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Author: Douglas B. Downey
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022673336X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
Most of us assume that public schools in America are unequal—that the quality of the education varies with the location of the school and that as a result, children learn more in the schools that serve mostly rich, white kids than in the schools serving mostly poor, black kids. But it turns out that this common assumption is misplaced. As Douglas B. Downey shows in How Schools Really Matter, achievement gaps have very little to do with what goes on in our schools. Not only do schools not exacerbate inequality in skills, they actually help to level the playing field. The real sources of achievement gaps are elsewhere. A close look at the testing data in seasonal patterns bears this out. It turns out that achievement gaps in reading skills between high- and low-income children are nearly entirely formed prior to kindergarten, and schools do more to reduce them than increase them. And when gaps do increase, they tend to do so during summers, not during school periods. So why do both liberal and conservative politicians strongly advocate for school reform, arguing that the poor quality of schools serving disadvantaged children is an important contributor to inequality? It’s because discussing the broader social and economic reforms necessary for really reducing inequality has become too challenging and polarizing—it’s just easier to talk about fixing schools. Of course, there are differences that schools can make, and Downey outlines the kinds of reforms that make sense given what we know about inequality outside of schools, including more school exposure, increased standardization, and better and fairer school and teacher measurements. ? How Schools Really Matter offers a firm rebuke to those who find nothing but fault in our schools, which are doing a much better than job than we give them credit for. It should also be a call to arms for educators and policymakers: the bottom line is that if we are serious about reducing inequality, we are going to have to fight some battles that are bigger than school reform—battles against the social inequality that is reflected within, rather than generated by—our public school system.
Author: Douglas B. Downey
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022673336X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Get Book Here
Book Description
Most of us assume that public schools in America are unequal—that the quality of the education varies with the location of the school and that as a result, children learn more in the schools that serve mostly rich, white kids than in the schools serving mostly poor, black kids. But it turns out that this common assumption is misplaced. As Douglas B. Downey shows in How Schools Really Matter, achievement gaps have very little to do with what goes on in our schools. Not only do schools not exacerbate inequality in skills, they actually help to level the playing field. The real sources of achievement gaps are elsewhere. A close look at the testing data in seasonal patterns bears this out. It turns out that achievement gaps in reading skills between high- and low-income children are nearly entirely formed prior to kindergarten, and schools do more to reduce them than increase them. And when gaps do increase, they tend to do so during summers, not during school periods. So why do both liberal and conservative politicians strongly advocate for school reform, arguing that the poor quality of schools serving disadvantaged children is an important contributor to inequality? It’s because discussing the broader social and economic reforms necessary for really reducing inequality has become too challenging and polarizing—it’s just easier to talk about fixing schools. Of course, there are differences that schools can make, and Downey outlines the kinds of reforms that make sense given what we know about inequality outside of schools, including more school exposure, increased standardization, and better and fairer school and teacher measurements. ? How Schools Really Matter offers a firm rebuke to those who find nothing but fault in our schools, which are doing a much better than job than we give them credit for. It should also be a call to arms for educators and policymakers: the bottom line is that if we are serious about reducing inequality, we are going to have to fight some battles that are bigger than school reform—battles against the social inequality that is reflected within, rather than generated by—our public school system.
Author: Arne Duncan
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1501173065
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 256
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Book Description
“This book merits every American’s serious consideration” (Vice President Joe Biden): from the Secretary of Education under President Obama, an exposé of the status quo that helps maintain a broken system at the expense of our kids’ education, and threatens our nation’s future. “Education runs on lies. That’s probably not what you’d expect from a former Secretary of Education, but it’s the truth.” So opens Arne Duncan’s How Schools Work, although the title could just as easily be How American Schools Work for Some, Not for Others, and Only Now and Then for Kids. Drawing on nearly three decades in education—from his mother’s after-school program on Chicago’s South Side to his tenure as Secretary of Education in Washington, DC—How Schools Work follows Arne (as he insists you call him) as he takes on challenges at every turn: gangbangers in Chicago housing projects, parents who call him racist, teachers who insist they can’t help poor kids, unions that refuse to modernize, Tea Partiers who call him an autocrat, affluent white progressive moms who hate yearly tests, and even the NRA, which once labeled Arne the “most extreme anti-gun member of President Obama’s Cabinet.” Going to a child’s funeral every couple of weeks, as he did when he worked in Chicago, will do that to a person. How Schools Work exposes the lies that have caused American kids to fall behind their international peers, from early childhood all the way to college graduation rates. But it also identifies what really does make a school work. “As insightful as it is inspiring” (Washington Book Review), How Schools Work will embolden parents, teachers, voters, and even students to demand more of our public schools. If America is going to be great, then we can accept nothing less.
