Bad Students, Not Bad Schools

Bad Students, Not Bad Schools PDF Author: Robert Weissberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351297716
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
Americans are increasingly alarmed over our nation's educational deficiencies. Though anxieties about schooling are unending, especially with public institutions, these problems are more complex than institutional failure. Expenditures for education have exploded, and far exceed inflation and the rising costs of health care, but academic achievement remains flat. Many students are unable to graduate from high school, let alone obtain a college degree. And if they do make it to college, they are often forced into remedial courses. Why, despite this fiscal extravagance, are educational disappointments so widespread? In Bad Students, Not Bad Schools, Robert Weissberg argues that the answer is something everybody knows to be true but is afraid to say in public America's educational woes too often reflect the demographic mix of students. Schools today are filled with millions of youngsters, too many of whom struggle with the English language or simply have mediocre intellectual ability. Their lackluster performances are probably impervious to the current reform prescriptions regardless of the remedy's ideological derivation. Making matters worse, retention of students in school is embraced as a philosophy even if it impedes the learning of other students. Weissberg argues that most of America's educational woes would vanish if indifferent, troublesome students were permitted to leave when they had absorbed as much as they could learn; they would quickly be replaced by learning-hungry students, including many new immigrants from other countries. American education survives since we import highly intelligent, technically skillful foreigners just as we import oil, but this may not last forever. When educational establishments get serious about world-class mathematics and science, and permit serious students to learn, problems will dissolve. Rewarding the smartest, not spending fortunes in a futile quest to uplift the bottom, should become official policy. This book is a bracing reminder of the risks of political manipulation of education and argues that the measure of policy should be academic achievment.

Bad Students, Not Bad Schools

Bad Students, Not Bad Schools PDF Author: Robert Weissberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351297716
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Get Book

Book Description
Americans are increasingly alarmed over our nation's educational deficiencies. Though anxieties about schooling are unending, especially with public institutions, these problems are more complex than institutional failure. Expenditures for education have exploded, and far exceed inflation and the rising costs of health care, but academic achievement remains flat. Many students are unable to graduate from high school, let alone obtain a college degree. And if they do make it to college, they are often forced into remedial courses. Why, despite this fiscal extravagance, are educational disappointments so widespread? In Bad Students, Not Bad Schools, Robert Weissberg argues that the answer is something everybody knows to be true but is afraid to say in public America's educational woes too often reflect the demographic mix of students. Schools today are filled with millions of youngsters, too many of whom struggle with the English language or simply have mediocre intellectual ability. Their lackluster performances are probably impervious to the current reform prescriptions regardless of the remedy's ideological derivation. Making matters worse, retention of students in school is embraced as a philosophy even if it impedes the learning of other students. Weissberg argues that most of America's educational woes would vanish if indifferent, troublesome students were permitted to leave when they had absorbed as much as they could learn; they would quickly be replaced by learning-hungry students, including many new immigrants from other countries. American education survives since we import highly intelligent, technically skillful foreigners just as we import oil, but this may not last forever. When educational establishments get serious about world-class mathematics and science, and permit serious students to learn, problems will dissolve. Rewarding the smartest, not spending fortunes in a futile quest to uplift the bottom, should become official policy. This book is a bracing reminder of the risks of political manipulation of education and argues that the measure of policy should be academic achievment.

Hope and Despair in the American City

Hope and Despair in the American City PDF Author: Gerald Grant
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674060261
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5Ð4 verdict in Milliken v. Bradley, thereby blocking the state of Michigan from merging the Detroit public school system with those of the surrounding suburbs. This decision effectively walled off underprivileged students in many American cities, condemning them to a system of racial and class segregation and destroying their chances of obtaining a decent education. In Hope and Despair in the American City, Gerald Grant compares two citiesÑhis hometown of Syracuse, New York, and Raleigh, North CarolinaÑin order to examine the consequences of the nationÕs ongoing educational inequities. The school system in Syracuse is a slough of despair, the one in Raleigh a beacon of hope. Grant argues that the chief reason for RaleighÕs educational success is the integration by social class that occurred when the city voluntarily merged with the surrounding suburbs in 1976 to create the Wake County Public School System. By contrast, the primary cause of SyracuseÕs decline has been the growing class and racial segregation of its metropolitan schools, which has left the city mired in poverty. Hope and Despair in the American City is a compelling study of urban social policy that combines field research and historical narrative in lucid and engaging prose. The result is an ambitious portraitÑsometimes disturbing, often inspiringÑof two cities that exemplify our nationÕs greatest educational challenges, as well as a passionate exploration of the potential for school reform that exists for our urban schools today.

How The Other Half Learns

How The Other Half Learns PDF Author: Robert Pondiscio
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525533753
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
An inside look at America's most controversial charter schools, and the moral and political questions around public education and school choice. The promise of public education is excellence for all. But that promise has seldom been kept for low-income children of color in America. In How the Other Half Learns, teacher and education journalist Robert Pondiscio focuses on Success Academy, the network of controversial charter schools in New York City founded by Eva Moskowitz, who has created something unprecedented in American education: a way for large numbers of engaged and ambitious low-income families of color to get an education for their children that equals and even exceeds what wealthy families take for granted. Her results are astonishing, her methods unorthodox. Decades of well-intended efforts to improve our schools and close the "achievement gap" have set equity and excellence at war with each other: If you are wealthy, with the means to pay private school tuition or move to an affluent community, you can get your child into an excellent school. But if you are poor and black or brown, you have to settle for "equity" and a lecture--about fairness. About the need to be patient. And about how school choice for you only damages public schools for everyone else. Thousands of parents have chosen Success Academy, and thousands more sit on waiting lists to get in. But Moskowitz herself admits Success Academy "is not for everyone," and this raises uncomfortable questions we'd rather not ask, let alone answer: What if the price of giving a first-rate education to children least likely to receive it means acknowledging that you can't do it for everyone? What if some problems are just too hard for schools alone to solve?

