Documentary The Best Documentaries About Education

132 votes 63 voters 11.4k views 38 items

List Rules Documentaries about schools, teachers, teaching, and education.

This list has been ranked by the community to determine the best documentaries about education. This list includes popular and recognizable titles, along with a lot of independent documentary films about education to be voted on, with videos. What is the best documentary about education? This list will let you know!

With every vote, the order of the list will change to see which documentary about education comes out on top. If you do not see your favorite on the list, add it along with the existing titles so that others may vote on it as well. This list currently includes titles such as, Race to Nowhere about over-scheduled students who are pressured to succeed, and Waiting for Superman about public education and how it affects children.

Documentaries are nonfiction and made with the intention of displaying reality for historical purposes and to educate viewers. Most documentaries are driven by independent filmmakers and those passionate about the topics they are portraying.

Vote up your favorite documentaries about education below or add one you love that isn't already on the list.

list ordered by

1
20 3

Race to Nowhere Race to Nowhere is a 2009 documentary film written by Maimone Attia and directed by Vicki Abeles and Jessica Congdon.

2
5 0

The War on Kids The War on Kids is a 2009 documentary film about the American school system. The film takes a look at public school education in America and concludes that schools are not only failing to ...more

3
5 0

The Lottery Cory Booker, Geoffrey Canada, Joel Klein The Lottery is a 2010 documentary film about the controversy surrounding public and charter schools in the United States, directed by Madeleine Sackler. The film was produced by Blake ...more

4
9 4

Spellbound Spellbound is a 2002 documentary that was directed by Jeffrey Blitz. The film follows eight competitors in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. The film was nominated for the Academy Award ...more

5
5 0

Please Vote for Me Please Vote for Me is a 2007 documentary film following the elections for class monitor in a 3rd grade class of eight-year-old children in the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China. The ...more

6
11 7

Waiting for Superman Waiting for "Superman" is a 2010 documentary film from director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott. The film analyzes the failures of the American public education system by ...more

7
7 3

American Teacher American Teacher is a 2011 documentary film co-directed by Vanessa Roth and Brian McGinn and produced by The Teacher Salary Project. It follows the format of the book Teachers Have It Easy: The ...more

8
6 2

Teached

9
5 1

I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School is a 1993 documentary film about the pupils at Stanton Elementary School, an inner city school in Philadelphia. The film won the Academy ...more

10
4 1

The Cartel The Cartel is a 2009 American documentary film by New Jersey-based television producer, reporter and news anchor Bob Bowdon, that covers the failures of public education in the United States by ...more

11
3 0

Mad Hot Ballroom Mad Hot Ballroom is a documentary film by director Marilyn Agrelo and writer and producer Amy Sewell about a ballroom dance program in the New York City Department of Education, the New York ...more

12
3 0

Precious Knowledge Precious Knowledge is a 2011 political documentary centered on the banning of the Mexican American Studies Program in the Tucson Unified School District of Arizona. It was directed by Ari Palos ...more

13
3 1

Unfinished Spaces Unfinished Spaces is a 2011 documentary film about the revolutionary design of the National Art Schools. The film tells the dramatic story of the art schools from their founding by Fidel Castro ...more

14
2 1

The Pact Jewel Staite, Samuel Ball, Heather Habecker The Pact is a 2011 horror drama short film written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy.

15
1 0

napjerks added A Touch of Greatness

16
1 0

Our School Our School is a 2011 documentary film directed by Mona Nicoara and Miruna Coca-Cozma. "Our School follows three Roma (commonly known as Gypsy) children in a rural Transylvanian village who ...more

17
1 0

Two Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution Two Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution is a 2008 documentary film directed by Dan Treharne.

18
1 0

Jeremy Stuart added Class Dismissed: a Film About Learning Outside of the Classroom

19
1 0

Jeremy Eastman added Grey Matters: Teaching The Way the Brain Learns

20
1 0

Paper Clips Project Tom Bosley The Paper Clips Project, by middle school students from the small southeastern Tennessee town of Whitwell, created a monument for the Holocaust victims of Nazi Germany. It started in 1998 as a ...more

21
1 0

All American High All American High is a 1987 documentary film directed by Keva Rosenfeld that chronicles the life of the 1984 senior class at Torrance High School. The film is narrated by the Finnish exchange ...more

22
1 0

Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon is a 2009 documentary film written, directed, and produced by Mary Mazzio about inner NYC teens that compete in an annual business plan competition run by the ...more

23
1 1

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Lili Asvar, Antonio Christina, Adam Behr Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nathan Frankowski and starring Ben Stein. The film contends that the mainstream science establishment suppresses ...more

24
1 1

First Grader First Graders is a 1984 Iranian documentary feature film directed by Abbas Kiarostami, in which a hidden camera follows a group of first graders during a day at school.

