In addition to the texts I use to host book clubs for parents five evenings each school year, I recommend the following books.

**Denotes a book I would recommended for parents as well as teachers

Child Development and Parenting

• Carlisle Solomon, Deborah. Baby Knows Best: Raising a Confident and Resourceful Child, the RIE Way. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 2013. Print.**
• Christakis, Erika. The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need from Grownups. New York: Viking. 2016. Print.**
• Daum, Meghan. Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids. London: Picador. 2016. Print.**​

• Faber, Adele and Elaine Mazlish. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk. New York: Scribner. 2012. Kindle.**​
• Gray, Peter. Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. New York: Basic Books. 2013. Print.**​​
• Holt, John. How Children Learn. New York: Da Capo Press. 2009. Kindle.**
• ​Lanza, Mike. Playborhood: Turn Your Neighborhood Into a Place for Play. Menlo Park: Free Play Press. 2012. Print.**
• Mohr Lone, Jana. The Philosophical Child. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2015. Print.**
• Shumaker, Heather. It's OK Not to Share and Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids. New York: Tarcher. 2012. Print.**
• Tough, Paul. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2012. Print.​​

Children's Rights and Equity Issues

• Cohen, Howard. Equal Rights for Children. Totowa: Littlefield, Adams and Co. 1980. Print.
• Goyal, Nikhil. Schools on Trial: How Freedom and Creativity Can Fix Our Educational Malpractice. New York: Doubleday. 2016. Print.
• Holt, John. Escape From Childhood: The Needs and Rights of Children. Medford: HoltGWS LLC. 2013. Kindle.
• Sprung, Barbara. Non-Sexist Education for Young Children: A Practical Guide. New York: Citation Press. 1975. Print.
• Sylvester, Paul Skilton. "Teaching and Practice: Elementary School Curricula and Urban Transformation." Harvard Educational Review. Harvard Education Publishing Group. 1994. Print. 2010. Online. 23 May 2013.
• Wardy, Melissa Atkins. Redefining Girly: How Parents Can Fight the Stereotyping and Sexualizing of Girlhood, from Birth to Tween. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. 2014. Print.**​

Classroom and School Design

• Greenberg, Daniel. Free at Last: The Sudbury Valley School. Framingham: Sudbury Valley School Press. 1995. Print.
• Henderson, Anne T. Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships. New York: The New Press. 2007. Print.**
• Lawrence-Lightfoot, Sara. The Essential Conversation: What Teachers and Parents Can Learn from Each Other. New York: Ballantine Books. 2004. Print.**
• Lit, Ira W. The Bus Kids: Children's Experiences with Voluntary Desegregation. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2009. Print.
• Meier, Deborah. The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem. New York: Beacon Press. 2002. Print.
• Sizer, Theodore R. and Nancy Faust Sizer. The Students Are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract. Boston: Beacon Press. 2000. Print.​

Classroom Read Alouds

• Dahl, Roald. D Is for Dahl. London: Puffin. 2007. Print.
• Fletcher, Ralph. Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid. New York: Collins. 2005. Print.
• Gray-Kanatiiosh, Barbara A. The Ohlone. Edina: ABDO. 2002. Print.
• Kelley, True. Who Was Roald Dahl? New York: Grosset & Dunlap. 2012. Print.
• Williams, Jack S. The Library of Native Americans: The Ohlone of California. New York: Rosen Publishing Group. 2003. Print.​

Deeper Learning and Project-Based Learning

• Berger, Ron. An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 2003. Print.**
• Berger, Ron, Leah Rugen, and Libby Woodfin. Leaders of Their Own Learning: Transforming Schools Through Student-Engaged Assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2014. Print.
• Berger, Ron, Libby Woodfin, and Anne Vilen. Learning That Lasts: Challenging, Engaging, and Empowering Students with Deeper Instruction. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2016. Print.
• ​Hallerman, Sara, John Larmer, and John R. Mergendoller. PBL in the Elementary Grades. Novato: Buck Institute for Education. 2011. Print.
• Lenz, Bob, Justin Wells, and Sally Kingston. Transforming Schools: Using Project-Based Learning, Performance Assessment, and Common Core Standards. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2015. Print.
• Levy, Steven. Starting From Scratch: One Classroom Builds Its Own Curriculum. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 1996. Print.
• Maker Ed. Open Portfolio Project Research Brief Series. Oakland: Maker Ed. 2015. Online 30 July 2015.
• Patton, Alec. Work That Matters: The Teacher's Guide to Project-Based Learning. London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation. 2012. Online. 23 May 2013.
• Vander Ark, Tom and Carri Schenider. Deeper Learning: For Every Student Every Day. Getting Smart. 2014. Online. 22 Jan 2015.​

