PRODUCTS

Curriculum and pedagogy are the heartbeat of our schools. They encompass what we do and do not teach–what content and approaches we either choose or are mandated to choose, or leave out or are mandated to leave out. Curriculum entails the overall educational experience of schooling, while pedagogy is the art and craft of teaching–or the translation of curriculum into student knowledge and growth. Hence, curriculum and pedagogy are sociocultural phenomena that impact and are impacted by context (e.g., students, community, colleagues, geography, etc.).

Once upon a time, curriculum and pedagogy were the spaces in which educators could exercise creativity and exploration, reflecting the individual needs of their students and communities. However, as political structures shifted and the standards movement took hold in the late 20th century, freedoms around curriculum and pedagogy began to fade with increased oversight over and standardization of “best practices” with greater emphasis placed on performance and efficiency. Pedagogical practices were soon framed around producing results (test scores, graduation rates, measurable learning objectives derived from prescribed state standards), while curriculum became a prescribed structure formatted to reflect state standards with an eye toward test performance. Curriculum and pedagogy were further impeded by hegemonic forces calling for censorship of teaching and curriculum, such as the ban on Ethnic Studies in Tucson, Arizona, and continued attacks on Critical Race Theory nationwide. Further, curriculum became a tool for concealing and/or silencing the experiences and voices of our diverse students, educators, and communities. The results of these phenomena are teachers feeling uninspired and deprofessionalized and students feeling devalued and unheard–especially marginalized students.

Since curriculum and pedagogy directly impact the experiences of teachers and students, they must be transformed. However, how do we do that within today’s tenuous PreK-12 environment? How do we transform curriculum and pedagogy so that they reflect, liberate, and ensure justice for students and educators in preschools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and the content areas taught within them? Moving from Traditional to Transformative Curriculum and Pedagogy addresses these challenges by providing clear and direct guidance for current and aspiring educators committed to transforming the status quo in their classrooms and schools.

Innovative and creative methodologies and practices that aspiring and practicing educators can use right away are the primary focus of this book. Because the editors and contributors are former or current PreK-12 practitioners and/or education scholars, this book is written for a broad educational audience. The editors and contributors provide preservice and practicing teachers entry points for transforming the educational landscape in favor of liberatory, transformative practices in PreK-12 schools across grade levels, content areas, school types, and geographic regions. Additionally, this book is ideal for teacher preparation programs as well as PreK-12 professional development, as this book guides readers through theoretical and empirical discussions, supported by hands-on applications that enable real-time application, and concludes with interactive features, like case studies, extension activities, and discussion prompts.

In these times, decisions large and small can have important consequences for educators. Everything from daily curricular choices and interpersonal encounters to long-term educational aims and approaches to educator-client relations is up for careful decision-making. While not every professional decision requires careful preparation and defense, more than ever, in our increasingly polarized, distrustful, and argumentative world, many more than we might anticipate do. How should educators prepare to make careful, defensible public decisions affecting their students and themselves? An important part of that preparation involves training in a range of logical and interpersonal abilities that come before and help to make good educational decisions. A Preface to Educational Decision-Making is aimed at describing those abilities, illustrating their professional uses, and providing a starting point for increasing educators’ practical skills in applying them.

What are these abilities? For the most part, they involve common-sense attention to the ways that educators can become clearer about the nature of actual decisions they are asked to make, and aware of what must be done to make those decisions ones that all concerned can recognize as reasonable and as logically presented, even if not universally agreeable. In short, these are factors that provide, for decision-makers and their audiences, a preface to decisions that matter to those who make them and to those affected by them. A most important, though widely ignored set of those abilities center on making the nature of particular decisions clear to all concerned. Those abilities involve becoming sensitive to the ways such decisions can become or can be made to be unclear. In the give and take of public educational decision-making processes, bad decisions are often, even usually begin with confusion over what is to be decided and over what is proposed as the decision to make. The ability to get clarification, and the habit of clarifying before committing are crucial to good decision-making. A second set of preparatory abilities involve recognizing what must be done to actually decide what is true and/or advisable, as part of a decision at hand. Making what is recognized as a reasonable and well-reasoned decision depends in large part on applying those abilities clearly and often publicly.

