. Thank you.

I suggest to add “Clean Language in the Classroom” by Julie McCracken. It has been published a few days ago. I do like it very much and I think it has the power to change the methods of teaching in grammar schools. It is a book not only for teachers, but also a great source for inspiration to all kind of educators and to parents. I got a lot of ideas from it as a coach and trainer.

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100 Must-Read Books For and About Teachers

Ashlie Swicker

Ashlie (she/her) is an educator, librarian, and writer. She is committed to diversifying the reading lives of her students and supporting fat acceptance as it intersects with other women’s issues. She's also perpetually striving to learn more about how she can use her many privileges to support marginalized groups. Interests include learning how to roller skate with her local roller derby team, buying more books than she'll ever read, hiking with her husband and sons, and making lists to avoid real work. You can find her on Instagram (@ashlieelizabeth), Twitter (@mygirlsimple) or at her website, www.ashlieswicker.com.

View All posts by Ashlie Swicker

May is an important month for teachers. Standardized testing kicks in gear, decisions are being made about next year’s budget, and, of course, Teacher Appreciation Week. After ten years in the classroom, I’ve discovered that the best Teacher Appreciation gifts tend to be free- handwritten notes from students or words of encouragement from veteran teachers.

My gift to you is this roundup of advice from voices in every academic discipline, as well as a heavy sprinkling of books about fictional teachers. There are some classics, some hot new titles, and a few books that might push you out of your comfort zone. Whether you are trying to up your game in a certain subject, study theory about different learning styles, or simply read a story about someone else surviving the classroom for a change, you’ll find something in this list of 100 must-read books for and about teachers.

2. Interactive Writing by Trisha Callella-Jones and Kimberly Jordano Focuses on the concept of “sharing the pen” with young students to build confidence and engagement.

3. Igniting A Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers by Stephen L. Layne A case for going beyond basic instruction and explicitly teaching why a love of reading can be so beneficial.

4. Reading Picture Books With Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking About What They See by Megan Dowd Lambert- Published in association with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, this book guides adults in sharing picture books to make story time an interactive and exciting experience.

5. The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller A sixth-grade teacher shares her strategies for getting students to “become readers” and chose literature for enjoyment.

6. How to Get Your Child to Love Reading   by Esme Raji Codell Absolutely chock full of book lists by subject and celebrations of reading to spark interest. My copy is thick with post its.

7. Native Writers: Voices of Power by Kim Sigafus and Lyle Ernst Crucial for teachers trying to represent the full scale of humanity in their classroom libraries, this book profiles ten Native authors.

8. Talking, Drawing, Writing: Lessons for Our Youngest Writers by Martha Horn and Mary Ellen Giacobbe- I was first introduced to this book while teaching kindergarteners in the Writing Workshop model, and the emphasis on explicitly teaching oral storytelling as a precursor to writing strong narratives has stuck with me even as I’ve moved on to teach older students.

9. Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst Scripts, booklists, and actionable plans to help children reach true comprehension of text in an authentic way.

10. 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! By Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins Comprehension strategies for parents and teachers, including booklists for each “key.” Great for people who work with younger readers. I’ve highlighted this book to high heaven.

11. Reading With Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades by Debbie Miller Another comprehension text with full color work samples and classroom anecdotes.

12. Disrupting Thinking: How Why We Read Matters by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst Tackles the ongoing problem of student engagement with text and directs teachers to leave conversations in the hands of students.

13. Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard and Naomi Shihab Nye The case for poetry as a gateway to strong writing across all disciplines, with examples and lesson plans that use a workshop model.

14. Number Talk s  by Sherry Parrish The concept of Number Talks has children mentally solving a problem and then talking through their reasoning in a large group setting. This book lays out the how-tos for this effective practice.

15. Classroom Discussions: Seeing Math Discourse in Action by Nancy Canavan Anderson, Suzanne H. Chapin, and Cathy O’Connor An extension of the Number Talks introduction that includes DVDs with several video clips to help develop the concept.

16. Doing Math in Morning Meeting: 150 Quick Activities That Connect to Your Curriculum by Andy Dousis and Margaret Berry Wilson In an age where teachers are constantly scrambling for time to fit everything in, these activities bring in valuable mathematical practice in seamless, fun ways.

17. Doing Science in Morning Meeting: 150 Quick Activities that Connect to Your Curriculum   by Lara Webb and Margaret Wilson Same as above- time saver that enriches.

18. Good Questions for Math Teaching, Grades 5-8: Why Ask Them and What To Ask by Lainie Schuster and Nancy Canavan Anderson Moving beyond the basic “how do you know?” this book includes questions like “Does it make sense to define a day by 24 hours? Would you have picked another number?” and sets up classroom discussions to develop both mathematical and critical thinking skills.

19. Table Talk Math: A Practical Guide for Bringing Math into Everyday Conversations by John Stevens Designed for parents but valuable for teachers, this book encourages conversations that develop number sense and mathematical reasoning in real-world, real-time situations.

20. But Why Does It Work? Mathematical Argument in the Elementary Classroom by Susan Jo Russell, Deborah Schifter, Virginia Bastable, Traci Higgins, Reva Kasman Lessons for teaching mathematical argument and developing a classroom culture that helps students gain confidence in their own mathematical voice.

22. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz America’s origin story from another perspective.

23. American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities by Devon A. Mihesuah Shatters misconceptions about American Indians- teachers should use this text to be sure they’re conveying true and respectful representations.

24. Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson It’s crucial for teachers to end the rosy Columbus story that persists hundreds of years after his murderous truth is widely known.

25. Teaching Science with Trade Books by Christine Anne Royce, Emily Morgan, Karen Ansberry Fifty complete lessons that use high quality, interesting picture books to teach science concepts.

26. Montessori In The Classroom: A Teacher’s Account of How Children Really Learn by Paula Polk Lillard Follows one class over the course of a year, giving day-to-day accounts to reveal what really happens in a Montessori classroom.

27. The Syracuse-Referenced Curriculum Guide for Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities by Alison Ford “Serving learners from kindergarten through age 21, this field-tested curriculum is a must for professionals and parents devoted to directly preparing a student to function in the world.” -Goodreads  

28. Exceptional Students: Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century by Ronald L. Taylor and Stephen B. Richards Written for both general and special education teachers, this book aims to prepare classroom teachers to identify and meet the needs of every student and provide an inclusive environment for everyone.

29. Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development Handbook by Lynne T. Diaz-Rico Support for mainstream classroom teachers in meeting the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students.

30. The First Six Weeks of School by Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete- This is an essential tome that even seasoned teachers revisit often, including explicit plans for rolling out a foundation of classroom routines that will set a group of students up for success.

31. Who Owns The Learning?:Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age   by Alan November A case for using technology to help students direct their own learning.

32. The Cornerstone: Classroom Management That Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient, and Enjoyable by Angela Powell A general classroom support guide and accompanying website, great for beginning teachers or those needing a boost.

33. Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14   by Chip Wood A classic that clearly lays out developmental milestones in all areas, helping parents and teachers be sure that they are not over or underestimating the children in their lives.

34. Why Don’t Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom by Daniel T. Willingham Challenges some basic understandings around students’ learning styles and provides lots of knowledge about the brain and the best way to tap into its power.

35. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks – Looking  past the framing of education as a gaining of marketable skills, this is an important read about teaching students to “transgress” and rail against injustices that are racial, sexual, and socioeconomic in nature. A book that will benefit anyone in a position to mold young minds. (AOC)

36. Teachers as Cultural Workers by Paulo Freire and Dale April Koike (Translator) Letters to those “who dare to teach,” reminding educators that they key to our success lies in adapting to our students, celebrating what they bring to our classroom, and exposing them to real world connections.

37. Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit Identifying teachers as “cultural transmitters,” this work examines the idea that low performance attributed to children of color is truly the fault of deep cultural misunderstanding. A vital read for any teacher, but especially white educators who work with students of color. (AOC)

38. Educating Activist Allies: Social Justice Pedagogy with Suburban and Urban Elite by Katy Swalwell The importance of an understanding of social (in)justice is critical for our privileged students.

39. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough A look at what really determines a successful school experience, and where teachers should be directing their focused energy.

41. Teaching With Poverty In Mind b y Eric Jensen Discusses the effects of poverty on the brain and how rich learning environments, coupled with meaningful relationships, can reverse damage and build resilience.

42. Other People’s Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy by Victoria Purcell-Gates An examination of reasons why different families have different literacy priorities, how these priorities are passed through generations, and how teachers can get rid of their literary elitism and support students and their families.

43. Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in America’s Classrooms by Tyrone C. Howard “ Important reading for anyone who is genuinely committed to promoting educational equity and excellence for all children, this accessible book outlines the changing racial, ethnic, and cultural demographics in U.S. schools and calls for educators to pay serious attention to how race and culture play out in school settings.” -Amazon

44. Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by Zaretta Hammond Uses neuroscience and non-judgemental language to explain why certain methods won’t help our at risk students, and suggests ways to engage. 

45. Variations on a Blue Guitar: The Lincoln Center Institute Lectures on Aesthetic Education by Maxine Greene A case for the importance of the humanities in every person’s education.

46. Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls In Schools by Monique W. Morris “ Fifteen-year-old Diamond stopped going to school the day she was expelled for lashing out at peers who constantly harassed and teased her for something everyone on the staff had missed: she was being trafficked for sex. After months on the run, she was arrested and sent to a detention center for violating a court order to attend school.” -Amazon 

47. The Language of Learning: Teaching Students Thinking, Listening, and Speaking Skills by Margaret Berry Wilson – This is one of the most impactful educational books I have ever read. It teaches students how to argue. In an age where all facts are carried around in our back pockets, the educational emphasis is shifting, and being able to reason through, question, and defend our thoughts without offense or vitriol is a skill that our students need.

48. Good Thinking: Teaching Argument, Persuasion, and Reasoning by Erik Palmer Lessons for explicitly teaching the critical skill of arguing with evidence and reasoning, angled toward older students.

49. The Way They Learn: How to Discover and Teach To Your Child’s Strengths by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias Information about different learning styles and ways to apply that information when teaching young people.

50. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck An explanation and celebration of the growth mindset- the idea that all of us have the capability to improve.

51. Growth Mindset Coach: A Teacher’s Month-to-Month Handbook for Empowering Students to Achieve by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley Practical and actionable, this handbook helps teachers lead their classes following a empowering growth mindset model.

52. Your Fantastic, Elastic Brain: Stretch It, Shape It by JoAnn Deak Ph. D. and Sarah Ackerley   A picture book that explains growth mindset to elementary students.

53. Teach Like A Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Creativity, and Transform Your Life As An Educator by Dave Burgess Encourages passion and excitement about the craft of teaching, and includes hooks and brainstorming questions to get you started.

54. See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers by Roxanna Elden Tips, checklists, anecdotes and encouragement.

55. I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything For Our Kids by Kyle Schwartz One teacher asked her students to finish the sentence, and the resulting book guides teachers in building a classroom community based on trust and understanding.

56.   My Teacher is a Monster! by Peter Brown A paper-airplane enthusiast of a student heads to the one place he can get some peace from his shouting teacher and is horrified to find out teachers spend Saturdays at the park, too.

57. Miss Nelson is Missing by James Marshall A classic about a rowdy class who push their sweet teacher too far and wind up with the worst substitute ever.

58. Substitute Creature   Chris Gall  A sweet story about a misunderstood substitute teacher.

59. Because I Had a Teacher by Kobi Yamada and Natalie Russell  This heartwarming book is a thank you gift for great teachers everywhere. Perfect for National Teacher Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, the end of the school year, or just because.” -Amazon

61. Miss Smith’s Incredible Storybook by Michael Garland A cool teacher with a magical storybook that only she can control!

62. Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! by Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, and Lane Smith   Diffendoofer School is full of interesting students and excellent teachers. When a standardized test threatens to dampen their love of learning, the entire school learns to trust their brains and rely on what they already know.

63. Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes Lilly LOVES her teacher- until he takes away her favorite (and distracting) purple plastic purse. How will their student-teacher relationship survive the angry letter she leaves for Mr. Slinger?

64. Freedom School, Yes! By Amy Littlesugar and Floyd Cooper A brave girl deals with hateful backlash when her mother offers to take in a young white teacher who has come to teach in the community.

65. Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beatty and David Roberts Iggy loves to build, but his second grade teacher has a personal vendetta against all forms of architecture, until Iggy’s skills save the day.

66.  Don’t Say Ain’t by Irene Smalls This story follows a young girl named Dana who struggles to balance her home language and school language when she attends a white school. Set in 1957, the message is still relevant today.

67. My Teacher is an Alien by Bruce Coville A classic about a young girl who catches her substitute teacher peeling off his face.

68. Jamaica and the Substitute Teacher by Juanita Hall and Anne Sibley O’Brien A story about a substitute teacher who quickly wins her students’ hearts.

69. Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery Reading about Anne’s ups and downs in her first year of teaching has always been comforting to me after a long day in the classroom.

70. Matilda by Roald Dahl Miss. Honey is the teacher all of us wish we could be.

71. Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kauffman A high school epistolary novel about an idealistic teacher clashing with bureaucratic administration.

72. Gabi, A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero Ms. Abernard and her amazing zine project are only one terrific part of this masterpiece.

73. My Great Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston and Susan Condie Lamb Arizona dreams of seeing the world, but ends up teaching for years in a one-room schoolhouse, achieving her goals through the lives of the students she inspires.

74. Lailah’s Lunchbox by Reem Faruqi and Lea Lyon A story about a young girl fasting during Ramadan and her relationship with her teacher and the school librarian as she shares her culture with her class.

75. My Teacher’s Secret Life by Stephen Krensky A sweet book about the age old question: what do teachers do when they’re not at school?

76. A Letter to my Teacher by Deborah Hopkinson This darling book written in the form of a thank you note from a student to a teacher celebrates the difference a good teacher can make.

77. My Teacher by James Ransome A lovely look at an urban classroom run by a teacher who was a student there herself.

78. Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea A rookie teacher and seven kids entering fifth grade make a big impression on each other.

79. The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen Year Old Boy With Autism by Naoki Higashida, translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell A memoir by a non-verbal teenage boy, eloquently explaining how he relates to the world. .

81. I Am A Pencil: A Teacher, His Kids, and Their World of Stories by Sam Swope A professional children’s author spends three years with a third grade class, teaching them to write poems and stories.

82. Ms. Moffett’s First Year: Becoming A Teacher in America by Abby Goodnough Expanded from a series of articles in the New York Times, this book follows a career-changer through her first year in a first grade classroom.

83. Why Do Only White People Get Abducted By Aliens?: Teaching Lessons from the Bronx by Ilana Garon Not a “hero teacher” memoir.

84. Bridge to Brilliance: How One Principal in a Tough Community is Inspiring the World by Nadia Lopez The story of the principal who rocketed to fame after her student named her as the person who most inspired him on the website Humans of New York.

85. The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons From America From a Small School in Harlem by Deborah Meier A look at radical school reform in an inner city setting.

86. See You When We Get There: Teaching for Change in Urban Schools   by Gregory Michie This book follows five young teachers of color as they share classroom experiences and anecdotes with analysis provided.

87. Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity by Beverly Daniel Tatum  “ Here, Tatum asserts that we do not know how to talk about our racial differences. Using real-life examples and research, she presents evidence that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about facilitating communication across racial and ethnic divides.” -Goodreads

88. The Skin We Speak by Lisa Delpit A look into different variations of the English language, emphasizing the importance of developing language by first respecting students’ existing speech patterns. (AOC)

89. Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academic by Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs , Yolanda Flores Niemann , Carmen G. Gonzalez & Angela P. Harris  “Through personal narratives and qualitative empirical studies, more than 40 authors expose the daunting challenges faced by academic women of color as they navigate the often hostile terrain of higher education, including hiring, promotion, tenure, and relations with students, colleagues, and administrators.” -Goodreads 

90. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown While not specifically for teachers, this powerful book will help teachers drop their armor and connect in their classrooms.

91. Unshakeable: 20 Ways To Enjoy Teaching Everyday…No Matter What   by Angela Watson 20 actionable tips to help teachers thrive at work without making any life-altering changes.

92. The Happy Teacher Habits: 11 Habits of the Happiest, Most Effective Teachers on Earth by Michael Linsin Equally valuable for new teachers or veterans trying to avoid burnout, this book draws information from all over the professional world to help teachers implement healthy habits in their work lives.

93. Lift Off: From the Classroom to the Stars by Donovan Livingston This is a transcription of the Harvard Graduate School of Education convocation speech that went viral in 2015, called inspiring and powerful by the likes of Justin Timberlake and Hillary Rodham Clinton.  

94.  Start Where You Are, But Don’t Stay There: Understanding Diversity, Opportunity Gaps, and Teaching in Today’s Classrooms  by H. Richard Milner IV A look at the mindsets and best practices of teachers who are able to acknowledge and plan for cultural differences in their classrooms. 

95. Teacher Life: A Snarky Chalkboard Coloring Book by Papeterie Bleu The adult coloring book craze extends to exhausted, sarcastic teachers.

96. Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get on the Mat, Love Your Body   by Jessamyn Stanley  Teachers of every shape and size need some serious relaxation, and Every Body Yoga is a great starting point.

97. A Moment for Teachers: Self-Care for Busy Teachers   by Alice Langholt Each page is one exercise that can take place in 30 seconds, relieving tension and bringing peace.

98. The Inspired Teacher: Zen Advice for the Happy Teacher by Donna Quesada A teacher memoir about fighting burnout with an emphasis on Eastern teaching.

99. Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom by Patricia A. Jennings A guide for helping teachers monitor and adjust the emotional reactivity of their classroom.  

100. Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness in and out of the Classroom by Meena Srinivasan This three-part work explores mindfulness in the lives of adults,bringing mindfulness into professional lives, and explicitly teaching these skills to students. 

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There are more educational books available for professional learning than ever before. It’s easy to find book recommendations by reaching out on Twitter, checking on Goodreads or looking at curated lists of education books from members of your PLN. It is also helpful to follow the #bookcampPD and #PD4uandMe , hashtags and join in their Twitter chats. If you head to the BookCampPD website, Meredith Johnson has curated a list of book recommendations and organizes monthly book studies through a Twitter chat.

Here are some books (in alphabetical order) that I recommend for educators. Some of these I have come across over the years on my own and some of them have made their way to my pile of books after joining in Twitter chats. 

• A Passion for Kindness by Tamara Letter. A book focused on bringing more kindness into the world. Tamara shares personal experiences and highlights the ideas of other educators and offers kindness cultivators and reflective questions to guide educators along the way to more kindness. 
• Balance Like a  Pirate by Jessican Cabeen, Jessica Johnson and Sarah Johnson. In this book, the authors share the importance of finding balance in our lives as educators and share their personal strategies for doing so. Finding balance is a challenge and this book can definitely help.
• Breaking Bold by Weston and Molly Kieschnick is a great read and follow up to Weston’s first book, Breaking Bold. Breaking Bold is full of strategies and motivations, personal anecdotes, and humorous references to help educators get started. Weston and  Molly share their experiences and weave in so many practical examples and lead educators on a  reflective journey.
• Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain by Zaretta Hammond is an interesting read about brain science and focuses on how educators can boost engagement and “rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students.” Hammond explores how culture can impact learning and how the brain processes data. There are strategies provided that will help educators to provide more personalized and relevant learning experiences for all students and empower them to become independent learners. 
• Culturize by Jimmy Casas is a book that will inspire educators to focus on “every student every day whatever it takes” in order to bring about amazing changes for student learning. In Culturize, Casas shares the four core principles for school success: Be a champion for students, expect excellence, carry the banner for the school, and be a merchant of hope. 
• Daring Greatly by Brené Brown is a book for every educator to learn how to be comfortable with vulnerability. Inspiring to read, this book offers stories which will lead you to reflect on your personal and professional life and it does so in a way that inspires, supports, pushes and even entertains.
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink explores the puzzle of motivation. Through his research, Pink uncovers the key elements of autonomy, mastery and purpose and how they connect with motivation. 
• Evolving Education by Dr. Katie Martin explores how to bring about change to schools, to promote more authentic learning experiences for students, and what we can do to place students in the lead more. 
• Evolving Learner by Lainie Rowell, Dr. Kristy Andre, and Dr. Lauren Steinmann shares strategies for accomplishing successful professional learning through a framework where students and teachers are active agents of learning.  The book examines ideas and strategies that Empower Educators to learn from kids, fears, and the world in a cycle of continuous Improvement. 
• For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood: Reality Pedagogy And Urban Education by Christopher Emdin explores “reality pedagogy” and how to implement culturally responsive practices in our classrooms. Emdin shares his personal experiences with teaching in urban schools and the effects of inequality on students of color.
• It’s OK to Say They: Tips for Educators by Christy Whittlesey is full of resources for educators to support transgender and nonbinary students. The book includes first person narratives and offers strategies for educators and even a dictionary of relevant terms.
• The Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros is focused on empowering educators to bring about change in their classrooms by taking some risks, experiencing failures, and providing students with more opportunities to lead and create.
• Kids These Days : A Game Plan for (Re)Connecting with Those We Teach, Lead, & Love by Dr. Jody Carrington is a book that shares Dr. Carrington’s research and personal experiences working with students and families. The book emphasizes the importance of connections and building relationships so we can best serve our students.  
• LAUNCH by A.J. Juliani and John Spencer, is about empowering students through design thinking. The authors take you through the steps of the LAUNCH cycle, which is very helpful for educators interested in trying design thinking or genius hour projects. Full of visuals, templates, lesson plans and a LAUNCH notebook.
• Learning Transformed by Eric Sheninger Thomas C. Murray identifies 8 keys to transform schools and learning to best prepare our students for the future. Read more about Learning Transformed in the Smart Review . 
• Lost at School by Ross W. Greene will help educators to better understand and work with students and challenging behaviors in the classroom. Through Greene’s Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) Model and from the narrative and stories shared in the book, the importance of building relationships resonates throughout.
• Personal and Authentic by Tom Murray provides personal stories from Tom as well as more than 50 educator vignettes shared in “Make it Stick” and “In Practice” sections. Murray shares his “Personal & Authentic Framework” to empower educators to create more authentic learning experiences in our classrooms.
• Power of Place by Tom Vander Ark, Emily Liebtag, and Nate McClennen presents a thorough resource full of everything that educators (regardless of role and experience), as well as community members, need to get started with Place Based Education (PBE). An overview of PBE is provided, which includes an explanation of the six design principles and the context of place-based learning. The book offers many examples, clear explanations, and student and educator stories.
• Start with Why by Simon Sinek profiles innovative companies that start by asking the question why and how that leads to success. For anyone looking to become more of a leader, it will push your thinking and is applicable to any area, especially education. 
• Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday focuses on the importance of taking moments away for ourselves. Holiday shares stories of many historical figures and how they incorporated stillness into their busy lives and why it matters. 
• Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess is a book full of personal experiences, inspirational quotes, reflection questions, and ideas for how to create more engaging lessons, promote student curiosity and build rapport in our classrooms. Teach Like a Pirate was the first book about education that I had read in years and the one that pushed me to start taking some risks in my own classroom. 
• Teaching AI by Michelle Zimmerman is for any educator looking to better understand artificial intelligence, how it will impact the future, and what it means for education. The book includes scenarios, tools, activities, reflection questions and ideas to get started. 
• Things I Wish […] Knew by Rachelle Dené Poth includes 50 educators with different experiences and backgrounds in education who share something they wish they or others knew. Each vignette shares an eye-opening experience, a valuable lesson learned, advice for overcoming challenges, or simply offers some inspiration or words of wisdom.
• UDL and Blended Learning by Dr. Katie Novak and Dr. Catlin Tucker explores Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how to create the best learning experiences for all students.  Through blended learning methods, educators will learn how to leverage the right tools to create authentic, meaningful and personalized learning pathways for students. The strategies and frameworks are focused on fostering classroom community, increased accessibility and promoting equity in learning. 
• What School Could Be by Ted Dintersmith shares what Ted learned after spending 2016 visiting schools in all 50 states. Dintersmith took what he observed, his own research, the authentic stories from educators he met during his travels and has shared what he believes to be the changes needed for education in this book. Listen to the Ted Dintersmith Podcast Interview .

