Despite National Outrage, Scholastic Defends Children’s Books Celebrating Trump

Earlier this month we published critical reviews of the Scholastic books for early and upper elementary students about the election of President Trump. Both books present Trump’s life and the election in a celebratory tone, as summarized by this poem in the book for first and second grade. More than 1,000 educators, parents, librarians, and […]

Teaching for Change Summer 2018 Interns Blog

This blog is being maintained by Kathy Nganga and Sarah Cornelius to document the work and insights of the 2018 summer interns. Week One (June 4 – 8) Monday, June 4th, and Tuesday, June 5th: Reorganizing the Resource Center Monday, was our first day of work! We walked to work together on Monday morning and […]

Scholastic Tells Children: Trump is Great

Review by Kathleen Nganga and Sarah Cornelius “His buildings reached into the sky. His businesses just grew and grew. Then Trump became our president– People wanted something new.” This optimistic poem, which reads like promotional campaign material targeted at children, comes from Scholastic’s Rookie Biography series. President Donald Trump by Joanne Mattern (2017) claims to offer young […]

Timothy Jenkins Honors Chuck McDew with Donation to Civil Rights Teaching Book

With the current threats to voting rights and democracy, understanding the bottom up history of the Civil Rights Movement has never been so urgent and relevant. To encourage the teaching of grassroots organizing during the Civil Rights Movement – lessons that can inform student activism today – we want to publish a new print edition […]

Challenging Islamophobia Project Director to Present at Two Upcoming Conferences

Alison Kysia, project director of Teaching for Change’s “Islamophobia: A people’s history teaching guide,” will be presenting at two upcoming conferences. She will present “Black Muslims in the United States: An Introductory Activity” from 1:45-3:15pm on Saturday, May 5 at the 9th Annual Teacher Action Group (TAG) Education for Liberation Conference in Philadelphia, PA. The conference, […]

Reconstruction Teach-In at Howard University

Reconstruction, the era immediately following the Civil War and emancipation, is full of stories that help us see the possibility of a future defined by racial equity. Yet the possibilities and achievements of this era are too often overshadowed by the violent white supremacist backlash. Today — in a moment where activists are struggling to […]

Parents Read Drum Dream Girl for Women’s History Month

Roving Readers, one of our Tellin’ Stories signature activities, creates a space for parents to read stories in their children’s classrooms. On March 9, at Thomson Elementary School (DCPS), a group of eight parents read to both of the second grade classes. The school is in the Chinatown neighborhood of northwest D.C. We read Drum Dream […]

Seven Things We Learned From the D.C. Area Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools

The D.C. Area Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools gave a powerful start to Black History Month in classrooms across the Washington, D.C. area. Pre-K — 12th grade teachers in more than 100 schools taught lessons about structural racism, intersectional Black identities, and Black history. D.C. was one of many cities across the country that participated in […]

Apply to be a Teaching for Change
Partner School

Teaching for Change is pleased to announce an opening for a new school to join the cohort of DC public schools implementing our nationally recognized approach to family engagement, called Tellin’ Stories. Teaching for Change partners with school communities that serve primarily parents of color and lower income families. Our work demonstrates that we can build stronger […]

Teachers Explore the History of Racist Ideas in the U.S. with Dr. Ibram Kendi

“The achievement gap is a racist idea.” “Teachers should be teaching about power and the way power works.” These are just two of the statements by Professor Ibram Kendi during his riveting presentation about the history of racist ideas for nearly 200 D.C. area educators on January 17, 2018.  Kendi’s talk was organized by D.C. […]