Subject Guide: Education: Award-winning Books

Critics' Choice Awards

Each year, a committee of AESA members selects a number of titles it regards as outstanding books that may be of interest to those in educational studies. These books are designated as AESA Critics' Choice Award winners and are displayed prominently at the annual meeting. Click American Educational Studies Association for more information about the sponsor of these awards.

2012
Teaching history to adolescents : a quest for relevance by John A. Beineke
The education of eros : a history of education and the problem of adolescent sexuality by Dennis L. Carlson
The phenomenon of Obama and the agenda for education : can hope audaciously trump neoliberalism? edited by Paul R. Carr and Brad J. Porfilio
Sketches in democracy : notes from an urban classroom by Lisa DeLorenzo
Character and moral education : a reader, edited by Joseph L. DeVitis and Tianlong Yu
Disability and difference in global contexts : enabling a transformative body politic by Nirmala Erevelles
Education and the crisis of public values : challenging the assault on teachers, students, & public education by Henry A. Giroux
Using standards and high-stakes testing for students : exploiting power with critical pedagogy, edited by Julie A. Gorlewski, Brad J. Porfilio, and David A. Gorlewski
The active/ethical professional : a framework for responsible educators by Michael G. Gunzenhauser
Feminisma and educational research by Wendy R. Kohli and Nicholas C. Burbules
Critical aesthetic pedagogy : toward a theory of self and social empowerment by Yolanda Medina
Elsewhere, within here : immigration, refugeeism and the boundary event by Trinh T. Minh-ha
Bicultural parent engagement : advocacy and empowerment, edited by Edward M. Olivos, Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, and Alberto M. Ochoa
The death and life of the great American school system : how testing and choice are undermining education by Diane Ravitch
School food politics : the complex ecology of hunger and feeding in schools around the world, edited by Sarah A. Robert and Marcus B. Weaver-Hightower
Teaching with reverence : reviving an ancient virtue for today's schools, edited by A. G. Rud and Jim Garrison
Collective action for social change : an introduction to community organizing by Aaron Schutz and Marie G. Sandy
Is everyone really equal? : an introduction to key concepts in social justice education by Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo
Strong community service learning : philosophical perspectives by Eric C. Sheffield
Teachers, leaders, and schools : essays by John Dewey, edited by Douglas J. Simpson and Sam F. Stack Jr.
Critical qualitative research reader, edited by Shirley R. Steinberg and Gaile S. Cannella
Teaching for dissent : citizenship education and political activism by Sarah M. Stitzlein
Queens of academe : beauty pageantry, student bodies, and college life by Karen W. Tice
Integration interrupted : tracking, black students, and acting white after Brown by Karolyn Tyson
Chicano school failure and success : past, present, and future (3rd ed.), edited by Richard R. Valencia

2011
Marching students : Chicana and Chicano activism in education, 1968 to the present, edited by Margarita Berta-Ávila, Anita Tijerina-Revilla, and Julie López Figueroa
Being White, being good : White complicity, White moral responsibility, and social justice pedagogy by Barbara Applebaum
To teach : the journey, in comics by William Ayers and Ryan Alexander-Tanner (e-book here)
The sexuality curriculum and youth culture, edited by Dennis Carlson and Donyell L. Roseboro
Does your vote count? : critical pedagogy and democracy by Paul R. Carr
Critical theories, radical pedagogies, and social education : new perspectives for social studies education, edited by Abraham P. Deleon and E. Wayne Ross
Adolescent education : a reader by by Joseph L. DeVitis and Linda Irwin-DeVitis
Race-class relations and integration in secondary education the case of Miller High by Caroline Eick
The end of the obesity epidemic by Michael Gard
A measure of failure : the political origins of standardized testing by Mark J. Garrison
Power, resistance, and literacy : writing for social justice by Julie A. Gorlewski
Race, remembering, and Jim Crow's teachers by by Hilton Kelly
The Gates Foundation and the future of U.S. "public" schools, edited by Philip E. Kovacs
Engaging science policy : from the side of the messy by Patti Lather
EcoJustice education : toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities by Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci
Breaking into the all-male club : female professors of educational administration by Norma T. Mertz
Start where you are, but don't stay there : understanding diversity, opportunity gaps, and teaching in today's classrooms by H. Richard Milner IV
The emperor has no clothes : teaching about race and racism to people who don't want to know by Tema Jon Okun
Neoliberalism and after? : education, social policy, and the crisis of Western capitalism by Michael A. Peters
Rituals and student identity in education : ritual critique for a new pedagogy by Richard A. Quantz, with Terry O'Connor and Peter Magolda
The gift of education : public education and venture philanthropy by Kenneth J. Saltman
Social class, social action, and education : the failure of progressive democracy by Aaron Schutz
Dismantling contemporary deficit thinking : educational thought and practice by Richard R. Valencia

