Michelle Rhee's Top Book Recommendations

Michelle RheeTerry focuses on teachers’ unions and their influence on education policy in this country. His book presents the facts on how the unions operate and what their sphere of influence is. I think that people will be shocked by some of the information in the book about political involvement of teachers’ unions. Understanding teachers’ union dynamics helps us understand why we are where we are as a... (Source)

Michelle RheeUnderstanding by Design is an incredibly influential book. Its premise is that you have to start curriculum design with an end in mind. You figure out what your goal is first and plan backwards from there, building your curriculum around what you want to achieve. It sounds very simple but for a long time people weren’t doing that. They were covering units or textbooks without clear priorities or... (Source)

Michelle RheeWe have spent a lot of time over the past decade talking about the racial achievement gap, which is incredibly important. But the achievement gap between boys and girls is also an incredibly important issue for the future of education, and it’s an issue that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. (Source)

Michelle RheeA Hope in the Unseen is an amazing first-hand account of the struggles a poor African-American student with tremendous ability and potential went through while growing up and going to schools in Washington, DC, where I was chancellor. The book walks through the challenges this young man had to overcome during his schooling and his transition to higher education. It’s a great book for people who... (Source)

Cecile RichardsI was interested in the book because my kids were in the DC [District of Columbia] public schools – they actually graduated from the DC public schools. This is an incredible book: It’s about this amazing young kid, Cedric Jennings, who not only graduated from the DC public schools but then goes to Brown University, which is where I went to school. It’s just an extraordinary story. I think it’s... (Source)

Kelly Wickham Hurst@MJAntinarelli @KaitPopielarz It’s amazing. It’s THE book that changed everything for me early on in my career. It was such a swift kick to the head. (Source)

Michelle RheeOther People’s Children is one of the books that all educators should read because it really gives a different perspective on teaching children who may not be of the same race or socioeconomic background. I think it’s always important for teachers to understand the cultural norms and expectations that prevail in the school environment where they work. Teachers need to be cognisant, not... (Source)