Improbable Scholars

Improbable Scholars PDF Author: David L. Kirp
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199391092
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
"In Improbable Scholars, David L. Kirp challenges the conventional wisdom about public schools and education reform in America through an in-depth look at Union City, New Jersey's high-performing urban school district. In this compelling study, Kirp reveals Union's city's revolutionary secret: running an exemplary school system doesn't demand heroics, just hard and steady work"--

The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil, Book 1)

The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil, Book 1) PDF Author: Soman Chainani
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007492944
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 411

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Book Description
THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is now a major motion picture from Netflix, starring Academy Award winner Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh, Cate Blanchett, and many more! A dark and enchanting fantasy adventure for those who prefer fairytales with a twist. The first in the bestselling series.

Never, Not Ever!

Never, Not Ever! PDF Author: Beatrice Alemagna
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780500296936
Category : Bats
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The animals are marching dutifully to school - but not Pascaline. It doesn't matter who is going. She knows exactly what she doesn't want. 'Never, not ever!' she shrieks loudly. So loudly, in fact, that something amazing happens - and it changes everything... Charming and laugh-out-loud funny, this irresistible first-day of school saga is sure to be a repeat read.

School for Bad Kids

School for Bad Kids PDF Author: Kamilla Zwolak
Publisher: Nelson Thornes
ISBN: 9780170101660
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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Book Description
Ben is sent to Miss Sharple's school for difficult children and experiences her evil punishments, horrid lessons and terrible food. But he soon discovers that she has something even more sinister planned for her students.

The Bad Guys

The Bad Guys PDF Author: Julie Federico
Publisher: WestBowPress
ISBN: 1449799507
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
The Bad Guys is a timely book that addresses a subject we wish was non-existent. The message of this book enables children to be aware of potential danger as well as how to communicate and respond in a time of crisis. Darrell Scott, Founder and President of Rachels Challenge All schools are safe havens for students but it is critically important for students to report threatening behavior from classmates and to take proper steps when their safety is at risk from outside intruders. This book shares some ideas on how to make school environments safer. Michael Kehoe, Chief of Police Newtown, Connecticut While we continue to work on building a safer and more aware society, this kind of book is important. The Bad Guys begins teaching kids what is normal to see at school and what is not, and what they should do if they hear or see something that does not seem normal in the context of school safety. Laura Fronckiewicz, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Colorado Chapter Co-Leader The Bad Guys: A Students/Teachers Guide to School Safety and Violence Prevention is a much needed guide to promote school safety and violence prevention. This book directs students on recognizing potential danger and preparation if such an event occurs. The book offers students a pro-active approach to violence prevention. As a supplement, staff members are supported by a teachers guide for educators, and bonus student journal section. Parents and educators will appreciate the simple, nonthreating language that creates a school safety message that every child must hear. This book has the potential to save many lives.

The Blab of the Paved

The Blab of the Paved PDF Author: Jeff Spanke
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1641139803
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
This narrative ethnography adopts an aesthetic lens to relay the various lived experiences of a non-traditional, Midwestern public high school during its final year in its original building. Extending upon previous research of high school dropouts, I examine how this one particular high school incorporated a self-paced curriculum with a focus on “family” to address the unique learning needs of students at risk of not graduating. By employing elements of grounded theory, narrative inquiry, and autoethnography, I share the stories of Walgut High School’s (a pseudonym) roughly sixty students as they struggle to navigate their respective roles in a dominant cultural narrative to which they’ve never felt like they belonged. Through the extensive and organic voices of the primary participants—as well as my observations of my own participation in the school culture over the course of a year—this project serves to offer insights not only into the school experiences of marginalized adolescents, but also into Walgut’s myriad successes and failures. In particular, this piece highlights the vitality of unconditionally caring or “hospitable” teachers (Derrida, 2000), while ultimately questioning the presumed utility of a high school diploma. The story concludes not by lauding the alternative mine created for Walgut’s canaries, but by questioning the purpose and stability of all scholastic minds. As American schools continue making strides to accommodate and support the complex and oftentimes contradictory needs of their students, what it means to succeed as a teacher in (and prepare teachers for) these diversified, inclusive learning spaces is growing increasingly complicated. Indeed, given the shifting paradigm of American public education, teacher preparation programs must continue to adapt their practices and philosophies in order to equip their teacher candidates with the skills needed not only to thrive but also find purpose and meaning in schools similar to this project’s Walgut. While this book doesn’t claim to offer any answers to the myriad questions concerning the future of public schools, it does endeavor to offer a springboard from which all education stakeholders can continue engaging in healthy and productive discussions of how best to prepare students (and teachers) for autonomous, democratic, curious, creative, and compassionate citizenship both in and apart from their academic communities. To this end, rather than write from a detached, traditionally academic vantage, I have sought in these pages to compose from a personal (albeit limited), passionate (albeit subjective) and participatory (albeit someone marginalized) perspective. In my pursuit of social justice for the characters of Walgut High School, I begin first by exposing my own privileged role in perpetuating injustice. Only through recognizing and naming our own demons can we ever begin to exorcize the System writ large. Thus, in this book’s lack, there is possibility; in its futility, hope.

Bad Girls in School

Bad Girls in School PDF Author: Gwyneth Harold
Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
ISBN:
Category : Behavior
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
When the bad behavior of Taj, Cal, and Kat disrupts life at Redeemer College for Girls, a special program is set up for their rehabilitation, but it remains to be seen whether or not they will take advantage of the opportunity.