Social-Emotional Learning

• Costello, Bob. Restorative Circles in Schools: Building Community and Enhancing Learning. Bethlehem: International Institute for Restorative Practices. 2010. Print.
• Costello, Bob. The Restorative Practices Handbook for Teachers, Disciplinarians, and Administrators. Bethlehem: International Institute for Restorative Practices. 2009. Print.
• Gibbs, Jeanne. Reaching All by Creating Tribes Learning Communities. Windsor: CenterSource Systems, LLC. 2006. Print.​

Professional Development and Teaching Practice

• The d.school. Bootcamp Bootleg. Stanford: The d.school. 2011. Online. 18 January 2014.
• Glasser, William. Choice Theory in the Classroom. New York: Harper Perennial. 1998. Print.
• Glasser, William. Schools Without Failure. New York: Harper Perennial. 1975. Print.
• Grant, Adam. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. New York: Viking. 2016. Print.
• Hattie, John. Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn. New York: Routledge. 2013. Kindle.
• IDEO. Design Thinking for Educators. Palo Alto: IDEO. 2013. Online. 18 January 2014.
• Kleon, Austin. Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered. Austin: Workman Publishing Company. 2014. Kindle.
• Kleon, Austin. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. Austin: Workman Publishing Company. 2012. Kindle.
• McKeown, Greg. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. New York: Crown Business. 2014. Print.
• Stone, Douglas. Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well. New York: Viking. 2014.​

Teaching Profession

• Botstein, Leon. Jefferson's Children: Education and the Promise of American Culture. New York: Doubleday. 1997. Print.
• Deresiewicz, William. Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. New York: Free Press. Kindle.**
• Godin, Seth. Stop Stealing Dreams: What Is School For?. 2012. Online. 7 April 2014.**
• Goldstein, Dana. The Teacher Wars: A History of America's Most Embattled Profession. New York: Random House. 2014. Kindle.**
• Green, Katherine. Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 2014. Kindle.
• Kahlenberg, Richard D. Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battle Over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy. New York: Columbia. 2009. Print.
• Keizer, Garret. Getting Schooled: The Reeducation of an American Teacher. New York: Picador. 2015. Print.**
• Ravitch, Diane. Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. New York: Random House. 2013 Kindle.

Writing Instruction

• Fletcher, Ralph. How to Write Your Life Story. New York: Collins. 2007. Print.
• Fox, Roy. Facing the Sky: Composing Through Trauma. Anderson: Parlor Press. 2015. Print.
• Stock, Gregory. The Kids' Book of Questions. New York: Workman Publishing. 2004. Print.​​​

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Child Development and Parenting

• Adrian Peterson Didn't Just "Go Too Far" — Research Shows It's Never Okay to Hit a Child
• Hard Knocks: I Was Hit by a Teacher in an East Texas Public School. It Taught Me Nothing.
• Playing with Children: Should You, and If So, How?
• Children Need Free Play, but Are ‘Unschoolers’ Giving Them Too Much?
• Parental Disappointment on Display
• Trophy Children
• How Finland Keeps Kids Focused Through Free Play
• 12 Conversation Starters on What Parents Want You (Teachers) to Know
• Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League
• Sending Mixed Message: Do Parents Value Kids’ Achievement Over Empathy?
• How Exercise Can Boost the Brain
• School Should Be More Like Camp
• Teacher Visits Hit Home
• The Danger of Back to School
• Why So Many Kids Can't Sit Still in School Today
• Study Finds Reading to Children of All Ages Grooms Them to Read More on Their Own
• Study: Nagging Parents to Help Their Kids Learn to Read Works
• Pediatrics Group to Recommend Reading Aloud to Children from Birth
• Talk Talk Talk to Your Kids
• Parent-Teacher Interviews Without a Gradebook
• Study Finds Reading to Children of All Ages Grooms Them to Read More on Their Own
• Families May Differ, But They Share Common Values on Parenting
• A Conversation with Meredith Rowe About How to Lay the Groundwork for Your Child's Vocabulary Growth
• Is Kindergarten the New First Grade?
• The Problem with Cute Kids
• Let ‘Em Out! The Many Benefits of Outdoor Play in Kindergarten
• Recess for High School Students
• Opt-Out Parents Have a Point
• Attention Parents: Your Neighborhood Matters More Than You Do
• Early Academic Training Produces Long-Term Harm
• A Brief History of the Bizarre and Sadistic Presidential Fitness Test
• Push, Don’t Crush, the Students
• Can a 5-Year-Old's Parents Know He's Transgender? Yes.
• Rebellious Kids Grow Up to Out-Earn Rule-Followers
• What If Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids Was Wrong?
• ‘How to Raise an Adult,’ by Julie Lythcott-Haims
• How to Be a Better Parent
• Things We Say to Kids That Sound Positive but Can Be Detrimental
• Kids of Helicopter Parents Are Sputtering Out
• Most Parenting Advice Is Worthless. So Here's Some Parenting Advice.
• Parents Sure Are Keen on Their Kids Becoming Pro Athletes

