Teaching & Learning

Teacher education, preparation, and professional development form the bedrock of what occurs in U.S. classrooms. Nonetheless, we are facing a teacher crisis on multiple fronts: teacher employment and retention are diminishing as the profession becomes increasingly deprofessionalized. Simultaneously, the majority of U.S. teachers are white, receiving teacher education from predominantly white institutions (PWIs), and are ill-equipped to teach effectively and responsively in our increasingly diverse classrooms. Since the standards movement took hold in the 1990s and gained momentum after the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, education for pre- and in-service teachers has resembled a game of whack-a-mole in which postsecondary educators, academic coaches, school leaders, and professional development companies have formulated teacher education to respond to evolving policy mandates, student performance metrics, support for and rejection of DEI initiatives, and a constant flow of scholarship touting “best practices.” As a result, teacher education that pushes boundaries and the status quo must instead emphasize transformation, liberation, equity, and authentic learning for all students. In Moving from Limited to Liberated Teacher Education, we present nuanced approaches to transforming the education of pre- and in-service teachers, thus impacting PreK-12 at large. The enclosed chapters explore social justice instructional coaching, linguistically responsive academic coaching, transforming student and teacher assessment, preparing justice-oriented content-area teachers, teacher candidate identity and social justice mindset development, transformative action research in teacher preparation, critical professional development for justice, and transformative teacher mentorship. Educators are doing great work that pushes the limits of what is considered “best practices,” be it through advocating for authentic project-based curriculum and assessment over standardized assessments, restorative justice over punitive classroom management, culturally and linguistically responsive teaching over standards-based lesson planning, or instructional coaching that liberates teacher creativity and emphasizes mental health over performance and results. Moving from Limited to Liberated Teacher Education celebrates such practices and provides a roadmap for readers to enact them. Innovative and creative methodologies and practices that educators, educational leaders, and teacher preparation faculty can use right away are the primary focus of Moving from Limited to Liberated Teacher Education. As former or current PreK-12 practitioners, teacher educators, and/or education scholars, editors and contributors tailored the book for a broad educational audience. The editors and contributors provide practicing teachers, pre-service and practicing educational leaders (and mentors and coaches), and teacher educators entry points for transforming the PreK-20+ landscape in favor of liberatory, transformative practices in schools across grade levels, content areas, school types, and geographic regions. This book is ideal for teacher and leadership preparation programs and PreK-12 professional development, guiding readers through theoretical and empirical discussions supported by hands-on applications, and concluding with interactive features like case studies, extension activities, and discussion prompts.Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Cultivating Culturally Responsive Schools; Introduction to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Schools; Introduction to Supportive School Communities; Introduction To School Improvement; Instructional Coaching for Equity and Justice; Introduction to Transformative Professional Development and Professional Learning Communities; Instructional Leadership for Social Justice; Foundations of Social Justice School Leadership; Foundations of Transformative Leadership

As rural schools across the United States face ongoing teacher shortages, shifting community needs, and increasing demands on educators, the challenge of preparing and sustaining a strong local teacher workforce has become more urgent than ever. In Powering Teacher Apprenticeships: Case Studies on Rural Implementation and System Design, Katie Anderson-Pence presents a compelling and practical exploration of how teacher apprenticeship programs can transform educator preparation in rural communities. Drawing from real-world partnerships and implementation stories, this book examines how rural districts, universities, educators, and community organizations are working together to design apprenticeship pathways that are responsive to local needs and grounded in the strengths of rural places. Through detailed case studies, Anderson-Pence demonstrates that successful teacher apprenticeship programs are not built on one-size-fits-all models, but on collaborative systems that honor community culture, invest in relationships, and support aspiring educators throughout their development. The book highlights the essential components of effective rural apprenticeship systems, including strong mentor preparation, authentic clinical practice, coordinated