There are many books out there and I could definitely add more to the list but wanted to create a resource for educators to explore a variety of topics from different perspectives. If I could add one more to this list, I would add my first published book, In Other Words: Quotes that Push Our Thinking which gave me a space to share stories from educators and students as well as my own story. Quotes are used as a focus to push thinking about the importance of growing ourselves as educators, knowing our why, as well as learning from and embracing failures and taking risks. 

Rachelle Dené Poth

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The 25 Best Professional Development Books for Teachers

It's the end of the school year and I'm so looking forward to a relaxing summer! One thing I definitely want to do is catch up on my reading list. I have a whole stack of fun books just waiting for me.

But I also want to fit in a few education books - because 16 years into my teaching career, I know there's always more to learn. To get some new ideas, I recently polled some of my teacher friends and colleagues to find out what they've been reading.

Here is list of favorite professional development books recommended by real teachers. They span all grade levels, include books for new teachers and veteran teachers alike, and are full of practical advice you can use in your own classroom. Take a look!

The Best Professional Development Books for Teachers

Books About Reading

Books About Math

Books About Special Education

Books About Classroom Management

Books About the Teaching Profession

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Books About Teaching Reading

Sounding Out the Sight Words: An Alternative to Rote Memorization

If you teach beginning readers, you may have noticed that many of the Dolch and Fry words aren't actually sight words that need to be memorized. A large number of them are decodable words that happen to occur very frequently in written English. This book focuses on the phonetic concepts in the most common Dolch words.

The author gives you 67 instant lessons you can start using right now. Rather than helping students memorize a certain sight word each day, you teach one bite-size phonics concept each day. Each lesson is designed to be delivered in less than10 minutes simply by reading it aloud and then helping students sound out the sample words. The beauty of this approach is that once the student learns the target phonics concept, they can easily transfer it to other words that follow the same pattern. This one is a must-read!

The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller

This book helps teachers support students of all levels on their path to reading success. The author forgoes old-school approaches to reading instruction like book reports and comprehension worksheets and instead embraces student choice in book selection and independent reading. She clearly conveys a passion for reading that is truly inspiring and the results are impressive. No matter how far behind Miller's students are when they enter her 6th grade classroom, they read an average of 40 books a year, achieve high test scores on standardized assessments, and internalize a love of reading that lasts long after they've left her class. I also recommend the companion to this book Reading in the Wild .

The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo

In this practical guide, the author shares 300 strategies to support learners across thirteen reading goals - everything from fluency to literary analysis. Each strategy is explained briefly, followed by prompts, examples, and anchor charts. There are also side notes that crosslink the appropriate F&P level, type of text, and the main focus of each strategy. This is a book you will refer to often!

Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by Kyleen Beers

All too often, no matter what you do as a teacher, some students remain disengaged and reluctant readers. This book shares new strategies to increase student engagement, encourage responsive reading, deepen comprehension, and create lifelong readers. It's a quick, easy read full of inspiring case studies and lots of ideas grounded in research. If you want to move towards a student-centered approach to reading, you'll want to check out this book. I particularly like the discussions on "fake reading" and the practice of silent reading in class.

The Read-Aloud Handbook

This book by Jim Trelease is an oldie but goodie for sure. I discovered it many years ago when I was homeschooling my own kids. It was one of my favorite books about creating a real love for reading. This New York Times Bestseller is geared toward parents but holds a lot of value for the classroom teacher too. The latest edition does a great job of conveying the benefits, rewards, and importance of reading aloud. Supported by anecdotes as well as the latest research, it offers proven techniques and strategies - and the reasoning behind them - to help children discover the joy of reading and set them on the road to becoming lifelong readers.

Know Better, Do Better: Teaching the Foundations So Every Child Can Read

An easy and useful read for anyone who teaches reading at the elementary level. The authors, Meredith and David Liben, address the importance of building strong foundational skills with ideas, strategies, and suggested resources that help you as a teacher implement best practices that directly impact student learning. It's a great book for anyone who teaches young children, especially first year teachers.

Books About teaching Math

Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler

This book provides strategies and activities to help teachers show all children that they can enjoy math and succeed in it. It will definitely make you rethink the phrase "I'm not a math person". I can't say that this book is not an easy read, especially the first few chapters. The author cites a lot of research studies and discusses what's happening the the brain when we do math. But it also incorporates a lot of real-world examples and tips on how to invite students to engage in authentic, critical thinking. There is a heavy emphasis on developing a growth mindset towards math and how to instill that in your students. I think this book is well suited for PD or a school-based book study because it gives you a lot to discuss.

Beyond Pizzas and Pies by Julie McNamara

This is one of the best professional development books for teachers of math in the intermediate grades (3 to 5)! It is an excellent resource for building a thorough understanding of fractions. Each chapter contains really useful and specific activities that you can implement right now. I particularly like the author's use of scenarios that demonstrate erroneous thinking that happens in classrooms everywhere. McNamara provides the math research to back up her strategies, lesson plans for how to teach them correctly; and reproducibles you can use in your lessons. There is even a DVD and QR codes you can scan to watch demonstration lessons.

Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl

This book is a game changer when it comes to teaching math. As it turns out, the traditional methods we have been using for more than a century aren't the most conducive to critical thinking. The author lays out 14 practices, backed by 15 years of real classroom research, that create the ideal environment for deep thinking. By implementing his practical techniques, you will see an increase in engagement and student achievement.

The book is easy to read and the strategies an be applied at all grade levels, kindergarten through high school. I really like that it includes a discussion on rubrics and grading in addition to the teaching strategies. Each chapter is focused on a specific practice with examples of real classroom implementations and lots of student interviews. There are also FAQs with clear, specific answers. This one tops my list of the best books for teaching math.

Mine the Gap by John J. SanGiovanni

What I love about this book is that there are 3 versions: K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. While other books look at methods for teaching math, this book focuses on intervention, student outcomes, and how to move students who are struggling. They key is to see where their misconceptions lie, find the cause, and then fix it. The author examines specific skills for each grade level range, shows multiple examples of student work for each, and shows you where the gap in student thinking exists. This book is a wonderful resource that explains how to pinpoint a problem and determine the next best steps.

Intentional Talk: How to Structure & Lead Productive Mathematical Discussions

This book is full of great ideas for facilitating math discussion in the classroom. It is based around six main concepts - Open Strategy Share, Compare & Connect, What's Best & Why, Define & Clarify, Troubleshoot & Revise, and Why? Let's Justify. Once you learn these techniques, you will have a clear understanding of how to structure math talks and support students in their math conversations. I particularly like the sentence starters and planning guides included in the book.

Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games & Assessment Tools to Support Learning & Retention

We all know that learning basic math facts is essential. Yes, students definitely need to know how to problem solve and think critically. But a solid foundation in math facts can't be overlooked. It's a fundamental skill that is required for success in higher-level math. But what's the best way to get there? Are flash cards, drills, and timed tests the answer? If so, why do students go into the upper grades still counting on their fingers? What does the research say?

This practical book explains the 5 fundamentals of fact fluency and then gives you specific strategies for teaching the facts, the correct order to teach them, 60 games to use with students, ideas for communicating with parents, and a variety of observation tools for gathering data on student progress.

Books about special education

You're Going to Love This Kid!: Teaching Children with Autism in the Inclusive Classroom by Paula Kluth

This is a great book for a book study at school. It will really bring everyone together for the good of our special students. It is full of real-life examples and even interviews of people with disabilities that will change the way you think about students with autism. The author shows you how to support students on the spectrum and allow them to be an integral and valuable part of the general education classroom.

The IEP from A to Z

The subtitle of this book is "How to Create Meaningful and Measurable Goals and Objectives" and that's exactly what it delivers. Whether you're a new or veteran special education teacher, this book is a lifesaver. It provides easy-to-understand explanations of the IEP process along with a wealth of content area-specific sample goals and objectives, templates, and general teaching tips for maintaining the IEP. A very practical and useable guide!

30 Days to the Co-Taught Classroom by Paula Kluth & Julie Causton

As more and more schools move towards a co-teaching model, this book is very timely. The full title is 30 Days to the Co-taught Classroom: How to Create an Amazing, Nearly Miraculous & Frankly Earth-Shattering Partnership in One Month or Less . Sounds like a miracle, right?

The book is divided into 30 topics that include essentials such as vision building, time management, lesson planning, establishing roles and expectations, differentiating, co-teaching structures and relationship-strengthening ideas. It's an entertaining read written from two teachers with real-world, real-classroom experience. I like that it covers both the "big ideas" of co-teaching and the smaller details that can make or break a co-teaching partnership. This would be a great book to keep in your school's professional development library.

Books about Classroom culture & management

The Curious Classroom by Smokey Daniels

Ever wonder how to get students genuinely engaged in the curriculum? Or wish you could let them explore all of the amazing questions that swirl through their heads? If so, this book provides research-based suggestions that help you connect what kids wonder about to the what you have to teach them in your curriculum.

The author shares 10 easy strategies for incorporating inquiry into an otherwise curriculum-driven classroom (which describes most public schools today). The book includes full-color photographs and many examples of student work, plus specific suggestions for assessment and grading. Geared toward elementary school classrooms.

Classroom Management for Elementary Teachers: 15 Strategies to Manage Challenging Behaviors and Create a Responsive Classroom by Freya Fan

Whoa, long title, right? If you feel like your classroom management can use a tune up, this teacher's guide is a great place to start. It is full of very practical tips that can be applied easily to any classroom setting. I especially like that the strategies in this book help build essential life skills such as empathy and teamwork that will serve students well into adulthood. This is a good book for any educator and a GREAT book for newer teachers. Easy to read with very specific suggestions.

Take Control of the Noisy Class by Rob Plevin

Packed with powerful, fast-acting techniques – including an easy way to get any class quiet in 15 seconds or less – this book helps teachers across all age groups connect and succeed with hard-to-reach, reluctant learners. Concise and specific, this book won't bog you down with tons of research. The author just shares his tried-and-true tips that work with young people of any age.

I Wish My Teacher Knew by Kyle Schwartz

This book has gotten a lot of hype and honestly, it seems to be a love-it or hate-it kind thing. You just have to read it and see for yourself. The author starts out by asking her elementary students to complete the sentence "I wish my teacher knew...". The responses she got were surprising, entertaining, and often heartbreaking.

The book outlines and tackles real issues that face many of our students - hunger, loss, and poverty, for example. She gives practical suggestions for a variety of situations, from how to welcome new children into your classroom to incorporating "family learning projects" into your instruction. There is a strong focus on making things equitable vs. equal. I like how Schwartz uses many examples from her own and other real classrooms.

Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14 by Chip Wood

This book isn't exactly about classroom management but it can certainly help you with it. Basically, it's a guide to how most children typically act, think, and behave at any given age. Depending on their developmental stage, kids have different needs, cognitive abilities, and ways of reasoning. Sometimes those in the educational system lose sight of the fact that we work with CHILDREN. They aren't mini adults. The needs of students truly do change as they grow. This book is a great reminder of that. It gives specific examples and ideas you can really use. A lot of of the information is grounded in educational psycholog y, but this book is easy to read and applicable to our daily lives as teachers.