2010
The politics of inquiry : education research and the "culture of science" by Benjamin Baez and Deron Boyles
Digital media and democracy : tactics in hard times, edited by Megan Boler
Service-learning in theory and practice : the future of community engagement in higher education by Dan W. Butin
Power, crisis, and education for liberation : rethinking critical pedagogy by Noah De Lissovoy
Reflections in place : connected lives of Navajo women by Donna Deyhle
Literacy with an attitude : educating working-class children in their own self-interest (2nd ed.) by Patrick J. Finn
And they were wonderful teachers : Florida's purge of gay and lesbian teachers by Karen L. Graves
Personal, passionate, participatory inquiry into social justice in education, edited by Ming Fang He and Joann Phillion
The role of religion in 21st-century public schools, edited by Steven P. Jones and Eric Sheffield
Critical pedagogy, ecoliteracy, and planetary crisis : the ecopedagogy movement by Richard Kahn
Battleground : schools, edited by Sandra Mathison and E. Wayne Ross
Handbook of Latinos and education : theory, research and practice, edited by Enrique G. Murillo Jr., Sofia Villenas, Ruth Trinidad Galván, Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Corinne Martínez, and Margarita Machado-Casas
Imagination : three models of imagination in the age of the knowledge economy by Peter Murphy, Michael A. Peters, and Simon Marginson
Teaching adolescents religious literacy in a post-9/11 world by Robert J Nash and Penny A Bishop
The destructive path of neoliberalism : an international examination of education, edited by Bradley Porfilio and Curry Malott
Flaunt it! : queers organizing for public education and justice by Therese Quinn and Erica R. Meiners
Teaching by numbers : deconstructing the discourse of standards and accountability in education by Peter Maas Taubman
Education now : how rethinking America's past can change its future by Paul Theobald

2009
Contemporary anarchist studies : an introductory anthology of anarchy in the academy, edited by Randall Amster, Abraham DeLeon, Luis Fernandez, Anthony J. Nocella II, and Deric Shannon
Advocacy leadership : toward a post-reform agenda in education by Gary L. Anderson
Subjectivity & truth : Foucault, education, and the culture of self by Tina Besley and Michael A. Peters
'Girl power' : girls reinventing girlhood by Dawn H. Currie, Deirdre M. Kelly, and Shauna Pomerantz
Cross-cultural studies in curriculum : eastern thought, educational insights, edited by Claudia Eppert and Hongyu Wang
Integration matters : navigating identity, culture, and resistance by C. P. Gause
Reclaiming dissent : civics education for the 21st century by Mordechai Gordon
Learning for meaning's sake : toward the hermeneutic university by Stephanie Mackler
The aftermath of feminism : gender, culture and social change by Angela McRobbie
Market movements : African American involvement in school voucher reform by Thomas C. Pedroni
Breaking bad habits of race and gender : transforming identity in schools by Sarah Marie Stitzlein
Pedagogy, not policing : positive approaches to academic integrity at the university, edited by Tyra Tworney, Holly White, and Ken Sagendorf
Working from within : Chicana and Chicano activist educators in whitestream schools by Luis Urrieta Jr.
Feminist theories and education primer by Leila E. Villaverde
Teacher assemblage by Taylor Webb

