Censorship Resources

WPCTE formally stands alongside the National Council of Teachers of English to champion the cause of intellectual freedom, specifically in Western Pennsylvania schools. 

Please see NCTE's position statement on the Freedom to Teach, which we, the Western Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English, fully endorse and embrace. 

We invite any Western Pennsylvania educator experiencing book bans or curriculum censorship to make use of the following resources or to reach out for support. We commit to helping to defend the cause of intellectual freedom and the freedom to teach in whatever capacity we are able.

Read NCTE's report "The State of Literature Use in US Secondary English Classrooms" which discusses book selection and how teachers use texts in the classroom. This report was created by surveys to 4,000 teachers and includes information about most frequently used texts; teacher freedom in text selection; most frequently censored texts and topics; and familiarity, interest, and practice in teaching diverse topics.

"Lots of Ways to Be Brave”: A Teacher’s Guide to Facing Censorship is a guide that reminds educators to be brave and provides ways for teachers to prepare before, during, and after a challenge to a book.

NCTE has two current books about censorship. The first, The Impacts of Censorship: Research on the Intersection of Censorship and Teaching English, is currently available through NCTE, and the second book will be released soon.

Emily Knox has numerous articles and books about censorship.  See her resources at: https://www.emilyknox.net/books