The Classroom Management Book by Harry & Rosemary Wong

This book is by Henry and Rosemary Wong, the same authors who wrote The First Days of School (essential reading for EVERY new teacher). It is a step by step guide for teaching 50 procedures that can be applied, changed, adapted, and incorporated into any classroom management plan. They are suitable for all grades, all subjects, and all teachers. I like that the suggestions are very specific and clearly explained with examples from real classrooms. They are research-based but practical. I also like how the book draws important distinctions between rules and procedures. It's an excellent refresher course for any teacher and especially helpful for newer ones.

Books about being a teacher

Go See the Principal: True Tales from the School Trenches by Gerry Brooks

If you spend any amount of time online looking at teacher stuff, I'm sure you've come across Jerry Brooks' videos. He's a principal turned youtube star who tells it like it is. In this book, he covers a wide range of topics from social media use in the class­room and parent-teacher conferences to more lighthearted sections such as "Pickup and Dropoff: An Exercise in Humanity" and "School Supplies: Yes, We Really Need All That Stuff." Slightly more serious in tone than his videos (but not much more), this collection of essays is a fun read. The last chapter contains a list of the best ideas from various teachers and principals that you will surely want to add to your arsenal of teacher tools.

Seven Myths about Education by Daisy Christodoulou

This isn't a new book, but it might not be one you've come across before. In it, the author examines seven widely-held beliefs that are holding back students and teachers in our educational system. Each chapter outlines the theoretical basis for the myth, including important educational figures who have promoted it. Then, the author explains why it is actually just a myth. One thing to note is that the examples come from the British educational system, but the information is still applicable anywhere. This book attempts to counteract much of the pseudo-scientific pedagogy that has made it's way into our teacher preparation programs and schools.

Happy Teacher Habits by Michael Lisin

Written in storytelling style, this book guides you through 11 habits of the happiest, most effective teachers. If you need a refresh and recharge, put this title on your list. It gives simple, actionable strategies to eliminate your teaching stress and empower you to really love your job again. It's a quick, relaxing read and especially enjoyable to listen to with the audio book version. It's one of the best books geared toward fighting teacher burnout written by someone who truly understands the struggle we teachers have each day.

The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy

Ok, so this one isn't exactly a professional development book for teachers. Written acclaimed author Pat Conroy, this book tells the story of the year he spent teaching on Defuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina. This wasn't some cushy job in an affluent school. No, he was teaching mostly illiterate black children in 1969 who had been cast aside by the educational system. This is Conroy's memoir of that year spent trying to engage, empower and expose these children to the wide world outside of their constrictive environment. It is an inspiring, uplifting, and heartwarming book that every teacher should read.

Let's read!

Most teachers I know are dedicated lifelong learners, so I hope this list of PD books helps you discover new ways of teaching and brings personal growth. Be on the lookout for my next post with a list of purely FUN books to enjoy in your downtime (maybe over summer break?). If you know of any other excellent books for educators, please share your recommendations in the comments below! I'm always on the lookout for new teaching ideas and inspiration.

Happy reading!

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10 Must-Read Books for Teachers

Learning must never stop. And what is a better way to expand our knowledge than to pick up a good book? Educators are responsible for teaching and educating the next generation. Thus, they are required to keep expanding and growing their knowledge. Reading books can help teachers stay updated and explore new ways.

Teachers might not get time from their busy schedules to devour a book. But certain professional development books and educational books are a must-read for every teacher.

With intensive research and discussion with hundreds of teachers, we, at upEducators have curated a list of must-read books for every educator. So without much further ado, let’s explore these books.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Teachers: The Heroes of Real India

The negative narrative around government schools in India remains unchanged. The lack of infrastructure, absenteeism and teacher shortage are contributing factors that defame government schools in India. In this book, S.Giridhar the first registrar and COO of Azim Premji University is all set to take down the misconceptions about the modern-day government schools in India. 

S. Giridhar has spent nearly two decades studying and documenting public education in India. In this book, he talks extensively about the educators who have made a difference in public education in India. The text discusses how certain teachers and headmasters have transformed public schools by getting the community involved. He throws light on the efforts of these teachers to arrange books, improve infrastructure and even decrease teacher absenteeism. The dedication of these extraordinary teachers has motivated parents of migrant children to send their kids to school instead of earning daily wages. This is a must-read book for every individual associated with the education system in India to understand the public school systems in India.

Amazon Ratings: 4.6/5 GoodReads Ratings: 4.5/5 Buy here Read more about the author here

Finish Lessons: What can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? By Pasi Sahlberg

The education system is the backbone of any economy or society. To bring positive changes in the community, education systems need focus and attention. Finland was one of the first nations to realise that only the revival of an education system can help the country compete with the big western powers in this era. Hence, Finland took the best measures to improve the education provided to the citizens. Firstly, it focused on ensuring that every teacher in the country completes a post-graduate course before joining the workforce. This way, even primary teachers were able to contribute to academia. Finland as a country took bold steps to transform the education system and it is now one of the best education systems in the world. This book by Pasi Sahlberg talks about the Finnish education system and what the world can learn from them.

Amazon Ratings: 4.4/5 Goodreads Ratings: 3.9/5 Buy here Read more about the author here

I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Malala , a Nobel peace prize winner, had a very challenging yet incredible journey. This autobiographical account tells the story of how Malala, a young Pashtun girl from Mingora fought against the extremist regime of the Taliban for equal rights and education for women. The story revolves around the struggles faced by Malala and other girls and women under the rule of the Taliban. Malala gained popularity in the West and even locally with her speeches, discussions and views on women’s education. The Taliban did not like how she was becoming successful in spreading awareness about women’s education. She was finally shot near her brain by the Taliban and she ended up in a hospital in Birmingham for surgery. The journey to getting equal rights for women’s education under the rule of the Taliban is a long one. But Malala received the Nobel Prize for her efforts to make the world aware of the plight of women under the Taliban’s rule.

Amazon Ratings:4.5/5 Goodreads Ratings: 4.1/5 Buy here Read more about the author here

Teacher Education In India: Issues and Concerns edited by Lokanath Mishra

This book is a collection of seminars by National seminars on teacher education issues and concerns. The text deals with the issues related to teacher training with special reference to North East India. These seminars are collected in essay forms in this book and talk about the importance of good teachers in shaping the fate of a nation. It not only finds the problems but provides solutions to improve the plight of teachers in the country. 

Amazon Ratings: 4.5/5 Goodreads Ratings:4/5 Buy here

Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator by Dave Burgess

The title of this acclaimed book might have a lot of people confused. PIRATE stands as a mnemonic device or an acronym for the teaching techniques promoted by Dave Burgess for teachers. The first part of the book discusses these methods while the second part presents various hooks for teachers to adopt in the classroom to increase engagement. This is a must-read book for fresher teachers and experienced teachers can read this book to check their methods against the ideal techniques proposed by the writer. 

Amazon Ratings: 4.7/5 Goodreads Ratings: 4/5 Buy here Read more about the author here

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller

Reading is the only way to increase your knowledge. But not every child is born a reader. In this book, the teacher and writer, Donalyn Miller shares the journey of instilling a love of reading in every student. The book is drawn on the writer’s experiences, anecdotes successes and failures as a teacher. It is a must-read text for every educator to help their students develop a love for reading.

Amazon Ratings: 4.5/5 Goodreads Ratings: 4.7/5 Buy here Read more about the author here

Seven Myths About Education by Daisy Christodoulou

This controversial book explores and critiques the orthodox educational systems. Daisy , an educator teaching in challenging environments has displayed the disparities between actual classrooms and scientific principles. She discusses the seven fundamental myths that hold back teachers and students in a learning environment which are:

• Facts prevent understanding
• Teacher-led instruction is passive
• The 21st century fundamentally changes everything
• You can always just look it up
• We should teach transferable skills
• Projects and activities are the best way to learn
• Teaching knowledge is indoctrination

Christodoulou discusses each myth and explores the practical applications and worrying effects of these practices. She also projects the role of governments and educational organisations in affecting the quality of education. This is a must-read boom for every teacher and every individual related to education.

Amazon: 4.5/5 Goodreads: 4.2/5 Buy here Read more about the author here

Why Don’t Students Like Schools?: A Cognitive Scientists Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What it Means for the Classroom By Daniel Willingham

The complete title of the book is self-explanatory to know why this is an important book for every teacher. The author, Daniel Willingham is a cognitive scientist who first explores why students dislike schools and concludes after logically explaining the primary cause of absenteeism from schools. 

The author does not stop by identifying the problem as the readers find solutions to increase engagement in the classroom. The author’s research on biological and cognitive learning helps develop the main argument and solutions in this book. It is a must-read text for every teacher to understand a child’s psychology and cognitive patterns in learning.

Amazon: 4.6/5 Buy here Goodreads: NA Read more about the author here

The Art of Being a Brilliant Teacher by Gary Toward, Andy Cope and Chris Henley

A final entry for the Education Resources Award 2017 in the Educational Book Award category, this book is a well-researched resource for modern educators. 

In their book,  Gary Toward, Andy Cope and Chris Henley explore what it takes to be a great teacher. They share their personal experiences and offer advice on everything from dealing with difficult situations to maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

The book is full of useful tips and is a must-read for anyone considering a career in teaching. Toward, Cope and Henley are all experienced teachers themselves, so they know what they’re talking about.

Their advice is both practical and inspiring. The book is divided into 9 chapters. Some of the interesting titles for the chapter include “Spaghetti junction” or “Let the force be with you.” These interesting chapters are filled with even more interesting details. For instance, the chapter titled “Rules of Engagement” covers topics like how a teacher must speak to sound more interesting and how educators can deal with latecomers. It is a complete package for teachers to explore different dynamics of their profession and become better at their jobs.

Amazon: 4.6/5 GoodReads: 4.2/5 Buy here Read more about the authors here

The First Days of School: How to Be An Effective Teacher by Harry Wong and Rosemary T.

If every new teacher could read this book before stepping into the classroom, then they will have a better hold on their class at the beginning itself. The book provides a proper guide for not only freshers but even experienced teachers. The text offers a detailed understanding of classroom procedures, methodologies, principles, etiquette and even behaviours that teachers can adapt for better learning. 

Teachers have difficulty being friendly with the students without crossing the boundaries of professionalism. But with this book, every teacher can learn how to stay friendly yet professional in the classroom. Such is the impact of this book that it gives you years of teaching experiences in just about 300 pages. 

With over 3.6 million copies sold, this book is the best guide for classroom management any educator can ask for. The book has become a guide for more than 2000 classrooms at college and school levels in 116 countries. 

Amazon Rating: 4.6/5 GoodRead Rating: 4/5 Buy here Read more about the authors here

We all learn how books are a man’s best friend. Reading can open up new horizons and take us to new places, crossing physical boundaries. Teachers must keep upskilling themselves with new opportunities to learn and grow. Reading is the best way to expand your knowledge as a teacher.

Author : This article is written by Samiya Rashid for upEducators blog.

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A critical take on education and schooling

The 50 great books on education

Professor of Education, University of Derby

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I have often argued that I would not let any teacher into a school unless – as a minimum – they had read, carefully and well, the three great books on education: Plato’s Republic, Rousseau’s Émile and Dewey’s Democracy and Education. There would be no instrumental purpose in this, but the struggle to understand these books and the thinking involved in understanding them would change teachers and ultimately teaching.

These are the three great books because each is sociologically whole. They each present a description and arguments for an education for a particular and better society. You do not have to agree with these authors. Plato’s tripartite education for a just society ruled over by philosopher kings; Rousseau’s education through nature to establish the social contract and Dewey’s relevant, problem-solving democratic education for a democratic society can all be criticised. That is not the point. The point is to understand these great works. They constitute the intellectual background to any informed discussion of education.