support structures, braided funding strategies, and partnerships that align university preparation with district priorities. Readers gain insight into how rural schools are leveraging apprenticeship not only as a workforce solution, but as a long-term strategy for cultivating educators who are deeply connected to their communities and prepared for the intellectual, cultural, and emotional realities of teaching in rural settings. At the heart of Powering Teacher Apprenticeships is the idea that thoughtful system design matters. Anderson-Pence illustrates how sustainable apprenticeship pathways emerge when institutions and communities work together to create coherent, flexible, and human-centered models of teacher preparation. The book also offers practical guidance for policymakers and state leaders seeking to strengthen rural educator pipelines through supportive licensing structures, accessible funding models, and policies aligned with apprenticeship learning. For teacher educators, district leaders, and community stakeholders, this volume provides both inspiration and actionable strategies for developing apprenticeship programs that are immersive, relational, and rooted in place. Combining research, lived experience, and practical implementation insights, Powering Teacher Apprenticeships offers a hopeful and forward-looking vision for rural education—one in which communities are empowered to grow their own educators, strengthen local schools, and build sustainable systems that nurture both talent and belonging for generations to come. It is a powerful volume that will guide school administrators as well as preservice teachers, graduate students and faculty at Colleges of Education.Perfect for courses such as: Clinical Practice in Teacher Education; Place-Based Education and Community Engagement; Rural Schools and Community Partnerships; Education Policy: Teacher Workforce and Certification; Policy and Practice in Teacher Preparation Reform; Models of Teacher Apprenticeship and Mentorship; Issues and Innovations in Rural Schooling; Designing Sustainable Educator Pipelines

Mistakes We Have Made: Implications for Social Justice Educators, second edition, continues the conversation started in the first edition. Dr. Bre Evans-Santiago has once again collected a variety of voices from authors with a wealth of experience teaching in K-12 schools and utilizing culturally relevant practices. This new edition is current with social justice research and strategies, while connecting the audience through personal vignettes in each chapter. The context is organized into three themes: Inclusive Classrooms, Curriculum Implementation, and Professionalism. Reflection questions are provided at the end of each chapter, which will guide the practitioners to self-reflect and plan next steps accordingly. The e-book provides links to videos, strategies, articles, and other supplemental materials to make this text a "one-stop-shop." Mistakes We Have Made speaks to several audiences, from pre-service teachers to any practitioner that needs a new perspective on teaching with a social justice lens. This text can be used in a variety of college courses, professional development workshops, or as a gift for new teachers.Perfect for courses such as: Social Justice for Educators | Diverse Perspectives for Educational Leaders | Diversity and Multiculturalism | Sociocultural Foundations in Education | Issues in Education | Elementary Teacher Foundations | Sociology of Education

Digital Age Leadership: Building Effective Multi-Generational Online Teaching Teams is a practical guide for educational and organizational leaders managing diverse, multi-generational teams in online environments. In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, understanding how to lead teams made up of Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z is essential for success. This book provides a framework for understanding generational dynamics, adapting leadership strategies, and building collaborative, high-performing teams in online settings. Each generation brings unique strengths, communication styles, and expectations to the digital classroom, creating both challenges and opportunities for growth. Digital Age Leadership explores how these generational traits influence leadership and team dynamics, providing practical strategies for building trust, bridging gaps, and fostering an inclusive and cohesive team culture. By leveraging the strengths of each generation, leaders can cultivate an environment where all team members thrive. These strategies will empower leaders to implement lasting change within their teams and organizations, ensuring long-term success and growth in the digital age. Drawing from extensive research and real-world experience, Digital Age Leadership serves as both an academic text and a professional development resource. It includes discussion questions, team exercises, and practical scenarios for immediate use, making it ideal for individual growth, team training, and academic course adoption. These elements ensure the book is accessible to educators, administrators, and organizational leaders. The book has proven to be the ultimate resource for leaders who want to build, develop, and