These two large sets of abilities are crucially connected. Making clear to oneself and to others what is to be decided is part and parcel of becoming aware of how to decide an issue at hand. This book works to explain the connections and to describe the order of their application. While most of these abilities have been described in other texts on what is usually called “informal logic,” A Preface to Educational Decision-Making is especially concerned with the sorts of decision that educators are called on to make in their professional lives. Moreover, this book widens the range of abilities to clarify and support professional decisions beyond what is usually discussed. The sections on educational speech acts and on deciding what to call true or advisable provide useful additions to educators’ repertoire of decision-making abilities. Finally, the discussion of interpersonal factors in public decision-making offers useful guides to reaching decisions with other educators and with clients.

Perfect for courses such as: Foundations of Education; Philosophy; Social Foundations, Methods Courses in Education; Pre-student Teaching; and most Graduate courses in Educational Theory, Curriculum, Social Issues

Transition planning for students with disabilities is often treated as a procedural task rather than an opportunity to address systemic inequities. Beyond Graduation: Navigating Postsecondary Success for Students with Disabilities reframes postsecondary transition through a justice-centered framework that prioritizes equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive practices. The book examines the current state of transition planning, highlighting disparities in access, employment, and community integration for disabled students, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds. It advocates for early intervention, comprehensive assessments, and individualized goals aligned with each student’s strengths and aspirations.

The book explores how race, disability, and socioeconomic status intersect to shape postsecondary experiences, emphasizing the need for equity-centered transition practices that address systemic biases in special education. It critiques traditional definitions of college readiness and advocates for inclusive curriculum design and equitable access to advanced coursework.

Strategies for fostering independence, financial literacy, and self-advocacy are outlined, along with practical recommendations for navigating postsecondary systems and digital spaces. The concluding chapter underscores the importance of accountability, systemic change, and justice-oriented planning that prepares all students to thrive beyond graduation. Designed for educators, practitioners, students, families, educators, and policymakers, this research bridges the gap between policy and practice, offering actionable solutions to empower students with disabilities to achieve success beyond the classroom and into adulthood.

Perfect for courses such as: Foundations of Postsecondary Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities; Equity and Inclusion in College Readiness Programs; Principles of Independent Living and Life Skills Development; Addressing Ableism and Systemic Barriers in Higher Education; Intersectionality and Disability: Navigating Race, Class, and Access; Technology and Access in Postsecondary Education; Advocacy and Self-Determination for Students with Disabilities; Introduction to Special Education; and Exceptional Children

Critical Praxis Leadership: Grassroots Narratives from Justice-Driven Leaders for a Democratic Future is a powerful new book written for a broad audience of educators devoted to achieving equity in public education.

In the wake of the past 50 years of surging neoliberal economics, policy and ideology that have given rise to emboldened far-Right movements, the weaknesses of democracy as a political project for promoting equity and justice are revealing themselves in multiple spheres of social life. In the U.S., protectionist and isolationist policies enmeshed with xenophobia, racism, misogyny, homo- and transphobia, and ablism lay bare the historical architecture of inequitable and unjust social structures that provide fuel for the engines of economic and social disparity. Education, long saddled with the Sisyphean task of leveling the playing field and affording economic advancement for economically and socially marginalized populations, has been effectively reeled into an administrative agenda aimed toward maintaining social reproduction which continues to funnel Black, Brown, female, disabled and queer bodies into subordinate social roles and carceral institutions or vanquish them entirely from social life.

Within this shameless historical moment of cruelty, it is crucial to highlight the stories and experiences of leaders dedicated to cultivating equitable and just environments amid this global crisis. Justice-driven leaders who engage in critical praxis leadership emphasize grassroots efforts for genuine, actionable change rather than performative gestures or media attention. Their work unfolds in diverse contexts, motivated by different factors and involving varied groups of people. Critical Praxis Leadership features theoretically rich, practically grounded narratives from PK-12 and higher education leaders who strive to become justice-driven in their day-to-day work. As PK-12 school administrators, higher education administrators, union leaders, and community leaders reflect on the ways their praxis is informed by Black feminist, anti/decolonial, posthuman, anti-oppressive and other critical frameworks, readers will be immersed in real-life experiences by a variety of voices. They will get an inside look into how justice-driven leaders strive to live their philosophy in their practice and navigate complex situations while striving toward equitable change in institutions of learning.