Children's Rights and Equity Issues

• Watch Obama Break Down Gender Stereotypes
• A Summer Job Isn't What It Used to Be
• This Is Why Men Need Feminism
• US Attorneys Office Reveals Civil Rights Investigation at Rikers Island
• Lands' End Announces Science-Themed Tees For Girls After Mom's Letter Goes Viral
• Powerful Ad Shows What A Little Girl Hears When You Tell Her She's Pretty
• Students in Maryland Test Civic Participation and Win the Right to Vote
• Victory! A.C.L.U. Wins 11-Year-Old's Right to Protest Without Paying for Police detail
• Scotland Let 16-Year-Olds Vote. The U.S. Should Try It too.
• Controversial Colorado History Plan Still Alive
• Discussion Between Mark Oppenheimer and Dan Greenberg
• Helping the Poor in Education: The Power of a Simple Nudge
• Students in Maryland Test Civic Participation and Win Right to Vote
• Black Girls Are Suspended from School 6 Times More Often Than White Girls
• Experts Worry Suspensions Create School-to-Prison Pipeline
• Why Are Toys So Gendered?
• Toys Are More Divided by Gender Now Than They Were 50 Years Ago
• Who Runs the World? Finnish Girls
• Voting at 16 in S.F.? Supervisor Says the Time Has Come
• The Civics Teacher Who Turned His Arrest into a Classroom Lesson
• I Never Noticed How Racist So Many Children’s Books Are Until I Started Reading to My Kids
• LEGO Adds More Women in Science to Its Lineup
• 8% of California Households Dependent on Smartphones
• Target to Remove Gender-Based Signs
• Picture Books Where the Girls Kick Butt
• On Seeing Children as "Cute"
• Parable of the Polygons
• Why Trust Is a Crucial Ingredient in Shaping Independent Learners​

Classroom and School Design

• On the Clock
• This School Has Bikes Instead of Desks — and It Turns Out That's a Better Way to Learn
• Standing Desks Are Coming to Schools, to Cure Obesity and Increase Attention Spans
• Improv Activities for Design Thinking
• Creating Learning Environments
• A Former Google Exec Reinvents Elementary Education by Putting an R&D Lab in School
• This Is What a Student-Designed School Looks Like
• Elementary Schools Start Using Standing Desks for Students
• Letting Kids Move in Class Isn't a Break from Learning. It IS the Learning.
• A Group of Schools in Sweden Is Abandoning Classrooms Entirely

Deeper Learning and Project-Based Learning

• The Pygmalion Effect: Communicating High Expectations
• Helping Students Find Purpose and Appreciation for School
• Make a Difference: Show Students You Care
• Encouraging Passion: The Discovery of What Curiosity Can Do for Children’s Exploration and Knowledge
• Time and Space to Learn and Reflect
• Turn Genius Hour into Genius Year
• Helping Students See Themselves as Thinkers
• Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain
• The Character Factory
• The Secret of Effective Motivation
• How Do We Increase Empathy?
• Teaching Students How to Talk Less, and Think More
• Tony Wagner: All Students Need Digital Portfolios
• The Real Stuff of Schooling: How to Teach Students to Apply Knowledge
• Deeper Learning: Highlighting Student Work
• Reflect on Learning with a Portfolio Defense
• 'Most Likely to Succeed': Schools Should Teach Kids to Think, Not Memorize
• The Role of Advisory in Personalizing the Secondary Experience
• Student-Led Conference Faculty Handbook
• The Critical Skills Program
• West Virginia Study of PBL Impacts
• Projects That Soar​

Inspiration

• A 12-Year-Old Football Fan Asked Every NFL Team Why He Should Root for Them -- And He Got Responses
• Boy, 13, Builds Braille Printer with Legos, Starts Company
• Creative Father Colors in His Kids’ Sketches During His Work Trips
• Teacher Keeps Promise to Mail Thousands of Former Students Letters Written by Their Past Selves
• Stop Trying to Be Creative

