The best 12 Schools books

Learn or Die (2014) makes a strong case for personal and organizational learning as a survival tool in today’s fast-paced business world. Full of practical tips, the book presents a framework for how individuals and organizations can create an environment that fosters life-long learning.

A Bigger Prize (2014) explains how competition is holding us back. These blinks demonstrate how our competitive schools, economy and society – believed to produce higher grades, lower prices and better results – are actually stifling collaboration and preventing us from realizing our full potential.

Creative Schools (2015) is a guide to transforming education. These blinks break down every aspect of education from its history to the essential needs of students. They also illustrate the ways in which all people can help kids get the schooling they need to succeed in a rapidly transforming world.

The Importance of Being LIttle (2016) is all about the powerful and curious minds of children, and the way our current preschool educational standards of testing and standardized worksheets limit their natural skills. These blinks explain why a focus on the personal development of each child is a much better strategy.

Why Don’t Students Like School? (2009) seeks to explain the brain’s most important processes relating to memory, learning and intelligence. A stronger understanding of these mechanisms will enable all educators to train themselves in better teaching methods and result in more engaging and effective educational programs.

Why “A” Students Work For “C” Students And “B” Students Work For The Government (2013) explains how the global financial crisis we face today is really a crisis of education. Schools are failing to provide students with even the most fundamental financial education. It’s up to parents to teach their children about real-world financial responsibility. 

Better Together (2018) is an examination of how school networks are transforming students’ education experiences across the United States to make them college and career ready. It illuminates how networks provide new learning models, foster ongoing professional development, and facilitate personalized education to help each child reach their full potential.

The Case Against Education (2018) takes orthodox opinion about education and turns it on its head. It argues that, far from turning students into skillful and productive workers, education serves primarily to verify employable character traits. Using this insight as its central premise, it goes on to argue that education needs to be substantially reformed.

Grasp (2020) covers the development of modern education systems and the ways in which their current forms conflict with recent scientific insights into how the brain works. It describes a variety of experimental techniques being applied to improve education and discusses how they might become more broadly generalized.

Thrivers (2021) is a study of what it means to be a child in today’s fast-paced, ultra-competitive, and digital world. Kids are achieving more and more, but they’ve never felt so lonely and stressed. In our rush to prepare them for an uncertain future, we’ve taught them to strive for accolades but forgotten that there’s more to success – and happiness – than test scores and grades. What’s missing is an emphasis on helping them thrive.

The Family Firm (2021) explores the latest research on pre-teen child development. It explains how parents can make data-driven decisions on important parenting decisions like a child’s school, bedtime, diet, and extracurricular schedule.

What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew (2018) provides parents with insights into the challenges and experiences of children with ADHD. It focuses on the importance of communication and collaboration between parents and children, and outlines the Five Cs that will help you help your child with ADHD. Learn the skills you need to ensure your child flourishes with the brain they have.