sustain high-performing, adaptable teams in the ever-evolving world of online education. Digital Age Leadership: Navigating Multi-Generational Online Teaching Teams will appeal to a wide range of readers. These include educational administrators and corporate leaders responsible for managing online learning and training programs. K-12 online school principals and directors, higher education program administrators, department chairs, and professional development specialists who oversee virtual teaching teams will find great value in the framework presented in the book. The book will also benefit graduate students, faculty in educational leadership and technology programs, and corporate learning leaders managing online training. It targets professionals seeking both theoretical insights and practical tools for leading multi-generational online teaching teams.Perfect for courses such as: Educational Leadership in the Digital Age; Managing Multi-Generational Teams in Higher Education; Online Teaching and Learning Strategies; Leadership in Digital Education Environments; Transformative Leadership in Online Education; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Online Education; Technology Integration and Team Building in Education; Collaborative Learning in Virtual Environments; Building and Leading Remote Educational Teams; Developing Effective Online Teaching Communities

Teaching that aims to be inclusive of marginalized communities is under attack in the United States, evidenced, for example, in widespread school book banning efforts, prohibition of Advanced Placement African American history, and a general tenor of fear among educators across the K-12 and higher education spectrum. This fear originates from a variety of pedagogical attempts at teaching content or utilizing practices that do anything other than valorize the dominant narrative and status quo in the United States. Classroom teachers and college instructors ask what can be done to uphold the practices they know to support students from all backgrounds to experience educational success and inclusion that won’t capture the ire of parent groups, school boards, or educational commissions bent on squelching such critical efforts. Against the Current: Inclusive Multicultural Education Practices for Contentious Times addresses these issues by providing examples from K-12 and higher education classrooms where educators’ practices offer a path forward. Each chapter in the book presents an example of ways educators practice multicultural inclusivity and offers insights on how to do so even in hostile environments. Chapters in Part 1 of the book offer re-framings of flashpoint issues, including such topics as anti-Muslim racism and fugitive pedagogical practices. While the chapters in Part 1 offer a grounding in ways educators might rethink the work at hand, the chapters in Part 2 offer innovative tools or practices that educators across grade levels--including higher education--can use, including frameworks for cultivating deep listening when confronting emotionally charged topics in the classroom and curriculum materials for family and community engagement. Finally, Part 3 of the book offers case studies of this work in action, including examples at the individual teacher or instructor level, the classroom level, and the schoolwide level. The volume includes a guide for readers with discussion and reflection questions, extension activities, and additional resources for each chapter. Against the Current is critical reading in a variety of settings. It can be used in professional development programs to better equip teachers. College and university libraries will want it in their collections. As a teaching textbook, its content will apply to a large number of classes in multicultural education, inclusive teaching and learning, and other courses, thus equipping preservice teachers with valuable tools as they prepare to enter schools.Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Education; Educational Equity; Foundations of Education; Multicultural Education; Social Justice and Education; Teacher Education; Teaching Methods; Educational Practice; Educational Studies

Translating Words, Creating Worlds: Poetry Inside Out as Critical Literacy and Translanguaging Pedagogy in K-12 Classrooms is a timely and inspiring guide to bringing critical literacy, translanguaging, and student voice into today’s classrooms. Grounded in the innovative Poetry Inside Out (PIO) program developed at the Center for the Art of Translation, this volume demonstrates how poetry translation can transform language learning into a powerful act of collaboration, creativity, and cultural exploration. Across diverse K–12 settings, students engage with poems from around the world—written in languages such as Vietnamese, Spanish, and Albanian—and work together to translate them into English. Specifically, they first work in pairs to create a “Phrase-by-Phrase” translation, akin to a rough draft. Then, in groups of four, students meld and refine their drafts, developing a “Make it Flow” translation that the entire group agrees to. Through discussion, interpretation, performance, and revision, students do far more than learn vocabulary