What of more modern works? I used to recommend the “blistering indictment” of the flight from traditional liberal education that is Melanie Phillips’s All Must Have Prizes, to be read alongside Tom Bentley’s Learning Beyond the Classroom: Education for a Changing World, which is a defence of a wider view of learning for the “learning age”. These two books defined the debate in the 1990s between traditional education by authoritative teachers and its rejection in favour of a new learning in partnership with students.

Much time and money is spent on teacher training and continuing professional development and much of it is wasted. A cheaper and better way of giving student teachers and in-service teachers an understanding of education would be to get them to read the 50 great works on education.

The books I have identified, with the help of members of the Institute of Ideas’ Education Forum, teachers and colleagues at several universities, constitute an attempt at an education “canon”.

What are “out” of my list are textbooks and guides to classroom practice. What are also “out” are novels and plays. But there are some great literary works that should be read by every teacher: Charles Dicken’s Hard Times – for Gradgrind’s now much-needed celebration of facts; D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow – for Ursula Brangwen’s struggle against her early child-centred idealism in the reality of St Philips School; and Alan Bennett’s The History Boys – for Hector’s role as the subversive teacher committed to knowledge.

I hope I have produced a list of books, displayed here in alphabetical order, that are held to be important by today’s teachers. I make no apology for including the book I wrote with Kathryn Ecclestone, The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education because it is an influential critical work that has produced considerable controversy. If you disagree with this, or any other of my choices, please add your alternative “canonical” books on education.

Michael W. Apple – Official Knowledge: Democratic Education in a Conservative Age (1993)

Hannah Arendt – Between Past and Future (1961), for the essay “The Crisis in Education” (1958)

Matthew Arnold – Culture and Anarchy (1867-9)

Robin Barrow – Giving Teaching Back to the Teachers (1984)

Tom Bentley – Learning Beyond The Classroom: Education for a Changing World (1998)

Allan Bloom – The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students (1987)

Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron – Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (1977)

Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis – Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life (1976)

Jerome Bruner – The Process of Education (1960)

John Dewey – Democracy and Education (1916)

Margaret Donaldson – Children’s Minds (1978)

JWB Douglas – The Home and the School (1964)

Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes – The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education (2008)

Harold Entwistle – Antonio Gramsci: Conservative Schooling for Radical Politics (1979).

Paulo Freire – Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968/1970)

Frank Furedi – Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating (2009)

Helene Guldberg – Reclaiming Childhood (2009)

ED Hirsch Jnr. – The Schools We Need And Why We Don’t Have Them (1999)

Paul H Hirst – Knowledge and the Curriculum (1974) For the essay which appears as Chapter 3 ‘Liberal Education and the Nature of Knowledge’ (1965)

John Holt – How Children Fail (1964)

Eric Hoyle – The Role of the Teacher (1969)

James Davison Hunter – The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age without Good or Evil (2000)

Ivan Illich – Deschooling Society (1971)

Nell Keddie (Ed.) – Tinker, Taylor: The Myth of Cultural Deprivation (1973)

John Locke – Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1692)

John Stuart Mill – Autobiography (1873)

Sybil Marshall – An Experiment in Education (1963)

Alexander Sutherland Neil – Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing (1960)

John Henry Newman – The Idea of a University (1873)

Michael Oakeshott – The Voice of Liberal Learning (1989) In particular for the essay “Education: The Engagement and Its Frustration” (1972)

Anthony O’ Hear – Education, Society and Human Nature: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (1981)

Richard Stanley Peters – Ethics and Education (1966)

Melanie Phillips – All Must Have Prizes (1996)

Plato – The Republic (366BC?)

Plato – Protagoras (390BC?) and Meno (387BC?)

Neil Postman – The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School (1995)

Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner – Teaching as a Subversive Activity (1969)

Herbert Read – Education Through Art (1943)

Carl Rogers – Freedom to Learn: A View of What Education Might Become (1969)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Émile or “on education” (1762)

Bertrand Russell – On Education (1926)

Israel Scheffler – The Language of Education (1960)

Brian Simon – Does Education Matter? (1985) Particularly for the paper “Why No Pedagogy in England?” (1981)

JW Tibble (Ed.) – The Study of Education (1966)

Lev Vygotsky – Thought and Language (1934/1962)

Alfred North Whitehead – The Aims of Education and other essays (1929)

Paul E. Willis – Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs (1977)

Alison Wolf – Does Education Matter? Myths about Education and Economic Growth (2002)

Michael FD Young (Ed) – Knowledge and Control: New Directions for the Sociology of Education (1971)

Michael FD Young – Bringing Knowledge Back In: From Social Constructivism to Social Realism in the Sociology of Education (2007)

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26 Brilliant Big Books To Use in the Classroom

Larger than life versions of your favorite titles.

To set up early readers for success in literacy, it’s helpful to have a variety of tools at our fingertips. One great way to enhance instruction is to include big books as part of a foundational reading curriculum. While providing important learning opportunities, these larger-than-life books are ideal for reading aloud. Through shared and guided reading experiences, big books help introduce concepts of print to emergent readers. In addition, they can teach students about rhyming, counting, the alphabet, and other rudimentary skills in an appealing way. Even if you already have some of these quality books in their regular format, be sure to check out the larger versions too. We think you’ll love incorporating these wonderful stories into your early reading instruction.

(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

1. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

We love that this beloved story is available as a big book! In a larger format, the classic story about a boy playing in the snow is perfect for teaching early literacy elements in a guided reading setting. It also makes for a wonderful read-aloud to enjoy together, and the beautiful illustrations are as appealing as ever.

Buy it: The Snowy Day at Amazon

2. Miss Mary Mack by Mary Ann Hoberman

Expanding on the popular rhyme and clapping game, this big book for the classroom is so much fun. Early readers can practice identifying rhyming words, while the rhythm and cadence make it very catchy. Funny and playful, this appealing story also teaches important early phonological skills. Everyone will want to hear this one on repeat.

Buy it: Miss Mary Mack at Amazon

3. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

Perfect for the first week of school, this endearing story makes for one of our favorite big books. The relatable tale of a young mouse who loves her name until her classmates tease her about it comes alive even more in this format. Younger students will appreciate the sweet illustrations and early school experience, while older elementary students will take away lessons about kindness and understanding.

Buy it: Chrysanthemum at Amazon

4. The Little Red Hen by Byron Barton

This retelling of the classic story makes for a wonderful shared reading experience. Vibrant and simplistic illustrations perfectly suit the traditional tale that teaches us a lesson about teamwork. The repetitive text is also great for a younger audience as they are learning about the flow of text and the way books can sound.

Buy it: The Little Red Hen at Amazon

5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Playful rhymes and colorful illustrations make this classroom favorite shine in a larger format. Students will love to hear this story again and again, while they learn about rhythm and structure from the repetitive text.

Buy it: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? at Amazon

6. Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Be sure to add this one to your collection of big books. This story shares parts of the body and what they can do in appealing rhymes and enhanced illustrations. Eager listeners will enjoy reciting the accessible text along with you.

Buy it: Here Are My Hands at AbeBooks

7. Flower Garden by Eve Bunting

This lovely story about a girl planting a flower box for her mother’s birthday is very sweet and makes a great addition to your classroom library. Realistic illustrations accompany the rhyming words, while the simple yet meaningful text is engaging. The larger size only enhances the appeal of this gem.

Buy it: Flower Garden at Discount School Supply

8. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

This cherished story makes for one of our favorite big books. What happens when an excited little mouse shows up to ask for a cookie? The cause-and-effect story delights and entertains. The first in a series of “If You Give …” books, the original is a winner.

Buy it: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie at Amazon

9. The Empty Pot by Demi

No matter how hard he tries, a boy named Ping can’t grow a seed into a flower. Defeated and downtrodden, he reveals his failure to the king, who unexpectedly rewards his honesty. Through powerful text and appealing illustrations, this remarkable book demonstrates what it means to do the right thing.

Buy it: The Empty Pot at CM School Supply

10. I Went Walking by Sue Williams

Sometimes it’s the simplest things that capture our attention the most. In this sweet story, a little girl goes on a walk and discovers all sorts of different animals along the way. As they follow along with the engaging structure, young listeners will adore guessing which animal the girl sees next and can imagine the story as if they were experiencing it too.

Buy it: I Went Walking at Kaplan Early Learning Company

11. What I Like About Me! by Allia Zobel Nolan

This fun book highlights the many differences among us and helps us celebrate what makes us unique. Students will enjoy the rhyming elements and very large illustrations, as well as seeing their own reflections in the mirror on the last page. This makes for a great conversation starter about our own special qualities.

Buy it: What I Like About Me ! at Amazon

12. Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

Fans of Goodnight Moon will love this story by Margaret Wise Brown. The animals on the farm follow their daily routines until it is time for bed. The sing-song quality and gentle tone from the beloved author is a hit with younger students.

Buy it: Big Red Barn at Barnes & Noble

13. One Elephant Went Out to Play by Sanja Rescek

Counting books and nursery rhymes are perfect for your classroom library of big books, and this one has both. Playful and fun, the pattern and rhymes in this book will entertain and teach early literacy skills.

Buy it: One Elephant Went Out to Play at Barnes & Noble

14. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

This classic tale of perseverance is always a popular choice. Students will love to repeat the iconic phrase “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” while they hear the beloved story read aloud.

Buy it: The Little Engine That Could at Menucha Classrooms

15. Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

A charming story about a sleeping bear who wakes up to find lots of animals enjoying a party in his den without him. Bummed he’s been missing out, he joins the fun. Lots of rhyming and repetition make this one a very satisfying read.

Buy it: Bear Snores On at Amazon

16. Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino

This book is a great example of how repetition works so well in big books. Lloyd the llama asks other animals about their mothers and in turn learns about what types of animals they are. With amusing riddles and appealing illustrations, this story is a joy.

Buy it: Is Your Mama a Llama? at AbeBooks

17. Down by the Station by Annie Kubler

This enjoyable book version of the popular song about different modes of transportation will keep listeners engaged and excited. Rhyming words and colorful illustrations add to its appeal.

Buy it: Down by the Station at Books by the Bushel

18. Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

A book of very few words, the illustrations drive this endearing story about a sneaky gorilla at a zoo, making it a great fit for a big book.

Buy it: Good Night, Gorilla at Scholastic

19. Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Three mice explore with red, yellow, and blue paint while they look out for the cat. This lighthearted, simple book is a wonderful introduction to mixing and playing with paints and colors.

Buy it: Mouse Paint at Book Source

20. Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

This favorite read-aloud always delights. Showcasing the importance of friendship and lending a helping hand, the original in a multi-book series shines with rhyming and charming animal characters.

Buy it: Little Blue Truck at Amazon

21. The Napping House by Audrey Wood

This entertaining book has a lovely sing-song quality. With the repetition of each page adding onto the one before, the comforting story about taking a nap will leave its audience guessing what will happen next.

Buy it: The Napping House at Barnes & Noble

22. Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

This beautiful book with collage illustrations of different landscapes and animals imagined in leaf shapes is full of creativity and originality. A lovely choice for fall or any time of the year, this big book is a stand-out.

Buy it: Leaf Man at Becker’s School Supplies

23. One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root

Another great rhyming and counting book that hits the mark. Readers can count along with the story as they become familiar with the pattern of different animals helping a duck get unstuck from the muck.

Buy it: One Duck Stuck at Booksource

24. Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres

A bright garden tale sharing about the different ways vegetables grow. This short and sweet story is delightfully accessible and pleasing to all listeners.

Buy it: Up, Down, and Around at Barnes & Noble

25. In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming

Another nature-filled story about what lurks underneath in the grass. Concise text and rhyming words showcase how animals eat and move quietly all around us.

Buy it: In the Tall, Tall Grass at Amazon

26. From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

Lots of animals stretch and move in different ways and wonder if kids can do the same. Large, lively illustrations make this pick ideal for sharing in the classroom. A playful classic that invites listeners to interact and participate is one of our all-time favorites.

Buy it: From Head to Toe at Amazon

For more great book lists, subscribe to our newsletters to receive notifications when we post new ones!