Practical for professors and students alike, readers will experience real world narratives, praxis-oriented questions and activities, and evocative artwork. While walking alongside current leaders in the field, readers are invited to unpack their own philosophies of justice-driven leadership and engage with thinking/doing justice-driven leadership differently to refine their visions of leadership through a lens of complexity and futurity. The activities and narratives in this book remind readers of the ever-presence of the past in who we are and who we wish to be as educational leaders working within historically rooted institutions designed to maintain systems of power and oppression. They remind readers of the deep colonial and racist roots that still shape the lives of learners and leaders alike, and they propose a movement toward a just future. Readers are encouraged to revisit the past, reclaim their knowledge of how social and institutional systems came to be what they are, and choose to do leadership differently as best they can, always working toward justice that lay on the horizon.

Perfect for courses such as: Foundations of Educational Leadership, School Leaders as Change Agents, Leadership in Higher Education, Critical Perspective on Educational Leadership, Leadership for Equity and Inclusion, and Collaborative Approaches to Educational Leadership

Adapt and Thrive: Strategies for Inclusive and Special Education is a compassionate, evidence-based guide for teachers, special educators, and caregivers supporting children with autism and sensory or behavioral challenges. Tara Cosco provides educators and caregivers with strategies to help each child flourish with dignity, joy, and confidence. Success begins with building strong relationships, understanding students’ strengths, interests, and what brings them joy. You’ll learn ways to determine the cause of challenging behaviors, then respond with motivation, engagement, and personalized support. Sensory needs are treated as essential, not optional: the book guides you in integrating movement and using visual and tactile tools so students feel safe, regulated, and understood. Emotional regulation is also central: with strategies like Zones of Regulation and restorative practices, the goal is equipping students with self-awareness and empathy rather than enforcing compliance.

Because every learner is unique in pace, style, level, and readiness, Adapt and Thrive offers flexible strategies. It emphasizes early intervention, providing communication tools, sensory accommodations, and emotional regulation strategies early to help prevent frustration, isolation, and shame. Practical, classroom-tested tools are woven throughout: reward charts, visuals, regulation strategies, and restorative conversation templates. Written with warmth, humility, and respect, this book celebrates the inherent worth and beauty of every child. If you want to build inclusive, compassionate classrooms where every learner is known, valued, and supported, this book will guide your way.

Adapt and Thrive can be adopted in a variety of classroom courses, including:

• Selected Topics in Special Education
• Advanced Studies in Special Education
• Policies and Procedures in Special Education
• Collaboration and Consultation in Special Education
• Advanced Assessment in Special Education
• Student Teaching in Special Education
• Instructional Strategies for Teaching Students with Disabilities
• Educational Planning for Exceptional Students
• Critical Issues in Education

Advancing Special Education Through Improvement Science: A Practical Guide offers a comprehensive and accessible resource for educators, administrators, and policymakers committed to enhancing equity and effectiveness in special education. It bridges the gap between theory and practice by providing a structured approach to applying improvement science within the unique context of special education services. Grounded in the principles of continuous improvement, the book introduces a methodical process for identifying, testing, and refining practices to achieve better outcomes for students with disabilities. It emphasizes the importance of understanding educational systems' complexities and using data-driven strategies to foster lasting change.

A key strength of this guide is its focus on the role of data in driving improvement. Readers are guided through practical methods for collecting, analyzing, and using data to inform decisions, along with solutions to common challenges in the process. By centering evidence-based decision-making, the book empowers educators to make meaningful changes that positively impact student outcomes. Collaboration is another major theme. The text highlights the importance of engaging teachers, administrators, families, and students in improvement efforts. Strategies for building strong teams, fostering trust, and ensuring inclusive stakeholder participation are woven throughout, reinforcing the idea that sustainable improvement depends on shared responsibility.

Real-world case studies illustrate successful applications of improvement science in diverse school settings. These examples provide readers with insights into implementation challenges and successes, offering practical takeaways that can be adapted for their own contexts. To support day-to-day implementation, the book includes a variety of tools and resources such as data collection templates, PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycle checklists, and facilitation guides for collaborative meetings. These practical assets make it easier for educators to incorporate improvement science into their routines.

Finally, the guide addresses the critical need for sustainability and scalability. It offers strategies for embedding improvement practices into school and district operations so that gains can be maintained and expanded over time. By focusing on long-term change, the book helps ensure that students with disabilities benefit from ongoing, systemic improvements.

Whether you're a classroom teacher, school leader, or policymaker, this guide provides the knowledge and tools needed to drive meaningful progress in special education through improvement science.

Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Special Education; Exceptional Children; Foundations of Special Education; Special Education Leadership; School Improvement and Reform

Hauntings, Remembering, and Aesthetics offers an intimate, artful exploration of what is lost—and what remains—when schools are closed. Grounded in the stories of two shuttered public schools in Chicago, it weaves together research, narrative, memory, and visual art to honor the communities shaped by these institutions and reckon with the systemic forces that led to their closure. Drawing from archival research, local records, personal memories, and conversations with former students, educators, and community members, the author—who has a personal connection to each school—reconstructs the histories left behind by braiding their voices with collages and photographs. The book makes visible the deep ties between school communities and the neighborhoods they served. This powerful storytelling serves as a prompt for reflection and reconsideration of school closures.

The portraits that emerge tell of schools that operated under immense financial strain but built strong, nurturing environments through resourcefulness and relationships. Participants recall staff who shaped their lives, naming teachers and leaders as transformative figures in their youth. They speak openly about the racism, classism, and broken promises surrounding public education in gentrifying neighborhoods—where public housing was demolished and communities were displaced. In their words, school closures were not isolated policy decisions but outcomes of a broader inequality and disinvestment. Far from passive witnesses, these community members critically examine the past, theorizing their experiences and naming the systemic failures that framed them. They express a desire to pause, reflect, and remember—to reclaim the memory of their schools as spaces of resilience, joy, and collective resistance. As one participant shared, “There’s so much history in us.” That history, the book argues, is too often erased in mainstream narratives about school closures. By presenting these stories through both visual and literary forms, the book creates a new kind of archive—one grounded in lived experiences and presented through aesthetics. It invites educators, parents, policymakers, journalists, and anyone invested in public education to listen differently: to hear what was lost when the schools closed, and to recognize what still echoes in the voices of those who remember.

This is not just a story of the past—it is a call to action in the present through stories that have always been here. These acts of remembering resist the dominant, data-driven narratives that often justify school closures. It reveals the human cost of policies disconnected from community realities and asks us to imagine more just futures for public education in our cities. This book asks us to see and hear stories anew, through the haunting beauty of memory, artwork, and collective reflection.

Perfect for courses such as: Social Foundations of Education; Educational Policy Studies; History of Urban Education; Sociology of Education; Teacher Education in Urban Education; Historical and Cultural Contexts of Urban Education; Qualitative Research Methods; Arts-based Research Methods; Visual Research Methods

Methodology and Praxis: Thinking with Patti Lather examines the work of Patti Lather and its importance at the intersections of curriculum theory, cultural studies, and critical qualitative research. The book explores the impact of Lather's work on the field both broadly and specifically and engages with her ideas and methods in innovative ways.

From 1988-2014, Patti Lather was a faculty member at Ohio State University’s School of Educational Policy and Leadership, where she taught qualitative research, feminist methodology, and courses on gender and education. She has authored four influential books: Getting Smart: Feminist Research and Pedagogy With/in the Postmodern (1991 Critics Choice Award); Troubling the Angels: Women Living with HIV/AIDS (co-written with Chris Smithies, 1998 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title); Getting Lost: Feminist Efforts Toward a Double(d) Science (2008 Critic’s Choice Award); and Engaging (Social) Science: Policy from the Side of the Messy (awarded the Critic’s Choice Award in 2010 and 2011).

Dr. Lather has delivered lectures extensively both nationally and internationally, and has held several distinguished visiting lectureships. Her research explores (post)critical, feminist, and poststructural theories, with her recent work focusing on how the demand for scientifically-based research in education affects qualitative inquiry. She has served in visiting roles at institutions such as the University of British Columbia, Goteborg University, York University, and the Danish Pedagogy Institute, and in 1995 she undertook a sabbatical at the Humanities Research Institute at the University of California, Irvine, where she participated in a seminar on feminist research methodology. Her accolades include a 1989 Fulbright to New Zealand and induction as an AERA Fellow in 2009.

Lather is a prominent and prolific scholar whose work has been influential in shaping multiple fields, challenging conventional understandings of research and knowledge, and advocating for social justice and equity in education. This collection represents a diverse group of scholars that build on these contributions and showcase the diverse ways in which research improves teaching and learning. Contributors in this volume include scholars in educational theory, social science, research methodology, feminist social theory, and curriculum theorizing.

