Education Archives

Pencils Down: Rethinking High Stakes Testing and Accountability in Public Schools

Book — Non-fiction. By Wayne Au and Melissa Bollow Tempel. 2012. Rethinking Schools. 360 pages.
Collection of articles from Rethinking Schools magazine takes high-stakes standardized tests to task.

Rethinking Elementary Education

Teaching Guide. Edited by Linda Christensen, Mark Hansen, and Bob Peterson. Rethinking Schools. 2012. 360 pages.
The best collection of writing from Rethinking Schools magazine about how to teach for social justice at the elementary level. Published by Rethinking Schools.

Teaching Activity by Linda Christensen

Planning to Change the World 2019 - 2020 (Book) | Zinn Education Project

Planning to Change the World: A Plan Book for Social Justice Teachers

Plan book. Edited By Gretchen Brion-Meisels, Thomas Nikundiwe, Carla Shalaby. Rethinking Schools.
Plan book designed to help teachers translate their vision of a just education into concrete classroom activities.

The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed

Digital collection. A comprehensive online reference guide to African American history.

Monumental Myths

Film. Directed by Tom Trinley. 2023. 51 minutes.
Inspired by the book, Lies Across America, this film presents the historic myths and facts about a few iconic monuments in the United States.

Introduction: The Life and Work of Howard Zinn

Article. By Robert J. Helfenbein and Rose A. Jackson. Indiana University. 2013.
Introduction to a special edition of "International Journal of Social Education" by scholars presenting and discussing perspectives on the important influences of Howard Zinn to education, history, and citizenship.

SAT Bronx: Do You Know What Bronx Kids Know?

Book — Non-fiction. By Bronx Leadership Academy. 2008. 80 pages.
Public high school students turn the tables on high-stakes testers, uncovering the strengths and skills that youth call on every day.

The Limits of Master Narratives in History Textbooks: An Analysis of Representations of Martin Luther King Jr.

Article. By Derrick Alridge. 2006. 25 pages.
Critique of textbook representation of Martin Luther King Jr. as messiah, embodiment of the Civil Rights Movement, and a moderate.

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation

Picture book. By Duncan Tonatiuh. 2014. 40 pages.
Upper elementary school picture-book about the Mendez v. Westminster case to desegregate California schools.

Doing History from the Bottom Up: On E. P. Thompson, Howard Zinn, and Rebuilding the Labor Movement from Below

Book — Non-fiction. By Staughton Lynd. 2014. 250 pages.
Reflections on the documentation and teaching of history.

To Write in the Light of Freedom: The Newspapers of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by William Sturkey and Jon N. Hale. 2015. 176 pages.
A collection and examination of the creative literary work of students published during 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi.

Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir

Book — Non-fiction and prose. Deborah A. Miranda. 2012. 240 pages.
A compilation of documents, photos, and memoir that recounts the establishment of missions in California and the impact on Indigenous people—then and today.

Teaching Activity by Deborah A. Miranda

The Columbus Controversy: Challenging How History Is Written

Film. Written, directed, and produced by Nick Kaufman. 1992. 23 minutes.
Contrasting views and scenes from the classroom on teaching about Columbus.

A Year Without Sundays (Un Año Sin Domingos)

Book — Non-fiction. By Catherine Murphy and Carlos Torres Cairo. 2014. 132 pages (& DVD).
Photos and stories about the highly successful Cuban literacy campaign of 1961.

A Talk to Teachers

Article. By James Baldwin. October 16, 1963.
Baldwin addresses the challenges of education to prepare children to grapple with the myths and realities of U.S. history.

Teaching Untold Stories During Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

By Moé Yonamine

“They’re Latinos . . . I think they’re some kind of farm workers.”

“No, they’re Asians with name tags.”

And then a student in a quiet voice walked by me slowly and muttered, “I think something really bad is happening to them.”

My students at Roosevelt High School in Portland, Oregon — one of the state’s most racially diverse schools — studied each black and white photo posted around the room, inspecting the background and the facial expressions; confused, anxious, frustrated. They began a journey to uncover the hidden story of the Japanese Latin American removal, internment, and deportation during World War II.