Jaime Escalante (Chapter 1)
Jamie Escalante retired from teaching in 1998 and was honored the following year with induction into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Click here to learn more about his creative vision and commitment to ganas.


Sally L. Smith (Chapter 2)
Explore learning through the arts at Sally Smith’s Lab School of Washington, a full-time special education program for students of average to above average intelligence with moderate to severe learning disabilities. The Lab School’s approach to teaching is utilizing all of the art forms to teach specific academic skills and content.


Carlos Ovando (Chapter 3)
Carlos Ovando is a Professor of Curriculum & Instruction and Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University, as well as an Advisor/Coordinator of the Initiative of the Americas program. His current research explores Nicaraguan and Cuban cultural and educational practices. To learn more about Dr. Ovando's work with English language learners and multicultural education, click here.


Jonathan Kozol (Chapter 4)
Jonathan Kozol continues to write about the social injustices in America's schools from his home in Byfield, Massachusetts. He also visits the teachers and students of St. Ann's Church in the South Bronx, whose lives he chronicled in Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope. Kozol shared his experience of writing the book in a Publisher's Weekly interview.


Jeannie Oakes (Chapter 5)
Jeannie Oakes is Professor of Education and Associate Dean in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Oakes also directs UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education & Access (IDEA). Click here to learn more about her efforts to create equitable schools.


Alfie Kohn (Chapter 6)
An outspoken advocate for school reform and social justice, Alfie Kohn continues to write and lecture on educational standards and testing, parenting, and organizational management. Click here to browse his virtual library.


Jane Roland Martin (Chapter 8)
Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Jane Roland Martin continues to write and lecture on topics related to educational philosophy, women, and social change. Click here for reviews of one of her books, Cultural Miseducation: In Search of a Democratic Solution (2002).


Marian Wright Edelman (Chapter 9)
For more than thirty years, Children's Defense Fund Executive Director Marian Wright Edelman is tireless in her efforts to end poverty and to ensure that No Child is Left Behind.


Morris Dees (Chapter 10)
Visit the Southern Poverty Law Center to learn about co-founder Morris Dees's latest efforts to teach tolerance and combat hate crime throughout the nation.


Larry Cuban (Chapter 11)
Larry Cuban is Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University. His research and writings continue to focus on the history of curriculum, instruction, and technology as well as on school reform. To learn more about Dr. Cuban's professional activities click here.


Margaret Haley (Chapter 12)
Margaret Haley died in 1939. Her autobiography, Battleground, was published in 1982 and chronicles her life in education from student to teacher to union leader. Visit PBS's Only a Teacher to learn more of her efforts to empower educators and improve schools through teacher unions.