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Author: Diane Ravitch
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2001-07-31
Total Pages: 566
ISBN-13: 0743203267
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In this authoritative history of American education reforms in this century, a distinguished scholar makes a compelling case that our schools fail when they consistently ignore their central purpose--teaching knowledge.
Author: Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2008-02-04
Total Pages: 377
ISBN-13: 140082821X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Few people have been more involved in shaping postwar U.S. education reforms--or dissented from some of them more effectively--than Chester Finn. Assistant secretary of education under Ronald Reagan, and an aide to politicians as different as Richard Nixon and Daniel Moynihan, Finn has also been a high school teacher, an education professor, a prolific and best-selling writer, a think-tank analyst, a nonprofit foundation president, and both a Democrat and Republican. This remarkably varied career has given him an extraordinary insider's view of every significant school-reform movement of the past four decades, from racial integration to No Child Left Behind. In Troublemaker, Finn has written a vivid history of postwar education reform that is also the personal story of one of the foremost players--and mavericks--in American education. Finn tells how his experiences have shaped his changing views of the three major strands of postwar school reform: standards-driven, choice-driven, and profession-driven. Of the three, Finn now believes that a combination of choice and standards has the greatest potential, but he favors this approach more on pragmatic than ideological grounds, arguing that parents should be given more options at the same time that schools are allowed more flexibility and held to higher performance norms. He also explains why education reforms of all kinds are so difficult to implement, and he draws valuable lessons from their frequent failure. Clear-eyed yet optimistic, Finn ultimately gives grounds for hope that the best of today's bold initiatives--from charter schools to technology to makeovers of school-system governance--are finally beginning to make a difference.
Author: Diane Ravitch
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
Published: 2010-03-02
Total Pages: 298
ISBN-13: 0465014917
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Discusses how school choice, misapplied standards of accountability, the No Child Left Behind mandate, and the use of a corporate model have all led to a decline in public education and presents arguments for a return to strong neighborhood schools and quality teaching.
Author: Diane Ravitch
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 2020-01-21
Total Pages: 352
ISBN-13: 0525655387
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →From one of the foremost authorities on education in the United States, Slaying Goliath is an impassioned, inspiring look at the ways in which parents, teachers, and activists are successfully fighting back to defeat the forces that are trying to privatize America’s public schools. Diane Ravitch writes of a true grassroots movement sweeping the country, from cities and towns across America, a movement dedicated to protecting public schools from those who are funding privatization and who believe that America’s schools should be run like businesses and that children should be treated like customers or products. Slaying Goliath is about the power of democracy, about the dangers of plutocracy, and about the potential of ordinary people—armed like David with only a slingshot of ideas, energy, and dedication—to prevail against those who are trying to divert funding away from our historic system of democratically governed, nonsectarian public schools. Among the lessons learned from the global pandemic of 2020 is the importance of our public schools and their teachers and the fact that distance learning can never replace human interaction, the pesonal connection between teachers and students.
Author: Brian Seldon
Publisher:
Published: 1991
Total Pages: 20
ISBN-13: 9781871591156
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: Douglas N. Harris
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2020-07-15
Total Pages: 320
ISBN-13: 022669478X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In the wake of the tragedy and destruction that came with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, public schools in New Orleans became part of an almost unthinkable experiment—eliminating the traditional public education system and completely replacing it with charter schools and school choice. Fifteen years later, the results have been remarkable, and the complex lessons learned should alter the way we think about American education. New Orleans became the first US city ever to adopt a school system based on the principles of markets and economics. When the state took over all of the city’s public schools, it turned them over to non-profit charter school managers accountable under performance-based contracts. Students were no longer obligated to attend a specific school based upon their address, allowing families to act like consumers and choose schools in any neighborhood. The teacher union contract, tenure, and certification rules were eliminated, giving schools autonomy and control to hire and fire as they pleased. In Charter School City, Douglas N. Harris provides an inside look at how and why these reform decisions were made and offers many surprising findings from one of the most extensive and rigorous evaluations of a district school reform ever conducted. Through close examination of the results, Harris finds that this unprecedented experiment was a noteworthy success on almost every measurable student outcome. But, as Harris shows, New Orleans was uniquely situated for these reforms to work well and that this market-based reform still required some specific and active roles for government. Letting free markets rule on their own without government involvement will not generate the kinds of changes their advocates suggest. Combining the evidence from New Orleans with that from other cities, Harris draws out the broader lessons of this unprecedented reform effort. At a time when charter school debates are more based on ideology than data, this book is a powerful, evidence-based, and in-depth look at how we can rethink the roles for governments, markets, and nonprofit organizations in education to ensure that America’s schools fulfill their potential for all students.
