What was school like in the days of old? Can you imagine studying in a tiny one-room schoolhouse, writing out lessons on a chalkboard slate? Discover how school life has changed over time, and what it might be like in the future.

This inspiring collection of accounts from educators and students is “an essential resource for all those seeking to build an antiracist school system” (Ibram X. Kendi). Since 2016, the Black Lives Matter at School movement has carved a new path for racial justice in education. A growing coalition of educators, students, parents and others have established an annual week of action during the first week of February. This anthology shares vital lessons that have been learned through this important work. In this volume, Bettina Love makes a powerful case for abolitionist teaching, Brian Jones looks at the historical context of the ongoing struggle for racial justice in education, and prominent teacher union leaders discuss the importance of anti-racism in their unions. Black Lives Matter at School includes essays, interviews, poems, resolutions, and more from participants across the country who have been building the movement on the ground.

Michael Harker’s goal is to record Iowa’s historically significant architecture before it disappears forever. From Coon Center School no. 5 in Albert City to Pleasant Valley School in Kalona, North River School in Winterset to Douglas Center School in Sioux Rapids, and Iowa’s first school to Grant Wood’s first school, he has achieved this goal on a grand scale in Harker’s One-Room Schoolhouses.

Despite being the centerpiece of rural educational reform for most of the twentieth century, rural school consolidation has received remarkably little scholarly attention. The social history and geography of the movement, the widespread resistance it provoked, and the cultural landscapes its proponents sought to transform have remained largely unexplored. Now in There Goes the Neighborhood David Reynolds remedies this situation by examining the rural school consolidation movement in that most midwestern of midwestern states, Iowa. From 1912 to 1921, Iowa was the center of national attention as state and local education leaders attempted to implement a new model of rural education, intended to be emulated throughout the rest of the Midwest. As part of the Country Life movement—whose leaders sought to create a more modern future for farm families, an alternative form of rural community that combined the advantages of both city and country—the initially successful model collapsed in the early twenties, not to be revived until after World War II. Reynolds focuses on how and why rural school consolidation was so vigorously resisted in most of Iowa, why it failed in the twenties, and what its lasting consequences have been. Combining social and oral history, modern social theory, historical geography, and ethnography, There Goes the Neighborhood is the most authoritative analysis to date of the politics, geography, and social history of rural school consolidation in any state.

As centerpiece to its sesquicentennial celebration in 2007-08, IowaState University has commissioned a book to record, for the firsttime, the events and themes of the second half of the 20th century.Emphasizing the years from 1940-2000, this book builds on anearlier history of the University by Earle Ross. The authors,familiar with (knowledgeable about) ISU and expert in their subjectarea, have meticulously researched and skillfully written tenchapters that treat specific decades, particular administrations,or key topics of interest. Written in a lively narrative style, this anthology encompassesa wealth of information. The authors have focused on appealing tothe largest possible audience of Iowa State University supportersand well-wishers: alumni, faculty and staff, and fans throughoutthe state of Iowa. Some will want to read it from cover to cover;others will dip in to relive their years on campus or to pursue afavorite topic like student life or athletics. To enhance thehistorical narrative, entertaining vignettes about students,faculty and administrative leaders, and alumni appear throughoutthe book. Generously illustrated with black-and-white photographs, thisbook invites casual browsing. Its attractive design increasesvisual appeal by using a clean, open layout and readable type. Toensure its value as a gift book, a handsome full-color jacket and 8x 11 format make it suitable for coffee table display whereverloyal Iowa Staters gather. Part 1 contains 4 chapters, leading off with a survey of themajor developments of Iowa State College’s first 80 years,followed by a chronological approach to the years from 1940 forwardthat highlights presidential administrations. Part 2 broadens thebook’s coverage with 6 chapters telling the ISU story fromthe perspective of topics such as the physical landscape of campus,the national and international impacts of the University, and IowaState athletics through the years. This broad-brushed overview of ISU history is rich with detailyet emphasizes the grand themes that defined the nation’sfirst land-grant university.