25
0 0

Invisible City Invisible City is a 2009 documentary film by Hubert Davis about young Black Canadian men at risk in Toronto's Regent Park district. Davis spent three years filming two boys in their final years ...more

26
0 0

The World According to Sesame Street The World According to Sesame Street is a 2006 documentary film created by Participant Productions, looking at the cultural impact of the children's television series Sesame Street, and the ...more

27
0 0

Brooklyn Castle Brooklyn Castle is a 2012 documentary film directed by Katie Dellamaggiore.

28
0 0

Resolved Ilya Semenov, Lina Safiulina, Alexander Kashkurov Resolved is a 2011 short independent film directed by Kseniya Rukavishnikova and written by Brandon Maurice Williams and Kseniya Rukavishnikova.

29
0 0

Building Hope Willie Nelson, Cameron Sinclair, Turk Pipkin Building Hope is a film by Turk and Christy Pipkin. It was produced by The Nobelity Project and premiered on March 12 at the 2011 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. It is the sequel ...more

30
0 0

Strangers No More Strangers No More is a 2010 short documentary film about a school in Tel Aviv, Israel, where children from 48 different countries and diverse backgrounds come together to learn. The parents of ...more

31
0 0

Flock of Dodos Michael Behe, Randy Olson, Jack Cashill Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus is a documentary film by American marine biologist and filmmaker Randy Olson. It highlights the debate between proponents of the concept ...more

32
0 0

The World's Best Prom Once a year, prom mania grips the entire population of Racine, Wisconsin. The city's extravagant celebration begins with a rowdy parade where students compete for the most outrageous form of ...more

33
1 2

The Textbooks The Text Books is an Iranian documentary by Mahmoud Shoolizadeh. It introduces the strengths and weaknesses of textbooks in Iran, the editors, experts and teachers explain their views and critic ...more

34
0 1

Prisoners of a White God Prisoners of a White God is a documentary about the Akha people, produced and distributed by Twin Star in September 2008. The documentary is about a Czech researcher, Tomáš Ryška, who ...more

35
0 1

A Small Act "As an impoverished boy in Kenya, Chris Mburu's life was dramatically changed when an anonymous Swedish woman sponsored his primary and secondary education. Now a Harvard-educated ...more

36
0 1

Small Wonders Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Arnold Steinhardt Small Wonders is a 1995 American documentary film directed by Allan Miller. The film follows a music teacher in East Harlem who teaches underprivileged children how to play the violin. It was ...more

37
0 1

Indoctrinate U Indoctrinate U is a 2007 American feature-length documentary film written by, directed by and starring Evan Coyne Maloney, that examines controversial topics like equality and fairness, ...more

38
0 1

The Education of Shelby Knox Shelby Knox The Education of Shelby Knox is 2005 documentary film that tells the coming-of-age story of public speaker and feminist Shelby Knox, a teenager who joins a campaign for comprehensive sex ...more

1 20 3 Race to Nowhere Race to Nowhere is a 2009 documentary film written by Maimone Attia and directed by Vicki Abeles and Jessica Congdon.

2 5 0 The War on Kids The War on Kids is a 2009 documentary film about the American school system. The film takes a look at public school education in America and concludes that schools are not only failing to ...more

3 5 0 The Lottery Cory Booker, Geoffrey Canada, Joel Klein The Lottery is a 2010 documentary film about the controversy surrounding public and charter schools in the United States, directed by Madeleine Sackler. The film was produced by Blake ...more

4 9 4 Spellbound Spellbound is a 2002 documentary that was directed by Jeffrey Blitz. The film follows eight competitors in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. The film was nominated for the Academy Award ...more

5 5 0 Please Vote for Me Please Vote for Me is a 2007 documentary film following the elections for class monitor in a 3rd grade class of eight-year-old children in the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China. The ...more

6 11 7 Waiting for Superman Waiting for "Superman" is a 2010 documentary film from director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott. The film analyzes the failures of the American public education system by ...more

7 7 3 American Teacher American Teacher is a 2011 documentary film co-directed by Vanessa Roth and Brian McGinn and produced by The Teacher Salary Project. It follows the format of the book Teachers Have It Easy: The ...more

8 6 2 Teached

9 5 1 I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School is a 1993 documentary film about the pupils at Stanton Elementary School, an inner city school in Philadelphia. The film won the Academy ...more

10 4 1 The Cartel The Cartel is a 2009 American documentary film by New Jersey-based television producer, reporter and news anchor Bob Bowdon, that covers the failures of public education in the United States by ...more

11 3 0 Mad Hot Ballroom Mad Hot Ballroom is a documentary film by director Marilyn Agrelo and writer and producer Amy Sewell about a ballroom dance program in the New York City Department of Education, the New York ...more

12 3 0 Precious Knowledge Precious Knowledge is a 2011 political documentary centered on the banning of the Mexican American Studies Program in the Tucson Unified School District of Arizona. It was directed by Ari Palos ...more

13 3 1 Unfinished Spaces Unfinished Spaces is a 2011 documentary film about the revolutionary design of the National Art Schools. The film tells the dramatic story of the art schools from their founding by Fidel Castro ...more

14 2 1 The Pact Jewel Staite, Samuel Ball, Heather Habecker The Pact is a 2011 horror drama short film written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy.

