At the state and local level, decision-makers across the country continue to issue book bans and look for other means to restrict students’ access to honest history and a diversity of voices.
March 14, 2024 by EdTrust 
At the state and local level, decision-makers across the country continue to issue book bans and look for other means to restrict students’ access to honest history and a diversity of voices. This threatens not only students’ academic growth but also their ability to understand diverse cultures both in the U.S. and the world around them.
Our nation’s students, more than half of whom are students of color, are already in dire need of more racially and culturally representation in curriculum. And yet, everything from books and instructional materials to statewide assessments enforces a predominantly white culture.
The #CantBeErased campaign pushes back against curriculum censorship and the threats waged on schools and educators who dare to teach true American history and foster inclusion in their classrooms. Take action with the tools below.
EdTrust is proud to join forces with We Believe and PEN America in the fight for our children’s freedom to read and learn. And we need your support to ensure our political leaders hear our resounding message. Here’s how you can help: Send a letter to your state leaders urging them to support the freedom to read and learn. All you need to do is fill out the form and click send to email your state legislator, but we encourage you to add your personal touch and share your story.
Sign onRALLY designed a messaging guide to help advocates speak to their local, state and federal legislators, when opposing book bans and censorship.
Read the guideBook and curriculum censorship efforts are increasing across the nation, so it’s important to be prepared in case a challenge occurs in your community. Unite Against Book Bans developed this guide to help organize against attempted book bans at the local level.
Read the guideThe National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) provides a book challenge resource center that includes resources for authors of challenged books, guidelines for school officials, parents, and students who need to respond to book challenges, a guide for defending LGBTQ stories, and in partnership with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), a handbook for educators and librarians navigating book challenges.
Access the resource centerThe Search for More Complex Racial and Ethnic Representation in Grade School Books
The nation is experiencing a literacy crisis and historic drops in student achievement. Better racial and ethnic representation in our classroom books will help all students achieve. Our study outlines why we need to redress representational balance in school curricula.
The Tool for Representational Balance
Representation has long been imbalanced in school curriculum. We created the Tool for Representational Balance in Books to provide curriculum publishers, students, parents, teachers, advocates, and community members with a framework for closely reviewing the books that make up curricular units so they may better understand how people, groups, and topics are represented.
Training Webinar: Tool for Representational Balance in Books
This training gives an overview of findings and recommendations from EdTrust’s The Search for More Complex Racial and Ethnic Representation report and will dive deep into how to use our Tool for Representational Balance in Books by walking through examples and discussions together. We want to support advocates in using this tool to advocate at any level for the representation deeply needed in our students’ classrooms and libraries.
Advocates’ Guide to Demanding Racially and Culturally Inclusive State Assessments
It’s time to decenter Whiteness from standardized test design. Today, most statewide assessments avoid questions and passages that allude to cultural topics or themes on the grounds of fairness and colorblindness. This guide is designed to help advocates push their state leaders to insist on racially and culturally inclusive statewide assessments.
A Map of Anti-DEI Efforts on College Campuses Across the U.S.
Threats to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are growing stronger in Higher Ed institutions across the nation, with plans by various states to introduce anti-DEI bills and continued attacks on academia. We created an interactive map to keep track of the evolving attacks on DEI across the states.
An essential conversation on how to push back against efforts to suppress the teaching of honest history and diversity of identities and ideas.
July 17, 2023 by EdTrust In recent years, there has been an overwhelming push toward the erasure of important aspects of American history when it comes to issues of race and identity from school curricula across the country.
February 02, 2023 by EdTrust As we celebrate Black History Month, Ed Trust asks, what stories are educators allowed to tell students about Black history?