Plus, check out this list of phonological awareness activities for more early literacy inspiration..

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6 Non-Education Books With Lessons for Teachers

Reading outside of the education field can provide insights that infuse teachers’ practice with meaning.

I’ve consumed many educational books written to support classroom management, technology integration, and more. 

But outside of education, I’ve found titles, shared below, to support my growth as an educator, leader, and person, developing a reading practice that stimulates a new thinking space.

A Non-Education Reading List for Teachers

1. Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking , by Jon Acuff

Takeaway quote: “ One of the greatest mistakes you can make in life is assuming all your thoughts are true.” 

So much of education connects to the refrain, “the way we’ve always done things.” But when it comes to instruction, technology, and professional development, just because we’ve always done something doesn’t mean it’s the best—that’s what Acuff reminds us. 

When we get stuck in a rut, we fail to ask: How could this look different? Or we engage in self-judgment that prevents progress.

I taught writing and told myself for years that I wasn’t good at it. But as my school implemented new professional development, I found that I actually was. I canceled the old soundtrack that had played in my mind and adopted a new mindset.

I noticed that many students felt like they weren’t good at math or writing, but when we spent time in small groups or one-on-one and found the right supports, they discovered that they were better than they thought—and adjusted their soundtracks, too. 

2. How to Work With (Almost) Anyone : Five Questions for Building the Best Possible Relationships , by Michael Bungay Stanier

Takeaway quote: “Humans are creatures of patterns and habits, and when we name something, it tells us how to navigate it.”

In teaching, we don’t pick our groups. We’re given students, grade level, and  content teams. This book helps us build positive working relationships—including improving those that are already strong.

It includes specific tools for engaging in hard conversations in respectful, productive ways and helped me expand my communication skills. I learned that I own as much of a relationship as the other person—and how to express needs, clear misconceptions, and respect those with whom I disagree. 

Great relationships don’t just happen by chance; they take intentional work—work that students benefit from witnessing and considering, too.

3. Show Your Work! 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered , by Austin Kleon

Takeaway quote: “If you want to be accepted by a community, you have to first be a good citizen of that community.”

This book provides tools to help you put yourself and your work out into the world, to honor your comfort zone yet “show your work.”

Social media platforms—connecting with other educators—can be crucial in professional development. If you give the gift of time to other educators by letting them in on your professional process, you pay into a network and benefit, too.

Doing so has boosted my professional learning. Reading Soundtracks (above) and Show Your Work helped me realize that I have work worth sharing. I now post resources for other educators online—ones I’ve had success with in my classroom—and benefit from teachers who do the same. 

4. Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World , by Gretchen Rubin

Takeaway quote: “Because I noticed more, I appreciated more.”

Teachers and school leaders work in stimulating spaces, but even in busy environments, we can still feel disconnected. Education can be daunting, and negativity can pull us in. 

When I read this book, I challenged myself to focus on my five senses. I noticed images and sounds I’d ignored: a student yelling “I got it!” or “This is the best day ever!”; the faces of students who felt seen and heard; images I passed every week but hadn’t noticed; student work lining the halls.

This type of awareness was not a form of toxic positivity but a focus on realities right in front of me that helped to balance my days. 

5. You Need a Manifesto: How to Craft Your Convictions and Put Them to Work , by Charlotte Burgess-Auburn

Takeaway quote: “Defining your manifesto will give you a clear understanding and crisp articulation of the goals you’re moving toward, the values that drive you, and the ethics that govern the boundaries of your work.”

In education, we talk a lot about the “why.” But how do you break down the why? How do you set criteria for yourself so that when requests come for your time, you know when to say yes and when to say no?  

My manifesto, inspired by this text, states: “Lead with a coaching approach.” With this statement, as I begin conversations with teachers and students, I rely on questions and listening. This approach has led to collaboration and great discussion about thinking and learning—instead of merely advice-giving. My manifesto helps me say no to things that don’t fit within my why, helping me feel tuned in to my work. 

At its core, this book reminds me—and can remind us all—to put language to beliefs and values, to craft them with specific words.

6. Design for Belonging : How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities , by Susie Wise

Takeaway quote: “When people feel like they belong, they are able to be their best and do their best.”

Whether a teacher or administrator, we can create spaces where others feel belonging. This text helps us learn ways to see those we’re teaching and leading so they can perform at their highest potential. 

My classroom and professional learning groups include students and adults who want to be seen, heard, and supported. This book reminds me to design activities for everyone—not just the middle. I now incorporate extensions as well as scaffolds. I plan for introverts and extroverts, making sure there are spaces to share quietly and out loud—including intentional check-ins that support differentiation. 

Reading this book inspired me to switch from asking, “How are you?” to asking, “How are you feeling as part of this class?” This reframing opens conversations I might otherwise miss, helping me to build belonging. 

Widening Horizons

Reading beyond educational titles has helped me grow as a professional. I can learn instructional tools, but without these other aspects, I won’t be the educator that others deserve.

I’ve focused in, revised my why, designed a structure that I work best in, and learned tools for working with many personalities. I challenge you to read these titles and more, to be the best all-around educator and person you can be.

Apr 23, 2024

World Book Day 2024: Top 5 Books Every Student Must Read At Least Once

Alice's adventures in wonderland by lewis carroll.

Image Source: Googlebooks

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

This quirky story follows Alice as she falls into a rabbit hole and enters a strange world filled with tea parties, grinning cats, and a Queen who loves saying, "Off with their heads!" It's a whimsical tale that makes you ponder what's real and what's just a dream.

Image Source: Canva

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

The diary of a wimpy kid.

This funny series follows Greg Heffley, a kid in middle school dealing with all the awkwardness that comes with growing up. With its funny pictures and clever writing, it's a great choice for readers who aren't too keen on reading.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Matilda is a little girl with special powers who uses them to teach her mean parents and school principal a lesson. It's a heartwarming story that celebrates imagination and standing up for what's right.

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To kill a mockingbird by harper lee, to kill a mockingbird.

Taking place in the American South during the 1930s, this award-winning book tells the story of Scout Finch, a young girl who learns about racism and unfairness when her father defends a black man falsely accused of a crime.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The great gatsby.

Set in the lively 1920s, this famous novel tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a rich man who throws extravagant parties to win back his lost love. It's a cautionary tale about the dangers of being consumed by money and desire.

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Book Bans Continue to Surge in Public Schools

More books were removed during the first half of this academic year than in the entire previous one.

By Alexandra Alter

Book bans in public schools continued to surge in the first half of this school year, according to a report released on Tuesday by PEN America, a free speech organization.

From July to December 2023, PEN found that more than 4,300 books were removed from schools across 23 states — a figure that surpassed the number of bans from the entire previous academic year.

The rise in book bans has accelerated in recent years, driven by conservative groups and by new laws and regulations that limit what kinds of books children can access. Since the summer of 2021, PEN has tracked book removals in 42 states and found instances in both Republican- and Democratic-controlled districts.

The numbers likely fail to capture the full scale of book removals. PEN compiles its figures based on news reports, public records requests and publicly available data, but many removals go unreported.

Here are some of the report’s key findings.

Book removals are continuing to accelerate

Book bans are not new in the United States. School and public libraries have long had procedures for addressing complaints, which were often brought by parents concerned about their children’s reading material.

But the current wave stands out in its scope. Censorship efforts have become increasingly organized and politicized, supercharged by conservative groups like Moms for Liberty and Utah Parents United, which have pushed for legislation that regulates the content of library collections. Since PEN began tracking book bans, it has counted more than 10,000 instances of books being removed from schools. Many of the targeted titles feature L.G.B.T.Q. characters, or deal with race and racism, PEN found.

Florida had the highest number of removals

Florida’s schools had the highest number of book bans last semester, with 3,135 books removed across 11 school districts. Within Florida, the bulk of bans took place in Escambia County public schools , where more than 1,600 books were removed to ensure that they didn’t violate a statewide education law prohibiting books that depict or refer to sexual conduct. (In the sweep, some schools removed dictionaries and encyclopedias.)

Book removals have spiked in Florida because of several state laws, passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and a Republican-controlled legislature, that aim in part to regulate reading and educational materials.

Florida has also become a testing ground for book banning tactics around the country, said Kasey Meehan, the program director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read Program.

“In some ways, what’s happening in Florida is incubated and then spread nationwide," she said. “We see the way in which very harmful pieces of legislation that have led to so much of the book banning crisis in Florida have been replicated, or provisions of those laws have been proposed or enacted in states like South Carolina and Iowa and Idaho.”

Books depicting sexual assault are increasingly being targeted

With the rise of legislation and policies that aim to prohibit books with sexual content from school libraries, books that depict sexual assault have been challenged with growing frequency. PEN found that nearly 20 percent of books that were banned during the 2021-2023 school years were works that address rape and sexual assault.

Last year, several books that deal with sexual violence were removed from West Ada School District in Idaho, among them a graphic novel edition of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the poetry collection “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur, Jaycee Dugard’s memoir, “A Stolen Life” and Amy Reed’s young adult novel, “The Nowhere Girls.”

In Collier County, Fla., public school officials — aiming to comply with a new law that restricts access to books that depict “sexual conduct” — removed hundreds of books from the shelves last year, including “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” by Zora Neale Hurston; “A Time To Kill,” by John Grisham; and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.

A movement to counter book bans is growing

Opponents of book bans — including parents, students, free speech and library organizations, booksellers and authors — are leading an organized effort to stop book removals, often with the argument that book bans violate the First Amendment, which protects the right to access information.

Last fall, hundreds of students in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District staged a walkout to protest challenges to more than 50 books. At a school board meeting last October in Laramie County, Wyo., students held a “read-in” to silently protest book bans. Elsewhere, students have formed banned books clubs, held marches and created free community bookshelves in their towns to make titles more accessible.

Legislatures in California and Illinois have passed “anti-book ban” laws. In several states, including Texas and Florida , lawsuits have been filed in an effort to overturn legislation that has made it easier to ban books.

“In nearly every case that’s come forward, judges have been finding that these laws are unconstitutional,” said Jonathan Friedman, who oversees PEN America’s U.S. Free Expression programs. Still, Friedman said it could take years for the laws to be challenged and possibly overturned, and noted that new legislation keeps proliferating.

“I don’t have the sense that this issue is about to go away,” he said.

Alexandra Alter writes about books, publishing and the literary world for The Times. More about Alexandra Alter

How NH Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut used his office in the culture war

In January 2023, New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut convened a private meeting in Concord to “discuss explicit materials in school libraries.” The invitation — sent to about a dozen school librarians, several parent activists and one Republican state lawmaker — said the commissioner was “looking forward to meeting with everyone for his/her input and having open and respectful dialogue.”

Stephanie Charlefour traveled about an hour from her home in southwestern New Hampshire to attend. With book bans sweeping across the country, the Westmoreland School librarian hoped the meeting would be a chance to offer context on how she and her colleagues deal with controversial titles.

“We have a core belief that no matter our personal preferences, no matter our personal beliefs, that every reader has the right to have access to books that fit them at their time of need,” Charlefour told NHPR. “And that includes teens, and that includes kids.”

But what happened that day felt more like an attack, Charlefour said.

Edelblut handed out packets of paper — stamped “confidential” — that included passages from New Hampshire’s obscenity laws and excerpts from frequently banned books, including “Gender Queer” and “Beyond Magenta: Transgender teens speak out.” The commissioner began reading controversial passages from those books aloud to the group.

At one point, Edelblut asked why he — as the state’s top education official — couldn’t decide which books are inappropriate for school libraries. And while he assured the librarians that they weren’t in danger of legal repercussions, he suggested he could enlist the help of state attorneys to remove books he deemed offensive.

“He had talked about taking those [books] over to the attorney general, to take them to court, to have them removed from every shelf in the state of New Hampshire,” according to Charlefour and another librarian who attended the meeting. (The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office declined to comment on whether Edelblut followed through on this, citing the attorney-client relationship between the office and state agencies.)