15 1 0 napjerks added A Touch of Greatness

16 1 0 Our School Our School is a 2011 documentary film directed by Mona Nicoara and Miruna Coca-Cozma. "Our School follows three Roma (commonly known as Gypsy) children in a rural Transylvanian village who ...more

17 1 0 Two Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution Two Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution is a 2008 documentary film directed by Dan Treharne.

18 1 0 Jeremy Stuart added Class Dismissed: a Film About Learning Outside of the Classroom

19 1 0 Jeremy Eastman added Grey Matters: Teaching The Way the Brain Learns

20 1 0 Paper Clips Project Tom Bosley The Paper Clips Project, by middle school students from the small southeastern Tennessee town of Whitwell, created a monument for the Holocaust victims of Nazi Germany. It started in 1998 as a ...more

21 1 0 All American High All American High is a 1987 documentary film directed by Keva Rosenfeld that chronicles the life of the 1984 senior class at Torrance High School. The film is narrated by the Finnish exchange ...more

22 1 0 Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon is a 2009 documentary film written, directed, and produced by Mary Mazzio about inner NYC teens that compete in an annual business plan competition run by the ...more

23 1 1 Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Lili Asvar, Antonio Christina, Adam Behr Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nathan Frankowski and starring Ben Stein. The film contends that the mainstream science establishment suppresses ...more

24 1 1 First Grader First Graders is a 1984 Iranian documentary feature film directed by Abbas Kiarostami, in which a hidden camera follows a group of first graders during a day at school.

25 0 0 Invisible City Invisible City is a 2009 documentary film by Hubert Davis about young Black Canadian men at risk in Toronto's Regent Park district. Davis spent three years filming two boys in their final years ...more

26 0 0 The World According to Sesame Street The World According to Sesame Street is a 2006 documentary film created by Participant Productions, looking at the cultural impact of the children's television series Sesame Street, and the ...more

27 0 0 Brooklyn Castle Brooklyn Castle is a 2012 documentary film directed by Katie Dellamaggiore.

28 0 0 Resolved Ilya Semenov, Lina Safiulina, Alexander Kashkurov Resolved is a 2011 short independent film directed by Kseniya Rukavishnikova and written by Brandon Maurice Williams and Kseniya Rukavishnikova.

29 0 0 Building Hope Willie Nelson, Cameron Sinclair, Turk Pipkin Building Hope is a film by Turk and Christy Pipkin. It was produced by The Nobelity Project and premiered on March 12 at the 2011 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. It is the sequel ...more

30 0 0 Strangers No More Strangers No More is a 2010 short documentary film about a school in Tel Aviv, Israel, where children from 48 different countries and diverse backgrounds come together to learn. The parents of ...more

31 0 0 Flock of Dodos Michael Behe, Randy Olson, Jack Cashill Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus is a documentary film by American marine biologist and filmmaker Randy Olson. It highlights the debate between proponents of the concept ...more

32 0 0 The World's Best Prom Once a year, prom mania grips the entire population of Racine, Wisconsin. The city's extravagant celebration begins with a rowdy parade where students compete for the most outrageous form of ...more

33 1 2 The Textbooks The Text Books is an Iranian documentary by Mahmoud Shoolizadeh. It introduces the strengths and weaknesses of textbooks in Iran, the editors, experts and teachers explain their views and critic ...more

34 0 1 Prisoners of a White God Prisoners of a White God is a documentary about the Akha people, produced and distributed by Twin Star in September 2008. The documentary is about a Czech researcher, Tomáš Ryška, who ...more

35 0 1 A Small Act "As an impoverished boy in Kenya, Chris Mburu's life was dramatically changed when an anonymous Swedish woman sponsored his primary and secondary education. Now a Harvard-educated ...more

36 0 1 Small Wonders Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Arnold Steinhardt Small Wonders is a 1995 American documentary film directed by Allan Miller. The film follows a music teacher in East Harlem who teaches underprivileged children how to play the violin. It was ...more

37 0 1 Indoctrinate U Indoctrinate U is a 2007 American feature-length documentary film written by, directed by and starring Evan Coyne Maloney, that examines controversial topics like equality and fairness, ...more

38 0 1 The Education of Shelby Knox Shelby Knox The Education of Shelby Knox is 2005 documentary film that tells the coming-of-age story of public speaker and feminist Shelby Knox, a teenager who joins a campaign for comprehensive sex ...more

not on the list? add item #39 List Rules: Documentaries about schools, teachers, teaching, and education.