Readers’ Survey 2006: Best Book About Educators

Schools That Learn

This question stumped many readers, and one frank survey taker summed up what we assume is a big reason: "Haven't had time to read any." But you did come up with a rich and diverse list of titles, from the political to the personal. Leading the pack was Schools That Learn, by Peter Senge et al., which outlines five disciplines to help educators be adaptive and creative in improving schools. Frank McCourt's memoir Teacher Man came in a close second. Third place went to Teachers Have It Easy, by Daniel Moulthrop, Ninive Clements Calegari, and Dave Eggers, a treatise on teacher-pay reform that interweaves teachers' voices and real-world solutions.

Our Take

Let's turn the tables. Here's a list of the favorite books about educators selected by four of the authors of your favorite book about educators:

Peter Senge:

The Courage to Teach, by Parker J. Palmer (Jossey-Bass)

Nelda Cambron-McCabe:

Turning to One Another, by Margaret J. Wheatley (Berrett-Koehler Publishers)

Adolescents at School, edited by Michael Sadowski (Harvard Education Publishing Group)

Leadership for Social Justice, Catherine Marshall and Maricela Oliva (Allyn & Bacon)

Jan Dutton:

The Superintendent's Fieldbook, by Nelda Cambron-McCabe, Luvern L. Cunningham, James Harvey, Robert H. Koff (Corwin Press)

Somebodies and Nobodies, by Robert W. Fuller (New Society Publishers)

We Can't Teach What We Don't Know, by Gary R. Howard (Teachers College Press)

The Essential Conversation, by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot (Ballantine Books)

Timothy Lucas:

Good to Great, by Jim Collins (Collins)

Reframing Organizations, by Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal (Jossey-Bass)

The Superintendent's Fieldbook, by Nelda Cambron-McCabe, Luvern L. Cunningham, James Harvey, and Robert H. Koff (Corwin Press)

Assessing Educational Leaders, by Douglas B. Reeves (Corwin Press)

Readers' Survey Home > If you could take your students on a free field trip, where would you go?