Publications

These Learning for Justice and Southern Poverty Law Center publications include reports, guides, curricula and other content to support the SPLC’s mission: to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.

In Plain Sight: Special Education Outcomes and Challenges in Mississippi

illustration of a child reading a book
[2024] This report provides an in-depth assessment of the challenges and inequities in the special education system and how they adversely affect the educational rights of disabled children in Mississippi.

Only Young Once: The Systemic Harm of Florida’s School-to-Prison Pipeline and Youth Legal System

Profile of a Black youth in front of barbed wire fence
[2024] This report explores the scope and impact of youth incarceration and ways Florida can reform and disrupt these systems.

Only Young Once: Alabama’s Overreliance on School Pushout and For-Profit Youth Incarceration

a Black teenager in front of a map of Alabama
[2024] This report details how a narrative of youth crime contributes to overly punitive school discipline, racial disparities, and an expensive youth legal system that is not designed for rehabilitation.

Only Young Once: The Case for Mississippi’s Investment in Youth Decarceration

Profile of a child's head with flowers superimposed
[2023] This report illustrates how Mississippi’s approach to youth justice is built on debunked notions of Black criminality, and offers a more humane alternative.

Only Young Once: The Urgent Need for Reform of Louisiana’s Youth Justice System

African American youth with their hands on their head, standing before bars
[2023] This report explores how perceptions of Black youth in Louisiana’s school and juvenile justice systems contribute to an overreliance on punitive measures, leading to stark racial disparities.

Keep Her Safe: Centering Black Girls in School Safety

Cover of the "Keep Her Safe: Centering Black Girls in School Safety" report.
[2024] This case study and report by NWLC and SPLC demonstrates how critical insights can come from centering Black girls in the school safety conversation.

Teaching the Civil Rights Movement

Cover of "Teaching the Civil Rights Movement."
[2023] Teaching the Civil Rights Movement begins in 1877 with Reconstruction and continues the narrative of the movement for equality and civil rights to the present.

Critical Practices for Social Justice Education

Illustrated cover of "Critical Practices for Social Justice Education".
[2023] Critical Practices is a resource to support K-12 educators in growing their understanding of social justice principles and integrating them into their practice.

Advocating for Teaching Honest History: What Educators Can Do

Cover of "Advocating for Teaching Honest History."
[2023] This guide offers resources and tools for teaching honest history in the classroom and strategies for advocating for honest history education.

A Quick Reference Guide to Teaching Hard History

Cover of "A Quick Reference Guide to Teaching Hard History."
[2022] LFJ's framework for teaching about American slavery can be used to supplement current curriculum or to guide the creation of new curriculum that more honestly and courageously tells the story of American slavery.

Social Justice Standards

Cover of 'Social Justice Standards" The Learning for Justice Anti-bias Framework'.
The Social Justice Standards—organized into the domains Identity, Diversity, Justice and Action—provide a road map for anti-bias education at every grade level.

Learning the Landscape of Digital Literacy

Learning the Landscape of Digital Literacy Publication Cover | Teaching Tolerance
The internet and digital technology have not only changed our day-to-day lives—they have changed the boundaries of education. Most educators embrace the opportunities (and responsibilities) presented by new media and...

Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Students

Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Students: A Teaching Tolerance Guide
With this guide, we hope to help teachers and school leaders make curriculum and policy decisions that include LGBTQ students and prepare all students to thrive in a diverse democracy.

Speak Up at School

Cover of "Speak Up at School."
This guide offers advice to adults about how to respond to biased remarks and the use of stereotypes—and how to teach students to speak up as well.

Let's Talk!

Cover of "Let's Talk! Facilitating Critical Conversations with Students."
This resource is for educators working to build their own competency facilitating classroom conversations about critical topics like identity, discrimination and inequality.

Responding to Hate and Bias at School

Cover of "Responding to Hate and Bias."
This guide offers suggestions for preventing and navigating a bias- or hate-related crisis. It is designed primarily for school administrators, but teachers, staff, counselors and students also may find guidance here.

Reading for Social Justice

Cover of 'Reading for Social Justice: A Guide for Families and Educators.'
Reading groups that bring students, educators and families together benefit everyone. This guide offers step-by-step instructions for planning reading groups that include and empower the entire community.

Serving ELL Students and Families

Teaching Tolerance Best Practices for Serving English Language Learners and Their Families
This guide can help staff move the entire school toward a comprehensive and culturally responsive approach to serving English Language Learners and their families.

Reading Diversity

Reading Diversity v2 Publication Cover | Teaching Tolerance
Including diverse voices is a priority in K–12 classrooms. Learning for Justice offers a unique model to make it easier: Reading Diversity.

20 Face to Face Advisories

20 Face to Face Advisories Cover
Learning for Justice is proud to partner with The Origins Program to present 20 advisory activities selected from Face to Face Advisories: Bridging Cultural Gaps in Grades 5-9.

Speak Up!

Speak Up Cover, woman's face
A collection of real-life stories, gathered by the Southern Poverty Law Center, on how people across the United States spoke up against everyday bigotry.

Explore the History of ‘Loving’

The Loving Story Publication v2 Cover | Teaching Tolerance
Learning for Justice produced this interdisciplinary teacher’s guide for The Loving Story, a documentary film about a couple’s fight to end the ban on interracial marriage.

Teaching 'The New Jim Crow'

Teaching the New Jim Crow v2 Publication Cover | Teaching Tolerance
A teacher’s guide for The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, a groundbreaking book by Michelle Alexander.

Civil Rights Activity Book

Civil Rights Activity Book Cover, civil rights photo collage
The Civil Rights Activity Book uses puzzles, songs and photos to teach children about martyrs and events of the civil rights movement. Provided here courtesy of the Civil Rights Memorial Center.

Hate at School Report

Cover of 'Hate at School' report, featuring a collage of distressed and angry young people.
We surveyed thousands of educators and the picture that emerges is the opposite of what schools should be. Our report details the scope of the problem and what you can do to help.

Teaching Tolerance in Higher Education

Teaching Tolerance in Higher Education: Case Studies of Teacher Preparation Programs cover
This study presents the findings of 13 case studies and interviews with university faculty demonstrating how TT resources can be incorporated into existing coursework across the teacher education curriculum.

Teaching Hard History: American Slavery

Famous white and African-American figures from U.S. history.
This report summarizes research conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2017 on the state of teaching about American slavery in K-12 schools.