2008
Beyond learning : democratic education for a human future by Gert J. J. Biesta
On spiritual strivings : transforming an African American woman's academic life by Cynthia B. Dillard
Knowledge and power in the global economy : politics and the rhetoric of school reform by David Gabbard
The university in chains : confronting the military-industrial-academic complex by Henry A. Giroux
Key questions for educators, edited by William Hare & John P. Portelli
Scientism and education : empirical research as neo-liberal ideology by Emery J. Hyslop-Margison and Ayaz Naseem
Multicultural education policies in Canada and the United States, edited by Reva Joshee and Lauri Johnson
Guys and guns amok : domestic terrorism and school shootings from the Oklahoma City bombing to the Virginia Tech massacre by Douglas Kellner
Getting lost : feminist efforts toward a double(d) science by Patti Lather
Disputing the subject of sex : sexuality and public school controversies by Cris Mayo
The trouble with Black boys : and other reflections on race, equity, and the future of public education by Pedro A. Noguera
Expelling hope : the assault on youth and the militarization of schooling by Christopher G. Robbins
Neoliberalism and education reform, edited by E. Wayne Ross and Rich Gibson
Anne Sexton : teacher of weird abundance by Paula M. Salvio
Capitalizing on disaster : taking and breaking public school by Kenneth J. Saltman
Spectacular things happen along the way : lessons from an urban classroom by Brian D. Schultz
Urban teacher education and teaching : innovative practices for diversity and social justice, edited by R. Patrick Solomon and Dia N. R. Sekayi
Critical race counterstories along the Chicana/Chicano educational pipeline by Tara Yosso
Indigenous knowledge and education : sites of struggle, strength, and survivance, edited by Malia Villegas, Sabina Rak Neugebauer, and Kerry R. Venegas

2007
Performing and reforming leaders : gender, educational restructuring, and organizational change by by Jill Blackmore and Judyth Sachs
Keeping the promise : essays on leadership, democracy, and education, edited by Dennis Carlson and C. P. Gause
Mexicans and Hispanos in Colorado schools and communities, 1920—1960 by by Ruben Donato
Black hands in the biscuits not in the classrooms : unveiling hope in a struggle for Brown's promise by Sherick A. Hughes
Critical lessons : what our schools should teach by Nel Noddings
Late to class : social class and schooling in the new economy, edited by Jane A. Van Galen and George W. Noblit

2006
Educating the "right" way : markets, standards, God, and inequality (2nd ed.) by by Michael W. Apple
Questions of character : illuminating the heart of leadership through literature by Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.
Chicana/Latina education in everyday life : feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology, edited by Dolores Delgado Bernal, C. Alejandra Elenes, Francisca E. Godinez, and Sofia Villenas
Novel education : psychoanalytic studies of learning and not learning by Deborah P. Britzman
Hollywood goes to school : cinema, schools, and American culture by Robert C. Bulman
Constructing grounded theory : a practical guide through qualitative analysis by by Kathy Charmaz
Critical race theory in education : all God's children got a song, edited by by Adrienne D. Dixson and Celia K. Rousseau
Funds of knowledge : theorizing practice in households, communities, and classrooms, edited by Norma Gonzalez, Luis C. Moll, and Cathy Amanti
Teaching by heart : the Foxfire interviews by Sara Day Hatton
Handbook of feminist research : theory and praxis, edited by Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber
Defending public schools, volume 2 : Teaching for a democratic society, edited by Kathleen Kesson and E. Wayne Ross
To remain an Indian : lessons in democracy from a century of Native American education by by K. Tsianina Lomawaima and Teresa L. McCarty
Life in schools : an introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of education by Peter McLaren
A hidden wholeness : the journey toward an undivided life : welcoming the soul and weaving community in a wounded world by Parker J. Palmer
Scholars in the field : the challenges of migrant education by Cinthia Salinas and Maria E. Fránquiz
Upon the altar of the nation : a moral history of the Civil War by Harry S. Stout
Beyond silenced voices : class, race, and gender in United States schools (revised edition), edited by Michelle Fine and Lois Weis
Self-taught : African American education in slavery and freedom by Heather Andrea Williams
Covering : the hidden assault on our civil rights by Kenji Yoshino
Creating the ethical school : a book of case studies, edited by Bongsoon Zubay and Jonas F. Soltis