or grammar: they analyze meaning, wrestle with complex social and political themes, and develop sophisticated literacy practices rooted in authentic communication. Written by classroom teachers, school leaders, and literacy practitioners, Translating Words, Creating Worlds offers vivid, real-world examples of PIO in action across elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. The book provides practical, accessible strategies for educators seeking to create culturally sustaining, language-rich learning environments that honor and leverage students’ linguistic and cultural assets. At a moment when educators are searching for meaningful ways to support multilingual learners and foster inclusive classrooms, this volume delivers both inspiration and actionable pedagogy. Readers will discover how collaborative poetry translation can deepen students’ engagement with language, strengthen critical thinking, and cultivate empathy, dialogue, and intellectual curiosity. An essential resource for teachers, teacher educators, and TESOL/ESL professionals, Translating Words, Creating Worlds is ideal for courses in second language acquisition, literacy, multilingual education, and culturally responsive teaching.Perfect for courses such as: Literacy Education; Methods in ELA/Humanities; Educating Multilingual Children and Youth; Foundations of Bilingual Education; Bilingual Education Theory and Practices; Curriculum and Lesson Planning (Middle/Secondary and/or Elementary); Culture, Language, and Education

As educational systems worldwide grapple with complex challenges requiring sustained, evidence-informed solutions, collaborative continuous improvement in education (CCIE) has emerged as a transformative approach to systemic change. Yet a critical gap remains: how do we effectively teach and learn these powerful improvement methods across the diverse landscape of educational institutions and professionals who work in them? This groundbreaking book addresses this vital question with practical wisdom and research-backed strategies. Teaching and Learning for Collaborative Continuous Improvement in Education: Challenges and Possibilities Across the Educational System tackles the pressing need to build CCIE capacity among higher education faculty, professional developers, state education department associates, and the broader network of professionals driving educational improvement initiatives. As policymakers increasingly turn to CCIE to inform system-wide reforms, this book provides the roadmap for spreading and deepening expertise across organizational boundaries and professional contexts. The authors examine three fundamental challenges facing the field: bridging knowledge gaps across diverse professional roles and organizations; balancing scholarly and practical applications of CCIE learning; and navigating the spectrum of delivery modalities from fully asynchronous to synchronous, and in-person to remote formats. Through real-world examples, chapter authors reveal both challenges and promising practices that transcend traditional silos and create meaningful learning communities. What sets this book apart is its collaborative approach to knowledge sharing. Rather than prescribing one-size-fits-all solutions, the editors and authors position themselves as colleagues and peers, sharing hard-won lessons from their own improvement journeys. Each chapter follows a systematic structure that includes contextual background, theoretical foundations, learning objectives and approaches, documented results, and honest reflections on lingering questions. The book's organization reflects its commitment to addressing real-world complexity. Following an introductory chapter that maps the current terrain of CCIE teaching and learning, subsequent sections dive deep into specific challenges: designing CCIE learning experiences for different audiences, adapting approaches for varying purposes, and leveraging different modalities effectively. Rich case studies and illustrative examples demonstrate how theory translates into practice across diverse educational contexts. Higher education faculty will find research-based approaches to curriculum design and pedagogy. Professional developers will discover strategies for building organizational capacity using theoretically-grounded and tested approaches. State education leaders will gain insights into system-wide implementation approaches. Most importantly, all readers will find concrete tools for learning with and from each other―breaking down the isolation that too often hampers improvement efforts. The book concludes with a look to the future―highlighting emerging trends and future opportunities in CCIE teaching and learning, while supplementary materials provide readers with immediately usable resources. It represents an essential contribution to the growing field of improvement science in education―and a vital resource for the professionals working to make that science accessible, applicable, and impactful across the entire educational ecosystem.Perfect for courses such as: Continuous Quality Improvement in Education and Human Services; Networked Improvement Communities; Improvement Science Capstone; Leadership for Continuous Improvement; Leadership Experiences, Application and Development; Leadership for Equity for Equity and Improvement; Instructional Leadership; Doctoral Seminar: Dynamics of Improving Schools and Districts; and Supervision of Instruction

