In Honor of the Oscars: The Best (and Worst) Education Movies of All Time

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February 28, 2011 • 9:30 am PST
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This year's crop of Academy Award nominees for Best Picture didn't include any films set in schools, but that doesn't mean filmmakers always avoid educational settings. From an unscientific poll of the GOOD editorial team, here are some of the must see—many are Oscar nominated—as well as absolutely skippable movies set in schools. This list mostly sticks to films about the public high school experience, but there are a few outliers we simply couldn't resist including. Happy viewing!

Liz Dwyer
Education Editor

Posted in: Education,; Cities,; Business,; News

Tags: education,; economy,; new york city,; los angeles,; gangs,; high school,; stereotypes,; madonna,; cities,; teens,; kipp,; harlem,; school,; jon stewart,; aliens,; bullying,; gifted students,; oxford,; teenagers,; roger ebert,; budget cuts,; dropout rates,; grease,; summer school,; ferris bueller,; the faculty,; alien parasites,; sci-fi movies,; john hughes,; the substitute,; substitute teachers,; tom berenger,; the breakfast club,; molly ringwald,; ben affleck,; emilio estevez,; judd nelson,; anthony michael hall,; ally sheedy,; mr. vernon,; cliques,; high school cliques,; edward james olmos,; jaime escalante,; stand and deliver,; teaching techniques,; summer school mark harmon,; jake ryan,; sixteen candles,; mr. rooney,; school principal,; racial stereotypes,; stereotypes in education movies,; lean on me,; morgan freeman,; eastside high,; joe clark,; school ties,; brendan fraser,; antisemitism in schools,; antisemitism,; never been kissed,; jodie foster,; drew barrymore,; michael vartan,; to catch a predator,; dangerous minds,; michelle pfieffer,; gifted children,; little man tate,; meryl streep,; music teachers,; music of the heart,; richard dreyfuss,; mr. holland's opus,; teacher expectations for students,; samuel jackson,; 187,; roger ebert lean on me review,; an education,; ben stein,; danny zuko,; cameron crowe,; doubt,; parochial schools,; catholic schools,; priests,; catholic sex abuse scandal

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