Looking for resources to begin your learning journey? We’ve compiled a short list of great resources. You can find a full list of articles and published works on our organizational website.

Learning is rooted in purpose finding and community relevance.
Map a Path to Purpose
- Article: The Development of Purpose During Adolescence by William Damon, Jenni Menon, and Kendall Cotton Bronk
- Podcast: What’s your “why” in life? with Adrian Michael Green on Greater Good
- Book: The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life by William Damon
Learn Experientially
- Article: Work that matters: A teacher’s guide to project-based learning by Alec Patton and Jeff Robin
- Article: Why Project-Based Learning Motivates Students from Thoughtful Learning
- Book: Timeless Learning by Ira Socol, Pam Moran, and Chad Ratliff
Connect to the Community
- Article: The Impact of a Junior High School Community Intervention Project by Larry P. Nelson, Sarah K McMahan, and Tacia Torres
- Article: The Value of Community by Warren Hynes
- Article: Family and Community Engagement from Teaching Tolerance
Promote Literacy
- Book: Readicide by Kelly Gallagher
- Book: Why They Can’t Write by John Warner
- Article: Independent Reading and School Achievement by Bernice E. Cullinan
Create Cross-Disciplinary Classrooms
- Article: Cross-Disciplinary, Whole School Education Reform in Secondary Schools: Three Critical Components by Emily Borda et. al.
- Podcast: The Apollo School from Cult of Pedagogy
- Podcast: How to Teach Us, Authentic PBL w/ Brooke Tobia and Students from Human Restoration Project

Dehumanizing practices do not belong in schools.
Radically Reduce Homework
- Book: The Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn
- Book: The End of Homework by Etta Kralovec and John Buell
- Article: Does Homework Really Improve Achievement? by Kevin C. Costley
Build Strong Relationships
- Book: We Got This. by Cornelius Minor
- Collection: Authentic Relationships from Teaching Tolerance
- Article: Improving Students’ Relationships with Teachers to Provide Essential Supports for Learning by Sara Rimm-Kaufman and Lia Sandilos
Eliminate Grading
- Book: Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn
- Article: Response to Assessment Feedback by Anastasia A. Lipnevich and Jeffrey K. Smith
- Article: Liberatory grades/Liberatory assessment by sj miller
Redefine Assessment and End Testing
- Book: In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms by Jacqueline Grennon Brooks and Martin G. Brooks
- Article: The Impact of High-Stakes Testing on the Learning Environment by Maddolyn Ritt
- Article: Colleges Want Students with Character, But Can’t Measure It by Eric Hoover
Reform Food Systems

Social justice is the cornerstone to educational success.
Support a Reflective Space
- Book: The Book of Learning and Forgetting by Frank Smith
- Book: This is Not a Test by José Luis Vilson
- Article: John Dewey on the Art of Reflection by Maria Popova
Demand Inclusive Spaces
- Book: Against Common Sense by Kevin K. Kumashiro
- Book: Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks
- Article: The “New Racism” of K–12 Schools: Centering Critical Research on Racism by Rita Kohli, Marcos Pizarro, and Arturo Nevárez
Authenticate Student Voice
- Book: The Power of Their Ideas by Deborah Meier
- Book: When Students Have Power by Ira Shor
- Podcast: Student Government and a Democratic Education with Carla Marschall & StuVoice, Merrit Jones on Human Restoration Project
Adopt Critical Pedagogy
- Book: The Art of Critical Pedagogy by Jeffrey M.R. Duncan-Andrade and Ernest Morrell
- Article: The “Banking” Concept of Education by Paulo Freire
- Collection: The Freire Project
Utilize Restorative Justice
- Book: The Little Book of Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr and Ali Gohar
- Article: Breaking all the rules: Radically reinventing moral education through compassionate discipline by William Bryant and Cayce McCamish
- Article: Zero-Tolerance Policies and the School to Prison Pipeline by Farnel Maxime

Learners are respectful toward each other’s innate human worth.
Self-Direct Learning
- Collection: The Alliance for Self-Directed Education
- Book: Free School Teaching by Kristan Accles Morrison
- Book: A School of Our Own by Samuel Levin and Susan Engel
Support and Elevate Teachers
- Book: “You Can’t Fire the Bad Ones!” by William Ayers, Crystal Laura, and Rick Ayers
- Book: The Right to Learn by Linda Darling-Hammond
- Book: On Being a Teacher by Jonathan Kozol
Stay Buzzword Free
- Book: Teaching as a Subversive Activity by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner
- Book: The End of the Rainbow by Susan Engel
- Book: These Schools Belong to You and Me by Deborah Meier and Emily Gasoi
Cooperate, Don’t Force Competition
- Book: No Contest: The Case Against Competition by Alfie Kohn
- Article: It’s time to stop using Kahoot as a whole class review tool. by Chris McNutt
- Article: The Value of Cooperative Games by Suzanne Lyons
Support Multi-Age Classrooms
- Book: The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori
- Article: Inside a Multiage Classroom by Stuart Miller
- Article: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiage Classrooms in the Era of NCLB Accountability by Ruitling Song, Terry E. Spradlin, and Jonathan A. Plucker