Perfect for courses such as: Cultural Studies of Education; Qualitative Research Methodology; Contemporary Curriculum Theory; Advanced Qualitative Inquiry; Feminist Theory and Methodology; Education Policy Studies; Research In Education

Promoting a growth mindset in PreK-12 schools is a valuable educational trend, based on the idea that students who believe they can grow and improve will succeed more easily. However, when students struggle academically, there’s often an undergirded assumption that they—and sometimes their families—are not trying hard enough or they just need to fit into a standardized mold. This deficit thinking places blame on students’ perceived limitations and can lead to lower expectations or biases toward students who come from diversified backgrounds, encompassing ability, socioeconomic status, race, language, gender, or culture. As an alternative approach, this book promotes the universal adoption of Asset-Based Practices (ABPs). ABPs encourage educators to see and honor the strengths in each student’s identity. ABPs shift our focus to the assets that students and families bring into the classroom, viewing differences as resources rather than obstacles. This means recognizing and building on students’ cultural, linguistic, and community-based knowledge to make learning richer and more inclusive for everyone.

Implementing an asset-based approach can transform our classrooms. Research shows that students perform better and feel more motivated when they’re recognized and valued for who they are. Bringing students’ lived experiences into the curriculum can help them develop positive identities and a stronger sense of belonging, which boosts their academic and social growth. Instead of focusing on “fixing” students, ABPs ask us to adapt our teaching to connect with students’ cultural backgrounds and experiences, coupled with recognizing the wealth of knowledge that students bring from their families and communities.

Switching to an asset-based approach helps us move away from simply encouraging perseverance or grit in students. Instead, it invites us to take responsibility for creating an environment where every student feels they belong and can succeed. With ABPs, we’re able to create more inclusive and affirming classrooms for all students, where their identities are seen as strengths, not obstacles, and where their cultural, linguistic, and community knowledge is a foundation for learning.

Innovative and creative methodologies and practices that aspiring and practicing educators can use right away are the primary focus of this book. Because the editors and contributors are former or current PreK-12 practitioners, and many are also educational scholars, this book is written for a broad educational audience. Moving from Growth to Asset-Based Mindsets is for both preservice and practicing teachers across PreK-12 grade levels, school types, and geographic regions looking to improve their practice. To accomplish this, the editors and contributors provide entry points for transforming the educational landscape in favor of liberatory, asset-based practices in PreK-12 schools.

Additionally, this book is ideal for teacher and administrator preparation programs, as well as PreK-12 professional development, because it guides readers through theoretical and empirical discussions, supported by hands-on applications that enable real-time application, and concludes with interactive features, like case studies, extension activities, and discussion prompts.

Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Educating For Equity And Social Justice; Introduction to Cultivating Culturally Responsive Classrooms; Foundations Of Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Practice; Introduction to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Schools; Introduction To School Improvement, Introduction to Teacher Leadership And School Improvement; Introduction to Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; Principles of Teaching Diverse Learners; Introduction to Multiculturalism in Education

An exponentially increasing number of students experience traumatic events in their daily lives. To address this phenomenon, Beginning Within: Marking a New Journey Toward Equity in Trauma-Informed Education Practices delves into the profound impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). It brings together extensive research, thoughtful contemplations, and innovative ideas that shed light on some of the lesser-explored aspects of trauma-informed practices in education. Authors in the book have developed chapters around three guiding models for systemic change: John Kotter’s (1996/2012) Eight-Step Model for Organizational Change; Fallot and Harris’ (2001) Five Guiding Principles of Trauma-Informed Practice; and Smith, et al.'s (2017) five-level Building Equity Taxonomy.

The chapters reflect the growth, grief, and galvanizing challenges that have shaped and continue to shape our understanding of equality, safety, and organizational change around trauma-informed educational practices. Hear from authors, experts, and leaders in the education field who are leading the way in systemic change, ranging from the work in Missouri after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, to university professors and classroom teachers seeking ways to use the past as guideposts toward a new journey of equity in trauma-informed practices, with each step paved by three research-supported tenets for creating a climate of trauma-informed practices, as offered by the editors of the book:

• The journey to equity begins with a deep dive into each stakeholder's internal beliefs about self-care.
• Self-care must be a priority, otherwise, caring for students comes at the lasting cost of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and teacher burnout.
• A sense of well-being must extend beyond the school building and into the community.