2005
Geographies of girlhood : identities in-between, edited by Pamela J. Bettis and Natalie G. Adams
Fit to teach : same-sex desire, gender, and school work in the twentieth century by by Jackie M. Blount
Educational foundations : an anthology of critical readings, edited by by Alan S. Canestrari and Bruce A. Marlowe
All about the girl : culture, power, and identity, edited by Anita Harris
Lifting the white veil : an exploration of white American culture in a multiracial context by Jeff Hitchcock
The will to change : men, masculinity, and love by bell hooks
Critical resistance : from poststructuralism to post-critique by David Couzens Hoy
In search of wholeness : African American teachers and their culturally specific classroom practices, edited by Jacqueline Jordan Irvine
The shame of the nation : the restoration of apartheid schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol
Race in the schoolyard : negotiating the color line in classrooms and communities by Amanda E Lewis
Latino education in the United States : a narrated history from 1513-2000, edited by Victoria-Maria MacDonald
Liberating praxis : Paulo Freire's legacy for radical education and politics by Peter Mayo
Women's education in the United States, 1780-1840 by Margaret A. Nash
City schools and the American dream : reclaiming the promise of public education by by Pedro A. Noguera
A disciplined progressive educator : the life and career of William Chandler Bagley by J. Wesley Null
Poststructuralism and educational research by Michael A. Peters and Nicholas C. Burbules
Colormute : race talk dilemmas in an American school by Mica Pollock
The new teacher book : finding purpose, balance, and hope during your first years in the classroom, edited by Terry Burant, Linda Christensen, Kelley Dawson Salas, and Stephanie Walters (2nd ed. (2010) here)
Class and schools : using social, economic, and educational reform to close the Black-White achievement gap by Richard Rothstein
Citizen teacher : the life and leadership of Margaret Haley by Kate Rousmaniere
Political spectacle and the fate of American schools by Mary Lee Smith, with Linda Miller-Kahn, Walter Heinecke, and Patricia F. Jarvis
Teaching for equity and diversity : research to practice by R Patrick Solomon and Cynthia Levine-Rasky
Recuerdo mis raíces : remembering my roots and living my traditions by C. Tomasa Dueñas, T. Tomasa Dueñas, M. López, and P. Sánchez
The new Americans : immigration and the transnational experience by Enrique T. Trueba

2004
Cheerleader : an American icon by Natalie Guice Adams and Pamela J. Bettis
Erasing racism : the survival of the American nation by Molefi Kete Asante
Rethinking Freire : globalization and the environmental crisis, edited by Chet A. Bowers and Frederique Apffel-Marglin
Breaking the code of good intentions : everyday forms of whiteness by Melanie E. L. Bush
Rethinking school reform : views from the classroom, edited by Linda Christensen and Stan Karp
Walking the road : race, privilege, and social justice in teacher education by Marilyn Cochran-Smith
Teaching cooperative learning : the challenge for teacher education, edited by Elizabeth G. Cohen, Celeste M. Brody, and Mara Sapon-Sherwin
Walls and bridges : social justice and public policy by Anthony Joseph Paul Cortese
Marxism against postmodernism in educational theory, edited by Dave Hill, Peter McLaren, Mike Cole, and Glenn Rikowski
Telling to live: Latina feminist testimonios by The Latina Feminist Group
High stakes education : inequality, globalization, and urban school reform by Pauline Lipman
The hegemony of English by Donaldo Macedo, Panayota Gounari, and Bessie Dendrinos
Discourse in educational and social research by Maggie Maclure
Language ideologies : Critical perspectives on the official English movement, volume 1 : Education and the social implications of official language, edited by by Roseann Duenas Gonzalez and Ildiko Melis
Critical issues in education : dialogues and dialectics (5th ed.) by Jack Nelson, Stuart Palonsky, and Mary Rose McCarthy
Everybody was Kung Fu fighting : Afro-Asian connections and the myth of cultural parity by Vijay Prashad
The best for our children : critical perspectives on literacy for Latino students, edited by Maria de la Luz Reyes and John J. Halcon
Fast food nation : the dark side of the All-American meal by Eric Schlosser
Nineteen questions : teaching in the city, edited by Shirley R. Steinberg
Philosophic conflicts in American education, 1893-2000 by Joseph Watras
Feminist engagements : reading, resistance, and revisioning male theorists in education and cultural studies, edited by by Kathleen Weiler
Class reunion : the remaking of the American white working class by Lois Weis
The conscience of a liberal : reclaiming the compassionate agenda by Paul Wellstone