Math Instruction

• Video Games & Making Math More Like Things Students Like
• “You Have to Create the Itch Before You Scratch It.”
• [Confab] Tiny Math Games
• Fluency Without Fear
• Why Do Americans Stink at Math?
• Building a Better Worksheet
• Should We Stop Making Kids Memorize Times Tables?
• Math Programs: How They Rate on Common-Core Alignment
• John Urschel Talks About Why More Young Kids Don't Love Math
• An Advocate of Explicit Instruction Experiences the Limits of Explicit Instruction​

Professional Development and Teaching Practice

• 8 Ways to Energize Your Next Meeting
• Why People Didn't Like Your Conference Presentation
• Connected Educator Month Starter Kit
• How to Showcase Teacher Effectiveness
• DIY Professional Development Resources
• The Daily Routines of 26 of HIstory's Most Creative Minds
• Self-Proclaimed ‘Experts’ More Likely to Fall for Made-Up Facts, Study Finds
• What If We Had Genius Hour for Teachers?
• Dipsticks: Efficient Ways to Check for Understanding
• Back to School: Preparing for Day One
• Does Group Work... Work?
• Four Ways to Spot a Great Teacher
• The Pygmalion Effect: Communicating High Expectations
• Should Teachers Be Allowed to Touch Students?
• Teaching: What Do Great College Professors Have in Common?
• Impromptu Twitter Master Class on Homework Strategies​

Reading Instruction

• One More Really Big Reason to Read Stories to Children
• Why Kids Should Choose Their Own Books to Read in School
• Report: Requiring Kindergartners to Read — as Common Core Does — May Harm Some
• Reading in School​

Social Studies Instruction

• 50 Ways to Teach Current Events
• 9/11 Anniversary 2015 Education Conundrum: How Should Teachers Discuss Terrorist Attacks in Schools?​

Teaching Profession

• Why Journalists Hate to Write About Education
• Teacher Certifications Decline as New York State Uses Tougher Exams
• Rick Bobrick: Why Not Legal Protection for Teachers Who Are Conscientious Objectors?
• Jack Schneider: Education is HARDER Than Rocket Science
• U.S. Public Schools Are Better Than They've Ever Been
• Will Millennials Stay? Examining Teacher Retention from a Generational Perspective
• Teacher Wars and Teaching Machines
• Go with the Flow
• Teach for America Has Faced Criticism for Years. Now It’s Listening — and Changing.
• Teaching Is Not a Business
• My First Year Teaching in Finland
• South Korea's Education System Hurts Students
• Should Teachers Have Tenure? Should Anybody?
• To Close the Achievement Gap, We Need to Close the Teaching Gap
• Why Teachers Have a Tougher Job Than Doctors
• A Guide to No Child Left Behind as Congress Tries to Rewrite the Law
• Why So Many Teachers Feel So Bad So Much of the Time
• What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success
• Liberal's Don't Homeschool Your Kids
• Why Homeschooling Is a Boon to a Liberal Society
• Why Teaching Is More Like Basketball Than Baseball -- and Why Does It Matter?
• Teacher stress is killing my profession
• Teach for Finland? Why It Won’t Happen.
• The Mismeasure of Teaching Time
• How to Get People to Pitch In
• How Students with Top Test Scores Actually Hurt a Teacher's Evaluation
• Ebola Doctor Kent Brantly Tells Grads Why He Didn't Feel Like a Failure When He Lost Patients
• Elon Musk’s Ex-Wife on What It Takes to Be a Mogul
• What Should Educators Have in Our Heads?
• Is Silicon Valley Driving Teachers Out?
• ​Teachers as Designers​

Technology in Schools

• Machine Learning and Teaching
• Grooming Students for a Lifetime of Surveillance
• L.A. Unified Survey Finds Little Use of iPads' Curriculum
• High School Football Gets Its Own Technological Revolution
• 10 Things Every Teacher Should Be Able to Do on Google Docs
• Helping Students Develop Digital Literacy
• Smartphones Don’t Make Us Dumb
• Can Students Have Too Much Tech?
• Edutopia
• Our Schools All Have a Tragic Flaw; Silicon Valley Thinks It Has the Answer​

Writing Instruction

• Why an English Teacher Introduced Her Class to the World
• The Writing Revolution
• Cursive Handwriting Is Useless, but Politicians Want Students to Learn It Anyway
• High School Teachers Guide Students Into Self-Publishing​

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I also recommend the following videos and podcasts.

