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Inspiration

A collection of authors and publications that have strongly influenced the foundations of our work in equitable literacy education and instruction. 

These authors and their content have taught me a great deal about designing equitable education systems, how our current system has been shaped by historical events, and how we might work collectively toward a more equitable and literate future. I hope you find this important work as inspiring as I do.

Kate Crist

Founder of Education 4500

Use the 

links below to visit the author or bookseller’s website.

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DESIGN

How might we design more equitable education systems?

Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization

Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey

The Good Ally: A guided anti-racism journey from bystander to changemaker

Nova Reid

Racism and inequity are products of design. They can be redesigned.

equityXdesign

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

Brene Brown

Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds

adrienne marie brown

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

How have historical events shaped our current work?

White Supremacy: A Comparative Study of American and South African History

George M. Fredrickson

A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present

Howard Zinn

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

Richard Rothsten

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

Heather McGhee

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

James W. Loewen

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Ibram X Kendi

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

Nikole Hannah-Jones

Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own

Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching

Jarvis R Givens

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EQUITABLE LITERACY

What might engaged and liberated equitable literacy look like?

Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents: Rethinking Content Area Literacy

Timothy Shanahan and Cynthia Shanahan

Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Know Better, Do Better: Teaching the Foundations So Every Child Can Read

David and Meredith Liben

Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools

Amanda E. Lewis & John B. Diamond

The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades

Judith C. Hochman, Natalie Wexler, and Doug Lemov

Access for All Learners: The History-Specific Academic Literacy Model

Phyllis Goldsmith and Rachel B. Reinhard, PhD

Systems for Instructional Improvement: Creating Coherence from the Classroom to the District Office

Paul Cobb, Kara Jackson, Erin Henrick, Thomas M. Smith, and the MIST Team

Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy

Gholdy Muhammad

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children

Gloria Ladson-Billings

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