One participant, Republican Rep. John Sellers, of Bristol, says he thought the meeting’s goal was to start a working group on potential book restrictions, but the librarians wouldn’t entertain any suggestions. Betsy Harrington, of Deering, said the discussion was meant for parents like herself to feel “heard.” She has campaigned to remove books with sexual content, sometimes carrying a sign that reads “GET PORN OUT OF SCHOOLS!” Harrington said Edelblut is one of the few allies she’s found in her efforts to challenge library materials.

“I think that I’m a typical mom who would like to see an array of different things available,” Harrington said. “But I don’t want it to be grossly sexually explicit.”

The meeting Edelblut organized was a microcosm of the education culture wars playing out across the country. It was also one in a string of attempts by Edelblut to control what students are exposed to in local public schools.

New Hampshire’s education commissioner doesn’t have the power to restrict which books go on library shelves or which diversity initiatives schools implement. Those issues are largely decided by locally elected school board members.

But through interviews with nearly 40 educators, parents and political activists — and hundreds of pages of public records — New Hampshire Public Radio and APM Reports have found that Edelblut has leveraged his oversight powers to elevate grievances against the public education system and, at times, individual educators.

He’s challenged superintendents on whether certain books depicting LGBTQ protagonists, sex and sexual abuse are harming the mental health of New Hampshire’s students. And he has repeatedly directed the state’s teacher misconduct investigator — the same official responsible for looking into allegations of abuse or discrimination — to review complaints about school materials.

In recent years, Edelblut has also cautioned one superintendent against using “Indigenous People’s Day” instead of “Columbus Day” on school calendars. Another educator, who is transgender, says the commissioner’s criticism of how they discussed LGBTQ issues in class was the final straw that prompted them to leave teaching for good .

The commissioner declined to be interviewed for this story and did not respond to a detailed list of questions about the incidents NHPR documented in our reporting. An education department spokesperson instead offered a brief statement.

“Like all state agencies, the New Hampshire Department of Education often receives concerns from constituents,” the spokesperson wrote. “The Department, including Commissioner Frank Edelblut, takes all constituent concerns seriously and works to respond to their inquiries. We are committed to ensuring the safety of children and work diligently with our partners to address any and all concerns swiftly and with fairness to all involved.”

After this story published, Edelblut published an op-ed on the state education department website where he wrote, in part: 

“When I assumed this role in 2017, I committed to being 100% focused on the children. Thank God someone is looking out for the children.”

READ MORE: A trans teacher asked students about pronouns. Then the education commissioner found out.

Edelbut’s willingness to field complaints has made him a champion among those who say public schools are ignoring concerns about classroom content and policies that conflict with their beliefs. And given New Hampshire’s expansion of school choice, dissatisfied families can more easily withdraw their kids from those schools and go elsewhere.

“The biggest complaint from parents is that the school isn’t responsive,” says Drew Cline, who chairs the New Hampshire State Board of Education and runs a prominent libertarian think tank . “When you have a commissioner of education trying to make the schools more responsive, he is trying to fix what parents are complaining about so parents don’t leave.”

But some who’ve been on the receiving end of Edelblut’s inquiries say he is intimidating educators and undermining efforts to make public schools welcoming to everyone.

“In public ed, you are exposed to people from all walks of life, and people with different faiths and people with different beliefs,” says Bedford Superintendent Mike Fournier, who runs a district of more than 4,000 students. “You can either choose to take your value system and try and force that on other people, or you can decide that there are some values that we all share together, and use that as your foundation.”

‘This is a nonpartisan position’

Edelblut was tapped to lead the state education department in 2017 by his former political rival, Gov. Chris Sununu, who narrowly beat him in a Republican gubernatorial primary a few months before. The choice provoked immediate uproar among Democrats and teachers unions, who took issue with Edelblut’s political ideology and his lack of experience working in or with public schools.

As a candidate for governor in 2016, Edelblut made a name for himself as a political outsider and a favorite of social conservatives . He advocated for what he called “lowercase 'libertarian' issues of low taxes, limited government, local control of schools, personal responsibility.” His resume also includes a stint as state representative, eighteen years as founder and CEO of an international auditing firm and at least seven years on the board that raised money for Patrick Henry College, a conservative Christian college in Virginia. All seven of his children were homeschooled .

At his confirmation hearing, Edelblut pledged to keep politics out of the job .

“This is a nonpartisan position,” he said. “This is about making sure that our kids get the education that they deserve. And that will be my one hundred percent focus.”

But in the last seven years, he’s kept close ties to conservative causes in New Hampshire and beyond, partnering with organizations like PragerU and 1776 Unites on material for local students. He’s been a headliner for Republican and libertarian groups in his official capacity as education commissioner. At an October 2021 forum hosted by a group that fought against COVID-19 mitigation measures, Edelblut encouraged parents to push back against local district policies on those issues. The governor later said it was “inappropriate” for the commissioner to attend in his official capacity, “given this fringe group’s history and support of anti-government actions.”

Supporters and critics alike describe Edelblut as a populist who has responded to growing disillusionment with public institutions, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. He’s said he views parents as customers of the state’s education system, and it’s his duty to ensure they’re satisfied.

Terese Bastarache, a staunch critic of the Sununu administration, said she and other activists talk to Edelblut regularly. Bastarache rose to prominence during the pandemic for her protests around COVID-19 vaccines and later founded We The People NH , a group of “concerned and fed up Patriots” that has protested against a wide range of issues, including certain library books and drag queen story hours. While Bastarache wishes Edelblut would take more action to restrict books and other material, she said he has encouraged her to organize parents around those concerns.

“He actually in conversation said: ’I really want to fight this fight for the parents. And I just need there to be more attention brought to it so that when I go to fight the fight, I’ll have some more support,’” Bastarache told NHPR.

Edelblut also hasn’t shied away from fights over education policy at the State House. In 2021, he supported a new law that banned schools from teaching that anyone is “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” It mirrored policies passed in Republican-led states across the country, as well as an “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping” issued by former President Donald Trump. In an op-ed, Edelblut framed the law as a way to “ensure that our students learn about the evils of racism without teaching them to be racists.”

Critics, including local teachers unions and the ACLU of New Hampshire, are suing the state over the law. They say it has a chilling effect, in part because it’s so vague that teachers don’t know what will get them in trouble.

While educators who run afoul of the law could lose their teaching credentials, none have faced formal sanctions for violating it. But the statute has led to a wave of complaints from Edelblut and others concerned about classroom content and library books. A few months after the law went into effect, a local Moms For Liberty chapter offered “$500 for the person that first successfully catches a public school teacher breaking this law.”

Investigating abuse, misconduct — and books

As Edeblut has heightened the state’s scrutiny over classroom content, he also directed the department’s misconduct investigator to pursue specific complaints against educators.

That investigator, Richard Farrell, spent 30 years with the New Hampshire State Police before moving to the education department. He’s part of the team that investigates serious allegations related to the educator code of conduct, including physical and sexual abuse of students. School officials say Farrell, who also worked briefly as a high school English teacher, is cordial and honest — but when they hear from him, they know it’s not good news.

Under Edelblut’s tenure and sometimes at his behest, Farrell has contacted superintendents about everything from Beyoncé and Childish Gambino music videos shown in a high school social studies class , to a middle school poster that said “Read Banned Books,” to a permission slip that mentioned learning about "activism” during a field trip about the Civil Rights Movement.

It’s not clear whether the education department triages the complaints that come to Farrell, or whether he contacts schools about each complaint he receives, regardless of whether it falls within his jurisdiction. Farrell has acknowledged that parents — and at times, school districts — “weaponize the code of conduct.”

“We want to stay within the bounds of the code, and weaponizing it is really a bad idea,” he said in a legislative committee hearing in 2023.

At the time, Farrell was offering testimony on a bill that would have expanded the education department’s investigative powers, including the right to subpoena educators. Department officials have encouraged it, saying it would be used as a “last resort” when dealing with uncooperative school districts. Lawmakers have twice rejected the idea.

Since 2022, NHPR has asked the state education department for more clarity on how it fields and pursues complaints about curriculum, books and potential teacher misconduct. The department said it could not give NHPR records related to any complaint that led to a formal investigation but could supply records related to complaints that fell short of that threshold. So far, the department has only fulfilled a portion of those requests.

NHPR contacted Farrell to arrange an interview, but an education department spokesperson later declined the request and said they could answer questions in writing. The department did not respond to those specific questions about how it decides which complaints merit Farrell’s attention and how Edelblut, Farrell and others in the department handle outreach to school districts.

Some school administrators argue the department’s investigations into culture war grievances distracts them from dealing with racism against students of color.

For example, in 2021, Farrell investigated complaints about a middle school social studies teacher in Weare who was using excerpts of “ Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You ,” a book by the authors Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, in her lessons about slavery.

Jacqueline Coe, the district superintendent, fielded Farrell’s inquiries. After receiving the complaint, Coe read the book and talked to the teacher about how it fit into the broader lesson plan. She decided the excerpt provoked an important conversation and aligned with state standards.

The education department never opened a formal investigation into the social studies teacher, but Edelblut continued to highlight concerns about the book in comments to the state board of education and other public forums. He even cited the book in an op-ed as an example of material “that parents have identified as conflicting with their values.”

Coe said the state scrutiny “freaked out” the teacher — and some of her colleagues.

“We had our kindergarten teachers not want to talk about Martin Luther King Day,” she said, for fear of running afoul of the education department.

Around the same time as the commissioner’s op-ed was published , Coe and other district officials were dealing with the fallout after three teenagers wrote racist graffiti in their high school bathroom, some of it targeting a Black classmate. The students were later found to have violated New Hampshire civil rights law.

Coe said she didn’t expect to hear from the education department about that incident, since it was being handled by law enforcement. But she was struck that Edelblut was criticizing a book that grappled with racism as the school was struggling to respond to that very same problem.

“We’re dealing with racial issues and trying to increase anti-discrimination, and having that culture and climate conversation in our school,” she said. “We’re like, is the message [that] we’re not supposed to be talking about slavery?”

Defining ‘developmentally appropriate’

Edelblut has also invoked state education standards regarding “developmentally appropriate” content to question schools’ book selection policies. Educators say it’s a nebulous concept to enforce, since it’s a subjective term.

But in at least two districts, Dover and Hanover , Edelblut pressed administrators about whether specific titles are available to students, and asked them to clarify how they ensure students get a “developmentally appropriate collection of instructional resources,” as those rules require.

“As you know, there is a very serious child mental health issue that we are all concerned about and working on,” the commissioner wrote in nearly identical letters sent to both districts. “Exposure to developmentally inappropriate materials has the effect of exacerbating those mental health issues that students are struggling with.”

The department’s scrutiny of Hanover stemmed from signs promoting Banned Books Week, an annual initiative coordinated by the American Library Association, displayed in the middle school library in September 2022. But it soon escalated into what Farrell, the misconduct investigator, described in an email to school officials as a “very intense inquiry.”

Dan Richards, a critic of Hanover’s equity and inclusion curriculum, raised concerns about several of the books featured on the sign and alleged in an email to a county official that the school was “pushing gay porn and pedophilic content to children.”

“I hate the idea of banning books in school libraries, but this is a case for doing so if ever there was one,” Richards wrote in that email, which Richards also forwarded to Edelblut.

He asked Edelblut if it was possible to file a complaint against the educators responsible “for a code of conduct violation,” a sanction that could result in the loss or suspension of someone’s education license. He also contacted the Hanover police and a county commissioner, alleging violations of New Hampshire’s obscenity laws, according to that email chain, which NHPR obtained through a records request to both the state and the school district.

Richards’ children previously attended Hanover schools. By the time he sent complaints to Edelblut, he had withdrawn his kids from the district and was in the process of moving to Puerto Rico. Richards told NHPR that he remained invested in the school district, even after moving away.