How do we create lasting systemic change in institutions designed to reproduce the status quo? Some might answer this question with responses related to mission, vision, resource allocation and investment, and talent. However, the path to creating sustainable changes in educational institutions is often obstructed by policy, institutional inertia, and ingrained systemic barriers. Work is sometimes reduced to a checkbox exercise aimed at compliance, rather than genuine transformation, leading to benefits only for groups traditionally supported by the established structures. For those striving for change, a sense of powerlessness can dominate, as structural constraints limit their agency and dilute their impact. Recognizing these realities, there can be no simple recipe or single formula that guarantees lasting change, particularly transformational change that shifts paradigms in ways that advance equity and inclusion. Instead of a formula, Systems Transformation for Equity in Education: Principles for Organizational Change introduces 6 key principles of organizational change. In order to engage in complex systems transformation for equity, we must: 1. know the contexts that surround systems change; 2. develop cohesive project plans and find appropriate funding for these plans; 3. understand the centrality of leadership; 4. work collectively towards equity through relationality, respect, and mutuality; 5. reflect upon success and challenges; and 6. ensure the institutionalization of systems transformation. The book is structured first to provide a broad overview of each principle, then to illustrate each using a case study of program change. Chapter One focuses on the principle of knowing the complex contexts that surround systems change. In this chapter, the book introduces the origins, objectives, complexities, diverse stakeholders and outcomes of the case study as well as contextual factors that should be considered in launching systems transformation. Chapter Two focuses on ensuring alignment in the design, development and enactment of transformative projects, including establishing an initial vision, using data to inform decision making and finding appropriate funding sources. Chapter Three focuses on the principle that Leadership matters in systems transformation for equity. This chapter highlights the importance of identifying a leadership team, providing clear team members’ roles, and dividing tasks wisely. Chapter Four focuses on cultivating consensus and moving forward collectively in diverse stakeholder groups with competing priorities. Chapter Five focuses on the importance of reflecting upon success to expand the impact of systems transformation, adapting programs to stay responsive to changing contexts, and on navigating unanticipated challenges to initiative-based work. Chapter Six focuses on expanding impact and identifying ways to ensure the institutionalization of systems transformation. It addresses some key factors such as documenting and communicating the successes and challenges of the project, disseminating evaluation findings; creating a plan for when the grant funding ends, accessing new funding; identifying continuing and new stakeholders; developing ongoing products; developing collective language; and ensuring institutional buy-in. The final chapter tells the story of lessons learned from this process and what has happened to the focal program in the 2 years following the end of the grant funding, particularly given changing socio-political contexts.Perfect for courses such as: Principles of Organizational Change; Equity and Organizational Change; Foundations of Organization Change; Educational Leadership; Race, Equity, and Leading Educational Change; Education Policy Implementation

Attaining a Just Future: Disability Studies Examines Curriculum and Transition for Students Labeled with Intellectual Disability is a critical volume in the area of Disability Studies in Education that investigates current trends in curricular access for 14- to 21-year-old students with intellectual disabilities (ID), offering revelatory insights into how students with ID are understood and taught in U.S. schools. By analyzing the state of curricular access for students with ID through a myriad of perspectives, this book reveals that ideological barriers, educational policies, and neoliberal priorities substantially contribute to ongoing segregation and unequal outcomes for people with ID in U.S. schools and society. It examines how commonly used school curricular practices play a role in sustaining segregation and negative outcomes experienced by people with ID labels. The book centers the experiences of six young adults with ID labels, who, along with their families, were qualitatively interviewed with the goal of understanding the complexities of curriculum access and future planning from a first-person perspective. In addition, professionals who work with young adults with ID labels were also interviewed, including transition program