Films

• August to June. Dir. Tom and Amy Valens. Tamalpais, 2011. Film.
• The Hobart Shakespeareans. Dir. Mel Stuart. PBS, 2005. Film.
  
• Most Likely to Succeed. Dir. Greg Whiteley. One Potato Productions, 2015. Film.
• On the Path. Steven Levy. Burlington: Vanguard Video, 1996. Film. Available for purchase directly from Steven Levy.
• The Voyage of Pilgrims. Steven Levy. Santa Monica: New American Schools Development Corporation, 1992. Film. Available for purchase directly from Steven Levy.

Bloggingheads.tv

• Mark Oppenheimer and Daniel Greenberg on Sudbury Schools (January 2015)
• Glenn Loury and William Deresiewicz on Higher Education (September 2014)
• Conor Friedersdorf and Freddie deBoer on Education Reform (July 2014)
• Dana Goldstein, Kevin Carey, and Aryeh Cohen-Wade on Education Reform (April 2014)
• Glenn Loury and Roland Fryer on Education Reform (December 2013)
• ​Conor Friedersdorf and Freddie deBoer on Higher Education and the Economy (January 2013)
• Glenn Loury and Brink Lindsey on Education Reform (August 2012)
• Conor Friedersdorf and Phoebe Connelly on Student Work and Parenting (July 2012)
• Conor Friedersdorf and Jim Manzi on Education Reform (May 2012)
• Conor Friedersdorf and Mark Oppenheimer on Homeschooling (April 2012)
• Matthew Yglesias and Noah Millman on Education Reform (December 2011)
• Dana Goldstein and Megan McArdle on Education Reform (January 2011)
• David Halperin and Katherine Mangu-Ward on Higher Education (Deceber 2010)
• John McWhorter and Glenn Loury on the Purpose of Education (August 2010)
• Dana Goldstein and Robert Lerman on Higher Education (June 2010)
• Dana Goldstein and Matthew Continetti on Education Reform (April 2009)
• Dana Golstein and Megan McArdle on Education Reform (March 2009)
• Mark Schmitt and Megan McArdle on Education Reform (November 2007)

Podcasts

• Hidden Brain: You 2.0: Decide Already! (August 2017)
• The Weeds: The Bacon Fat Theory of School Segregation, and Some White House Chaos (August 2017)
• ​Hidden Brain: You 2.0: Dream Jobs (July 2017)
• Hidden Brain: Deep Work (July 2017)
• ​Citations Needed: Episode 01: The Charter School Scam (June 2017)
• ​Hidden Brain: Summer Melt (June 2017)
• The Ezra Klein Show: Cal Newport on Doing Deep Work and Escaping Social Media (April 2017)
• ​Stuff You Should Know: Should Advertising to Kids Be Banned? (November 2016)
• WTF with Marc Maron: Robert Kelly (August 2016)
• This American Life: The Problem We All Live With (July 2015)
• The Morning Buzzword: Teaching as a Rational Career Choice (March 2015)
• How I Teach: Rafe Esquith (March 2015)
• New Books in Education: Diana Hess on The Political Classroom (February 2015)
• Ed Next Book Club: Dana Goldstein on The Teacher Wars (December 2014)
• Education Today: Viet Nguyen on Blended Learning (September 2014)

• Ed Next Book Club: Elizabeth Green on Building a Better Teacher (August 2014)

• Ed Next Book Club: Richard Whitmire on On the Rocketship (June 2014)

• Ed Next Book Club: Sam Chaltain on Our School (June 2014)
• Education Today: Otis Kriegel on Everything A New Elementary Teacher Really Needs To Know (March 2014)

• Education Today: Ron Berger on Leaders of Their Own Learning (March 2014)
• Ed Next Book Club: Amanda Ripley on The Smartest Kids in the World (December 2013)
• Smart People Podcast: Dan Pink (March 2013)
• Ed Next Book Club: Tony Wagner on Creating Innovators (March 2013)
• Ed Next Book Club: David Cohen on Teaching and Its Predicaments (November 2012)
• Ed Next Book Club: Nate Levinson on Smarter Budgets, Smarter Schools (October 2012)
• Ed Next Book Club: Paul Tough on How Children Succeed (September 2012)
• Ed Next Book Club: Peg Tyre on The Good School (January 2012)
• Ed Next Book Club: Chester Finn's Troublemaker (November 2011)
• Ed Next Book Club: Paul Peterson on Saving Schools (November 2011)

• Ed Next Book Club: Rick Hess on The Same Thing Over and Over (August 2011)
• Ed Next Book Club: Gene Maeroff on School Boards in America (May 2011)

YouTube Videos