2003
Readings for diversity and social justice, edited by Maurianne Adams, Warren Blumenfeld, Carmelita Castaneda, Heather W. Hackman, Madeline L. Peters, and Ximena Zuniga
Women without class : girls, race, and identity by Julie Bettie
The power of culture : teaching across language differences by Zeynep F. Beykont
Social class, poverty, and education : policy and practice, edited by Bruce Biddle
Mindful conservatism : rethinking the ideological and educational basis of an ecologically sustainable future by C. A. Bowers
Multicultural service learning : educating teachers in diverse communities by Marilynne Boyle-Baise
Dividing classes : how the middle class negotiates and rationalizes school advantage by Ellen Brantlinger
Teaching science for social justice by Angela Calabrese Barton
Classroom discourse : the language of teaching and learning by Courtney Cazden
Chomsky on miseducation by Noam Chomsky, edited by Donaldo Macedo
Narrative inquiries of school reform : storied lives, storied landscapes, storied metaphors by Cheryl J. Craig
Silenced voices and extraordinary conversations : re-imagining schools by Michelle Fine and Lois Weis
Pregnant with meaning : teen mothers and the politics of inclusive schooling by Deirdre M. Kelly
Changing course : American curriculum reform in the 20th century by Herbert M. Kliebard
Unequal childhoods : class, race, and family life by Annette Lareau (2d ed. (2011) here)
Che Guevara, Paulo Freire, and the pedagogy of revolution by Peter McLaren
Teaching sex : the shaping of adolescence in the 20th century by Jeffrey P. Moran
Embracing race : why we need race-conscious education policy by Michele S. Moses
America's teachers : an introduction to education (4th ed.) by Joseph W. Newman
Black American students in an affluent suburb : a study of academic disengagement by John U. Ogbu
Young, gifted, and Black : promoting high achievement among African American students by Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, and Asa Hilliard III
Environmental culture : the ecological crisis of reason by Val Plumwood
Adolescents at school : perspectives on youth, identity, and education, edited by Michael Sadowski (2d ed (2008) here)
Educating the consumer-citizen : a history of the marriage of schools, advertising, and media by Joel Spring
I choose to stay : a Black teacher refuses to desert the inner city by by Salome Thomas-El
Sneaky kid and its aftermath : ethics and intimacy in fieldwork by Harry F. Wolcott
Whose America? : culture wars in the public schools by Jonathan Zimmerman

The PROSE Award
The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories. Judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals since 1976, the PROSE Awards are extraordinary for their breadth and depth. Click Professional Scholarly Publishing for more information about the division of the Association of American Publishers that sponsors this award.