directors, teachers, child study team members, administrators, a curriculum specialist, a transition advocate and a state-level employee. A mixed-methods survey was disseminated, which received 77 responses from teachers, administrators, and transition specialists regarding their usage and understanding of curriculum for their students. Finally, an analysis of publicly available documents from the websites of five commonly used published curricula targeted to students with significant disabilities was conducted. The first chapter in the book offers the readers information about the six students centered in this project and then provides contextual policy frameworks, a review of literature, and an overview of the intersectional theoretical approach that guides the analysis throughout the book. Chapter two considers the role that the Least Restrictive Environment policy plays in concretizing tracking in alignment to curricular opportunities for students with ID. Chapter three digs into the kinds of content curricular publishing companies target to high school and transition-aged students with ID, professional beliefs about curriculum for students with ID, and the learning goals students and families have for themselves. Chapter four unpacks the concept of “independence” within special education and how it becomes a justification for funneling students away from academic learning. Chapter five evaluates both segregative and inclusive practices found in 18-21 transition program planning, curricula and programming. Finally, chapter six highlights best-practices, advocacy tactics, and teaching approaches that can lead to improved outcomes for young adults with ID labels. This book reveals that the curricular choices made on behalf of many young adults with ID are often not aligned with their desires and are often based upon ideologies about intellectual functioning itself, rather than being based on the individual interests, cultural backgrounds, potential, skills, or ambitions of the young person. Ultimately, the book offers educators, administrators, advocates, disabled people, and families tools and ways of thinking that can lead to more just and inclusive futures for transition-aged students with ID labels.Perfect for courses such as: Foundations of Inclusive Education; Foundations in Curriculum Studies; Special Education and Educational Leadership; Inclusion and Educational Leadership; Special Education Law and Policy; Pedagogy in Secondary Inclusive Education; Disability Studies in Education; Foundations and Philosophies in Inclusive Education; Issues, Policies, and Trends in Inclusive Education; Inclusive Methods for Middle and Secondary Schools

Books and stories can inspire, create empathy, and be cathartic outlets. They expand our understanding of the lived experience as one of the most important conduits for how we spread knowledge and participate in shared humanity. Building on the work of Rudine Sims Bishop, Battle of the Bans: Narratives of Reading and Engaging with Banned Books explores how challenged and banned books act as windows, mirrors, and sliding doors. In the United States and globally, the twenty-first century is seeing renewed efforts at banning books in a variety of forms, including parental controls, book burning, curricular erasure and epistemicide, and social media banning. These efforts have the potential of silencing particular stories, histories, and perspectives. Book banning targets and has deleterious impacts on particular communities, including but not restricted to people of color, LGBTQ+, religious and cultural minorities, and people with different abilities. This edited collection counteracts the narrative that books are dangerous, centering a celebration of how stories shape lives. Educators, families, and individuals present a range of perspectives on how particular banned books have changed their lived experience and view of the world. Contributors discuss children’s literature, young adult literature, fiction, and nonfiction texts. The book is comprised of three parts. In the Context section, contributors explore lessons and/or situations for how banned books have, can, or should be used. In the Introspection section, contributors provide narratives about how banned books shaped a sense of self. In the Action section, contributors detail steps taken in response to book bans, providing strategies for countering censorship and erasure in classrooms, schools, and libraries. Battle of the Bans creates hope and conversation in an era of political divisiveness. It inspires readers to reflect on their own experiences with books, creates dialogue, and provides pathways to challenge book banning, ensuring access to stories, histories, and perspectives.The book will appeal to a wide range of audiences, including academics, librarians, classroom teachers, parents, and readers who understand the value of books and literature.Perfect for courses such as: Multicultural Literature; Honors Seminar/Special Topics: Book Banning; Curriculum Theory in Education; History of Reading; Contemporary Social Issues; Introduction to American Studies; Introduction to Policy Studies; Qualitative Research Methods; Narrative Research Methods; and Essay Writing