Volume 28, No.1

Fall 2013

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  • Of Mice and Marginalization

    By Michelle Kenney

    Under pressure from parents, a high school English teacher assigns a classic: Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Her students’ reactions lead her to a deeper understanding of what’s wrong with “the canon.”

  • Disabled Education

    By Ruth Colker

    A legal advocate for people with disabilities realizes, through her own son’s experiences, the inequities in access, diagnosis, and services for children with special needs.

  • Standing Up for Tocarra

    By Tina Owen

    When a homophobic minister preaches about the “sin” of a transgender student at her funeral, a teacher leads her students to focus instead on the beautiful spirit of the young woman they loved.

  • The Mystery of the 3 Scary Numbers

    By Bill Bigelow

    A classroom mixer prepares students to study “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math.”

  • Teaching Palestine

    An interview with Palestinian educator Ziad Abbas

    By Jody Sokolower

    Drawing on his experience growing up in a refugee camp in the West Bank and his work with youth, Abbas explores connections that bring Palestine to life for students in the United States.

  • Charter Schools and the Future of Public Education

    By Stan Karp

    Charter schools began as educator-initiated, local efforts to provide alternative approaches to education. What role are they playing now? And what is the impact on public education?

  • Schools That Change Communities

    By David Sobel

    Bob Gliner’s film focuses on five schools in very different communities. Together, they provide a view of what is possible when education is grounded in civic engagement.

  • Rethinking Shit

    Excrement and equity

    By Noah Zeichner

    A high school social studies teacher uses videos and frank discussion to lead students in a study of the sanitation crisis in poverty-stricken areas of the world, and the connection to global patterns of wealth and power.

  • Clear-Cutting Our Schools

    By The Editors of Rethinking Schools

    No single policy reflects the bankruptcy of current education reform politics more than the mass closings of public schools. From Chicago to Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, Detroit, and Philadelphia, […]

  • Letters to the Editor 28.1

    Does EdTPA Limit Teacher Education? I believe that academic freedom ends where the health and well-being of my son begins. The state has an ethical and legal responsibility to assess […]

  • Justice for Trayvon Martin

    By Jody Sokolower

    We return to school this fall under the cloud of the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. Many students in our classes are wondering “Am I […]

  • The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos

    By Grace Cornell Gonzales

    A review of The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos, by Lucia González, illustrated by Lulu Delacre (Lee & Low Books, 2008)

  • Our picks for books, videos, websites, and other social justice resources 28.1

    By the editors of Rethinking Schools

    Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.