Education/Education practice/Education theory
2023  Doing the Right Thing: How Colleges and Universities Can Undo Systemic Racism in Faculty Hiring by Marybeth Gasman
2022  A search for common ground : conversations about the toughest questions in K–12 education by Frederick M. Hess and Pedro A. Noguera
2021  Mind over media : propaganda education for a digital age by Renee Hobbs, foreword by Douglas Rushkoff
2020  How girls achieve by Sally A. Nuamah; Where teachers thrive : organizing schools for success by Susan Moore Johnson
2019  Speak freely : why universities must defend free speech by Keith E. Whittington
2018  Lifelong kindergarten : cultivating creativity through projects, passion, peers and play by Mitchel Resnick; Beyond test scores : a better way to measure school quality by Jack Schneider (honorable mention); The century of science : the global triumph of the research university, edited by Justin J. W. Powell, David P. Baker, and Frank Fernandez; Deconstructing race : multicultural education beyond the color-bind by Jabari Mahiri (honorable mention)
2017  "Keep the damned women out" : the struggle for coeducation by Nancy Weiss Malkiel; Diploma mills : how for-profit colleges stiffed students, taxpayers, and the American dream by A.J. Angulo (honorable mention); Peace education : international perspectives, edited by Monisha Bajaj and Maria Hantzopoulos (honorable mention); The rationality quotient : toward a test of rational thinking by Keith E. Stanovich, Richard F. West, and Maggie E. Toplak; Miseducation : a history of ignorance-making in America and abroad, edited by A.J. Angulo (honorable mention); Wisdom's workshop : the rise of the modern university by James Axtell (honorable mention)
2016  Revolution in higher education : how a small band of innovators will make college accessible and affordable by Richard A. DeMillo; Education and international development : an introduction, edited by Tristan McCowan and Elaine Unterhalter (honorable mention); Good to great to innovate by Lyn Sharrat and Gale Harild (honorable mention); Locus of authority : the evolution of faculty roles in the governance of higher education by William G. Bowen and Eugene M. Tobin; John Dewey and the future of community college education by Clifford P. Harbour (honorable mention)
2015  American school reform : what works, what fails, and why by Joseph P. McDonald; 50 myths and lies that threaten America's public schools : the real crisis in education by David C. Berliner and Gene V. Glass (honorable mention); The public school advantage : why public schools outperform private schools by Christopher A. Lubienski and Sarah Theule Lubienski; Make it stick : the science of  successful learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roedigger III and Mark A. McDaniel (honorable mention)
2013  Education, justice, and democracy, edited by Danielle S. Allen and Rob Reich; Culturally responsive methodologies, edited by Mere Berryman, Suzanne SooHoo, and Ann Nevin (honorable mention); The smartest kids in the world : and how they got that way by Amanda Ripley (honorable mention)
2012  What is education? by Philip W. Jackson; College : what it was, is, and should be by Andrew Delbanco (honorable mention); Giving our children a fighting chance : poverty, literacy, and the development of information capital by Susan B. Neuman and Donna C. Celano (honorable mention)
2011  Teaching in the art museum : interpretation as experience by Rika Burnham and Elliott Kai-Kee; Girl time : literacy, justice, and the school-to-prison pipeline by Maisha T. Winn
2010  Educating nurses : a call for radical transformation by Patricia Benner, Molly Sutphen, Victoria Leonard, & Lisa Day; The flat world and education : how America's commitment to equity will determine our future by Linda Darling-Hammond (honorable mention); The great brain race : how global universities are reshaping the world by Ben Wildavsky (honorable mention)
2009  Higher learning, greater good : the private and social benefits of higher education by Walter W. McMahon; The Sage handbook of African American education by Linda C. Tillman (honorable mention); Crossing the finish line : completing college at America's public universities by William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos and Michael S. McPherson (honorable mention)
2008  Stuck in the shallow end : education, race, and computing by Jane Margolis; The trouble with Black boys : and other reflections on race, equity, and the future of public education by Pedro Noguera (honorable mention); Troublemaker : a personal history of school reform since Sputnik by Chester E. Finn, Jr. (honorable mention)
2007  The sandbox investment : the preschool movement and kids-first politics by David L. Kirk
2006  Forever after : New York City teachers on 9/11, edited by Teachers College Press with Maureen Grolnick; Our underachieving colleges : a candid look at how much students learn and why they should be learning more by Derek Bok (honorable mention)

Frederic W. Ness Book Award
The Ness Award recognizes the book that best contributes to the understanding and improvement of liberal education. Click Association of American Colleges and Universities for more information about the sponsor of this award.