“I'm from there. I'm a graduate of that school system. I still have family who lives in the district, and I still maintain a home there,” he said. “I care.”

Richards said he complained directly to the school district but didn’t remember the person’s name he contacted. Hanover Superintendent Jay Badams says the first time he heard about the complaint was through an email from Farrell.

After conducting his own inquiry, Badams told the state he was confident the middle school librarian hadn’t done anything wrong. He said some of the books highlighted in the display weren’t on the library shelves but were available through an online database. Badams also acknowledged there could be room for discussion about what books were appropriate: “Maybe we need to consider content advisories on books as we do for explicit lyrics in music,” he wrote in an email to Farrell.

Badams told NHPR he took the state’s scrutiny seriously, since educators are put on notice whenever the code of conduct comes up.

“It’s like someone’s looking at your livelihood,” Badams said. “Someone’s looking at your credential and holding that credential and making a judgment call about some behavior, or something you did or didn’t do, that could determine whether or not you can continue to do your job.”

The controversy was never fully resolved. As Badams was dealing with questions about the library display, Edelblut reached out to flag that another book with sexually explicit content, the graphic novel “Flamer,” was available in the district’s online library. Badams asked Overdrive, the private company that manages the library, to limit the book to high school students. But Farrell told a colleague in the education department that this move would not “solve Frank [Edelblut]’s problem or concerns,” according to department emails. “Flamer” is no longer available in the state’s online library, but a spokesperson for Overdrive said it couldn’t comment on who asked for it to be removed. The education department did not respond when asked if anyone within the department requested the book’s removal.

Divided beliefs, divided response

As the leader of a district that serves many conservative families, Fournier, the Bedford superintendent, said he understands the importance of ensuring that public schools support families with vastly different ideologies. He and Edelblut get along, and they even attend the same church.

“I really believe that he believes he’s doing the right thing,” Fournier said.

Over the years, Edelblut has called Fournier several times to discuss concerns raised by local families. In one case, Edelblut relayed a complaint about a picture book read aloud to elementary schoolers featuring a family with two moms. Fournier said the commissioner also reached out based on rumors about the school’s policies for transgender students, which turned out not to be true. After the second instance, he asked the commissioner to back off — and Edelblut listened.

Fournier said the commissioner’s tone was never hostile. But he said his approach erodes trust and goes against New Hampshire’s ethos of local control.

“It’s just not appropriate,” Fournier said. “Because problems are best solved at the level where the problem is.”

In Exeter, Superintendent Esther Asbell said Edelblut called in fall 2023 to relay a complaint about the district’s use of “Indigenous People’s Day” instead of “Columbus Day” on the school calendar. In this case, the person who complained to the commissioner had already tried raising concerns directly with the district — but they were unsatisfied with the school’s response. Asbell said she recalls the commissioner saying, “You might want to think about what you’re going to do, because this could cause big problems for you.”

Asbell said the calendars are usually approved by the school board without much fanfare. But she eventually met with the person who complained, and agreed to name the holiday Indigenous People’s Day/Columbus Day.

“It felt unusual that the commissioner of public education would be making a phone call about a school approval calendar,” she said.

Karen Thompson, a longtime administrator at Hinsdale School District in southwestern New Hampshire, says that a few years ago some teachers asked for guidance on how to better support LGBTQ students. So she hired a local professional development coach, who is transgender, to lead a training session.

Then Edelblut called Thompson’s superintendent.

Edelblut said several school staff complained about the upcoming training, Thompson recalled. After learning about Edelblut’s call, Thompson asked the trainer to change the workshop topic and not focus on LGBTQ students.

Thompson says when she later got on the phone with Edelblut, he told her several times that he wasn’t directing her to cancel the workshop. But she says she changed the workshop because of his inquiry.

“When the commissioner was calling you about something you’re doing that you think is right, and you’re sort of being questioned about it, you’re a little on edge,” Thompson says. “We want to make sure we’re not getting on the wrong side of anything.”

Since then, the district has never provided a required staff training on the topic. Ideally, she said, the education department should provide guidance and support to districts as they try to respond to new cultural norms.

“When somebody sits in a seat of power, such as the commissioner of education, I think it is their job to respond to the ever-changing needs of our world,” she said. “I think that’s incredibly important. How will we move our kids forward if we don’t?”

This story was produced with APM Reports as part of the  Public Media Accountability Initiative , which supports investigative reporting at local media outlets around the country.

Editor's note: This story was updated to include an excerpt of an op-ed by Commissioner Frank Edelblut that the Department of Education released after this story's publication.

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BBC to invest in AI to help transform its education services

Hopes investment to make Bitesize more personalised and interactive will attract future licence-fee payers

The BBC plans to use a multimillion investment to transform its educational offering and attract the licence-fee payers of the future, with the help of artificial intelligence.

After being heavily relied upon by desperate parents during the pandemic lockdowns, the BBC is to announce a new £6m investment in BBC Bitesize to make learning more personalised and interactive for students from primary school onwards. The money is part of an effort to lock in young users’ relationship with the public service broadcaster.

Helen Foulkes, the BBC’s head of education, said: “It’s a significant investment in BBC Bitesize to turn it from a really brilliant, trusted digital textbook, to a much more personalised learning platform. We’re taking our education service and making it fit for the digital age, so the learning adapts to the user.”

Marking 100 years since the broadcast of its first educational programme – an experimental schools radio programme heard only by Garnetbank school in Glasgow in February 1924 – there will be a special Live Lesson on CBBC and BBC iPlayer on Monday, giving young viewers tips on how to produce their own report for the channel’s Hacker T Dog radio show. Foulkes said the move would build on the BBC’s trusted educational brand. “When you use the BBC you know it’s safe, you know it’s trusted, you know it’s right and that does help as a parent,” she said.

But in an acknowledgement that the BBC is in danger of being left behind by more fleet-footed digital content providers, the home of Newsround and the magic pencil is taking a leaf out of the book of AI-powered learning tools such as Duolingo to better use its vast database of educational content.

New tools, which are under development, are likely to provide personalised testing and identify holes in learning, while, like a “spinach version” of YouTube, users are also likely to find suggestions for follow-on content to deepen understanding of a subject.

The BBC is also testing out a new service for A-level students, providing content to help them widen their knowledge around a subject. Piloted around English literature, students studying Jane Austen could find they are offered a BBC adaption of Pride and Prejudice. “We’ll test it with students and teachers to see if that is a useful supplementary offer,” Foulkes said.

In the context of £700m annual savings the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, has said need to be found to ensure the broadcaster’s survival, £6m is something of a drop in the ocean.

But the move appeared to be a nod to a promise he explored in a landmark speech at the Royal Television Society last month : that while the broadcaster ruled out the use of AI in its journalism, it was developing “unique ethical algorithms” to increase personalisation for users. Davie said the BBC would proactively deploy AI on “our terms” to create tools that helped it build relevance”.

It also spoke directly to the broadcaster’s founding Reithian purpose to “inform, educate, entertain”, said Foulkes. “Education is the jammy bit in the middle – it’s really important,” she said.

Foulkes pointed to the role the BBC played during the pandemic, when Bitesize had 3.8 million weekly users during the first term. “Only the BBC could have provided that pandemic response, because it’s got 100 years of education behind it,” she said. “It was great that the general public really understood that’s what the BBC can do as a public service … It’s something the team is really proud of.”

But there may also be a little benign self-interest involved. Last year, the BBC annual report revealed the broadcaster was struggling to attract younger audiences. Its reach among 16- to 34-year-olds had slipped from 81% using any BBC service in a normal week to 76% over the course of a year. The figure was worse for the under-16s, with 72% using BBC services in an average week, well behind YouTube.

“I think what the BBC wants is for people to value the BBC and use the BBC, whatever their age,” said Foulkes. “And any touch points that you’ve got with that younger audience, it’s really important to make sure we’re both supporting them both on the children’s entertainment side and ... on that educational side, and then introducing them to the rest of the BBC.”

Key dates in BBC education

February 1924 The first experimental schools radio programme, heard only by Garnetbank school, Glasgow, in broadcast.

October 1930 Broadcast of Here and There, the first regular news programme for children, presented by the playwright and naval commander Stephen King-Hall.

June 1940 Broadcast of Kitchen Front, a BBC national programme to help children with cooking skills while improving morale during wartime

September 1957 BBC Television for Schools broadcasts its first programme, Living in the Commonwealth, looking at life beyond the classroom.

April 1964 Play School brings play and structured learning for three- to five-year-olds on air, and will run for 20 years.

April 1972 John Craven presents the first Newsround, with short news reports for a younger audience.

September 1982 Adult education series Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery, brings the prospect of homemade English curries into UK homes.

May 1997 Adrian Chiles and Carol Vorderman promise to demystify words such as CD-rom, ram, megabytes and floppy disks in the six-part series Computers Don’t Bite.

April 2009 Horrible Histories is broadcast for the first time on BBC Two.

February 2016 Launch of school video resources BBC Teach and Live Lessons, whereby pupils and teachers take part in real time.

April 2020 First broadcast of Bitesize Daily, a virtual school experience providing lessons during the pandemic.

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Biden administration adds Title IX protections for LGBTQ students, assault victims

Tovia Smith

"Our nation's educational institutions should be places where we not only accept differences, but celebrate them," U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, seen in the East Room of the White House in August 2023, said of the new Title IX regulation. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

"Our nation's educational institutions should be places where we not only accept differences, but celebrate them," U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, seen in the East Room of the White House in August 2023, said of the new Title IX regulation.

The Biden administration released rules Friday that protect the rights of LGBTQ students and change the way schools can respond to allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. It's a long-awaited answer to campaign promises made by President Biden to reverse Trump-era regulations he said were silencing survivors.

The Education Department's updates to Title IX , the 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded school programs, are expected to go into effect Aug. 1.

Under the new rules, in-person, court-like proceedings for allegations of sexual assault — including cross-examination of alleged victims — are no longer required. That rolls back Trump administration protections for accused students that victims' advocates say retraumatized survivors and discouraged reporting. Schools will now have the flexibility to question witnesses in live hearings or in separate meetings. If a school chooses to hold a live hearing, alleged victims have the right to attend remotely.

The Biden administration also broadened the definition of what counts as sexual harassment, so more cases might qualify as serious enough to require a school investigation. That reverses Trump-era regulations that had narrowed harassment to what is "objectively offensive."

"Our nation's educational institutions should be places where we not only accept differences, but celebrate them. Places that root out hate and promote inclusion, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because our systems and institutions are richer for it," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on a call with reporters Thursday.

Perhaps most contentious, the new rules also officially broaden the interpretation of Title IX to cover pregnant, gay and transgender students.

"Title IX requires more, and these final regulations provide it," said Catherine Lhamon, Education Department assistant secretary for civil rights, who also served in the same position in the Obama administration.

Under the new interpretation, it could be a violation of Title IX if schools, for example, refuse to use the pronouns that correspond with a student's gender identity.

Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, blasted the updated regulation, saying "it dumps kerosene on the already raging fire that is Democrats' contemptuous culture war that aims to racially redefine sex and gender."

The Biden administration's changes avoid the controversial question of whether schools can ban transgender athletes from competing on women's and girls' teams. Officials have proposed a separate rule on that issue, which they say is still in the works, but offered no timeline.

The new regulations drew predictably mixed reviews.

"After years of pressure from students and survivors of sexual violence, the Biden administration's Title IX update will make schools safer and more accessible for young people, many of whom experienced irreparable harm while they fought for protection and support," Emma Grasso Levine, a senior manager at the advocacy group Know Your IX , said in a statement to NPR.

But critics say the changes violate due process rights for accused students.

"The Department of Education should recognize that removing procedural protections for students is the exact opposite of fairness," Will Creeley, legal director at FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said on social media . "And by expanding the definition of sexual harassment, the new regulations threaten expressive rights."

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