This blog post is from Sarah Miller, Senior Coordinator of Intellectual Freedom and Book Initiatives at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), a Unite Against Book Bans partner.
The Intellectual Freedom Center at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has been supporting educators and standing against curriculum and school library censorship since the 1950s. Our seminal resource is the Students’ Right to Read position statement, which details the importance of students accessing quality texts of their choosing and educators’ role in selecting materials for different educational purposes.
While attacks on the freedom to read affect everyone, educators have specific and unique needs that NCTE is working to meet. Here are three ways to engage with us when advocating for the right to read in your own schools and districts.
- Draw from our position statements. These peer reviewed and thoroughly researched documents demonstrate best practice recommendations for a host of issues in education and English language arts. Draw from the text when advocating for changes to curriculum, policies, classroom practices, and more. NCTE’s complete list of position statements, which includes our positions on censorship and intellectual freedom, is freely available to anyone.
- Report cases of censorship. NCTE’s confidential censorship reporting form can be used to report school censorship in a classroom, library, district, or state. Reports help us track intellectual freedom trends and issues and shape our response, advocacy, and resource creation by illustrating the reality of what teachers and students are facing nationwide. While anyone can use the form, NCTE members can receive additional support through personalized review of the situation and curated resources to help with next steps. Additionally, if desired, NCTE can help connect members to state affiliates or partner organizations that may be able to provide additional support. (NCTE does not provide legal advice, monetary assistance, or direct intervention in reported situations.)
- Consult the Book Rationale Database (exclusive to NCTE members). NCTE has been creating book rationales since the 1980s. In recent years we launched the first-of-its-kind rationale database through the This Story Matters initiative, digitizing the older rationales and adding new titles. Today there are more than 1,400 available to download. Rationales provide a thorough review of books, divided into sections, created and peer reviewed by teachers. Sections include book information like plot summaries and Lexile levels, what standards the text meets, suggested teaching approaches, potential for challenge, settings teachers recommend using the text for, and additional resources that expand the educators’ options for deeper understanding of the text and related subject matters. Available rationales include classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bluest Eye, and The Handmaid’s Tale, as well as newer titles like The Hate U Give, Flamer, Milo Imagines the World, and And Tango Makes Three. Titles for grades Pre-K through 12+ are available and are searchable by title, author, and grade level.
We invite you to utilize our resources and support as we continue to stand up for access to high quality literature and resources, robust public education, teacher expertise, student book access, and broad intellectual freedom opportunities for all. These stories matter and we are committed to sharing them.