2022  Fugitive pedagogy : Carter G. Woodson and the art of Black teaching by Jarvis R. Givens
2021  The campus color line : college presidents and the struggle for Black freedom by Eddie R. Cole
2020  Moving up without losing your way : the ethical costs of upward mobility by Jennifer M. Morton
2019  The new education : how to revolutionize the university to prepare students for a world in flux by Cathy N. Davidson
2018  Beyond the skills gap : preparing college students for life and work by Matthew T. Hora
2017  The aims of higher education : problems of morality and justice, edited by Harry Brighouse and Michael McPherson
2016  Beyond the university : why liberal education matters by Michael S. Roth
2014  Teaching naked : how moving technology out of your college classroom will improve student learning by José Antonio Bowen
2013  Rethinking undergraduate business education : liberal learning for the profession by Anne Colby, Thomas Ehrlich, William M. Sullivan, and Jonathan R. Dolle
2012  Why choose the liberal arts? by Mark W. Roche

The purpose of this award is to stimulate the dissemination, public scrutiny and implementation of ideas that have potential to bring about significant improvement in educational practice and advances in educational attainment. The award is intended not only to reward the individuals responsible, but also to draw attention to their ideas, proposals or achievements. The award is designed to recognize a specific recent achievement rather than a lifetime of accomplishment. Click Grawemeyer Award in Education for more information about it.

2023  Moving up without losing your way : the ethical costs of upward mobility by Jennifer Morton
2022  Children of the dream : why school integration works by Rucker C. Johnson and Alexander Nazaryan
2021  In search of deeper learning : the quest to remake the American high school by Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine
2020  No award given
2019  No award given
2018  Paying the price : college costs, financial aid and the betrayal of the American dream by Sara Goldrick-Rab
2017  The political classroom : evidence and ethics in democratic education by Diana E. Hess and Paula McAvoy
2016  The long shadow : family background, disadvantaged urban youth, and the transition to adulthood by Karl Alexander, Doris Entwisle, and Linda Olson
2015  Professional capital : transforming teaching in every school by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan
2014  The death and life of the great American school system : how testing and choice are undermining education by Diane Ravitch
2013  Finnish lessons : what can the world learn from educational change in Finland? by Pasi Sahlberg
2012  The flat world and education : how America's commitment to equity will determine our future by Linda Darling-Hammond
2011  Not awarded
2010  What intelligence tests miss : the psychology of rational thought by Keith Stanovich
2009  Passing the torch : does higher education for the disadvantaged pay off across the generations? by Paul Attewell and David Lavin
2008  A vision for universal preschool education by Edward Zigler, Walter S. Gilliam, Stephanie M. Jones
2007  Leave no child behind : preparing today’s youth for tomorrow's world by James Comer
2006  The wisdom of practice : essays on teaching, learning and learning to teach by Lee Shulman
2005  The arts and the creation of mind by Elliot W. Eisner
2003  Literacy in American lives by Deborah Brandt
2002  Cultivating humanity : a classical defense of reform in liberal education by Martha Nussbaum
2001  The shape of the river : long-term consequences of considering race in college and university admissions by William G. Bowen and Derek Bok
2000  Their highest potential : an African-American school community in the segregated South by Vanessa Siddle Walker
1999  Not awarded
1998  An American imperative : accelerating minority educational advancement by L. Scott Miller
1997  Possible lives : the promise of public education in America by Mike Rose
1996  Other people's words : the cycle of low literacy by Victoria Purcell-Gates
1995  Identity and inner-city youth : beyond ethnicity and gender by Shirley Brice Heath and Milbrey W. McLaughlin
1994  Schools for thought : a science of learning in the classroom by John T. Bruer
1993  Rousing minds to life : teaching, learning and schooling in social context by Roland Tharp and Ronald Gallimore
1992  In a different voice : psychological theory and women's development by Carol Gilligan
1991  Primary understanding : education in early childhood by Kieran Egan
1990  Frames of mind : the theory of multiple intelligences by Howard Gardner
1989  Awarded to Bertrand Schwartz for "innovations in social and vocational preparations for disadvantaged youth"