Author: Saul Cooperman
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
ISBN: 9780812693355
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 190
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Book Description
In this book, a with nearly 40 years' experience in education gives a crisp, clear explanation of what makes schools succeed or fail. He shows how a parent, administrator, or concerned observer can easily measure the school's performance, and act to improve the school. The author also explains the various ploys by which inept school administrations deflect criticism and demands for reform, quieting parents without addressing their concerns. "A plain English guide from a hands-on educator. Saul Cooperman knows America's schools. His book will help you know whether your school is right for your child". -- Lamar Alexander Former U.S. Secretary of Education "I receive many letters from people who want to know how to make their schools better. How Schools Really Work tells them how, in useful, clear detail... The thing I like best about this book is that it is so practical. It tells how education works, so that anyone can understand the problems and solutions, not just the symptoms". -- Joyce D. Brothers Psychologist and Syndicated Columnist "How Schools Really Work is a marvelous guide for parents, board members, administrators, and the community at large. It is written in language that anyone can understand. I only wish that I had had a copy of How Schools Really Work when I started to become involved in my children's education". -- Maude Dahme President, National Association of State Boards of Education
Author: Parry Graham
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1475867166
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 189
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Book Description
Since March of 2019, parents across the US have gained an unprecedented peek into their children’s schools and classrooms. In many cases, this has led to a newfound respect and appreciation for the hard work of teachers and administrators. But it has also raised important questions about the roles that parents can and should play in their children’s education.This book is a collection of insider information, not to help parents beat the system, but to help them work with the system—and to make sure the system works with them.Full of tips, strategies, resources, and real-life stories, this book will help any parent navigate the often confusing world of public schools. Whether you want to advocate for your child’s classroom experience, support your child when they get in trouble, or just help make a difference in your child’s school, this book will show you how.
Author: David F. Labaree
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300078671
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 342
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Book Description
David Labaree claims that by thinking of education primarily as the route to individual advancement, we are defining it as a private good - a means of gaining a competitive advantage over other people. He endorses an alternative vision, one that defines education as a public good, providing society with benefits that can be collectively shared - for example, by producing citizens who are politically responsible and workers who are economically productive.
Author: Wendy W. Murawski
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1544338716
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 329
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Book Description
Learn how to REALLY improve outcomes for all students How do we remove learning barriers and provide all students with the opportunity to succeed? Written for both general and special educators from grades Pre-K through 12, What Really Works with Universal Design for Learning is the how-to guide for implementing aspects of Universal Design Learning (UDL) to help every student be successful. UDL is the design and delivery of curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of all learners by providing them with choices for what and why they are learning and how they will share what they have learned. Calling on a wide-range of expertise, this resource features An unprecedented breadth of topics, including content areas, pedagogical issues, and other critical topics like executive function, PBIS, and EBD Reproducible research-based, field-tested tools Practical strategies that are low cost, time efficient, and easy to implement Practices for developing shared leadership and for working with families
Author: Alfie Kohn
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618083459
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 356
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Book Description
Arguing against the tougher standards rhetoric that marks the current education debate, the author of No Contest and Punished by Rewards writes that such tactics squeeze the pleasure out of learning. Reprint.
Author: James P. Comer
Publisher: Plume Books
ISBN: 9780452276468
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
It is the thesis of this provocative book that the deteriorating state of America's public school system is actually a reflection of the problems in our culture and society. In "Waiting For A Miracle," James P. Comer M.D., Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University Child Study Center and the author of Maggie's American Dream, and co-author of Raising Black Children, outlines the cause of these afflictions and presents an inspiring paradigm for a new way of thinking and acting with regard to children and family.At the root of the problem, he states, is a social failure to make a commitment to families, and to community and child development.Using many examples from his personal experience of growing up poor, and from more than thirty years of community involvement, Comer argues that schools can be the most important instrument of change in a society. He spells out how private, public and non-profit sectors can collaborate to enable children, families, and communities to survive and thrive.
Author: Alfie Kohn
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
ISBN: 0738211346
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 268
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Book Description
Death and taxes come later; what seems inevitable for children is the idea that, after spending the day at school, they must then complete more academic assignments at home. The predictable results: stress and conflict, frustration and exhaustion. Parents respond by reassuring themselves that at least the benefits outweigh the costs. But what if they don't? In The Homework Myth, nationally known educator and parenting expert Alfie Kohn systematically examines the usual defenses of homework--that it promotes higher achievement, "reinforces" learning, and teaches study skills and responsibility. None of these assumptions, he shows, actually passes the test of research, logic, or experience. So why do we continue to administer this modern cod liver oil -- or even demand a larger dose? Kohn's incisive analysis reveals how a mistrust of children, a set of misconceptions about learning, and a misguided focus on competitiveness have all left our kids with less free time and our families with more conflict. Pointing to parents who have fought back -- and schools that have proved educational excellence is possible without homework -- Kohn shows how we can rethink what happens during and after school in order to rescue our families and our children's love of learning.
Author: Jay Mathews
Publisher: Algonquin Books
ISBN: 1565126734
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
When Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin signed up for Teach for America right after college and found themselves utter failures in the classroom, they vowed to remake themselves into superior educators. They did that—and more. In their early twenties, by sheer force of talent and determination never to take no for an answer, they created a wildly successful fifth-grade experience that would grow into the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), which today includes sixty-six schools in nineteen states and the District of Columbia. KIPP schools incorporate what Feinberg and Levin learned from America's best, most charismatic teachers: lessons need to be lively; school days need to be longer (the KIPP day is nine and a half hours); the completion of homework has to be sacrosanct (KIPP teachers are available by telephone day and night). Chants, songs, and slogans such as "Work hard, be nice" energize the program. Illuminating the ups and downs of the KIPP founders and their students, Mathews gives us something quite rare: a hopeful book about education.