Author: Joel I. Klein
Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations
Published: 2014-05-14
Total Pages: 120
ISBN-13: 087609521X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The United States' failure to educate its students leaves them unprepared to compete and threatens the country's ability to thrive in a global economy and maintain its leadership role. This report notes that while the United States invests more in K-12 public education than many other developed countries, its students are ill prepared to compete with their global peers. According to the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment that measures the performance of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science every three years, U.S. students rank fourteenth in reading, twenty-fifth in math, and seventeenth in science compared to students in other industrialized countries. The lack of preparedness poses threats on five national security fronts: economic growth and competitiveness, physical safety, intellectual property, U.S. global awareness, and U.S. unity and cohesion, says the report. Too many young people are not employable in an increasingly high-skilled and global economy, and too many are not qualified to join the military because they are physically unfit, have criminal records, or have an inadequate level of education. The report proposes three overarching policy recommendations: implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security; make structural changes to provide students with good choices; and, launch a "national security readiness audit" to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness.
Author: Darlene Leiding
Publisher: R&L Education
Published: 2009-10-16
Total Pages: 182
ISBN-13: 1607094088
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Public education in the United States does not fulfill either the educational needs or the social needs of children. Its deficiencies have serious negative consequences in our political system, our economy, and within our social and cultural affairs. We must seek to improve education through research, policy analysis, and the development of alternatives to existing policies and practices. Educational reform should include promoting greater parental choice in education, a competitive educational industry, and other policies that address the problems of both public and private schools. The ultimate goal is improved student achievement, especially in our nation's cities, where large numbers of students, are not reaching the levels of achievement they need in order to live successful lives as adults. This book explores some of the unique characteristics of school reform and focuses on the role of poverty in reform, including the negative effects of low-income neighborhoods on the youth who reside there, concluding that reducing poverty can lead to more positive academic behavior and success. Reform Can Make a Difference enables readers to look at different reform programs that are available for schools and determine which model, if any, will fit their needs. The book assists schools in designing their own reform model that will help address issues students and families have with public schools.
Author: James P. Comer
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Published: 1996-06-15
Total Pages: 212
ISBN-13: 9780807735398
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This volume presents specifics of the School Development Program holistic model in action, a plan that received the 1996 Heinz Award for improving the quality of American education. Topics discussed include childrens psychosocial development, group dynamics of effective school communities, teacher preparation and school/university partnerships, appropriate alignment of classroom content to standardized tests, increased student engagement and learning time, research and evaluation, community health, government initiatives, and school/business partnerships.
Author: Dr. Floyd McDowell
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Published: 2016-03-03
Total Pages: 128
ISBN-13: 1514453347
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →RELEVANT VALUE-LADEN QUOTATIONS Our nations education decision-makers should put top priority on investment in the human potential of our children and youth as they are one hundred per cent of our future. " Any nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never will be."...President Thomas Jefferson " One form of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results."...Dr. Albert Einstein " One very important objective of education is to help our children develop a lifelong love of learning so they will effectively educate themselves throughout their lives." " Human potential, though not readily apparent, is there waiting to be discovered and invited forth."... Dr. William W. Purkey, Co-Founder of the International Alliance for Invitational Education " The four broad goals of education are competency and confidence in personal adequacy, social competency, economic efficiency and civic responsibility." " We learn and retain: 10% of what we see; 15% of what we hear; 20% of what we both see and hear; 40% of what we discuss with others; 80% of what we experience directly or practice; and 90% of what we attempt to teach others."...National Training Laboratory Students are diverse people to be unfolded by best knowledge educational practices, not things to be molded by superimposed, unconnected, costly, winners-losers, one-size-fits-all standardized test driven projects. To predict students scores on standardized tests, simply check the postal mailing zip code which show the sociio-economic level of their home and communities." Children and others do not care how much we know until they know how much we care. " Excellence can be achieved if one: Cares more than others think is wise; Risks more than others think is safe; Dreams more than others think is practical; and expects more than others think is possible." " There are limitations on what we can do alone; There are few, if any, limitations to what we can do together." " Our minds are like parachutes and umbrellas: They won't work unless open." The height and stability of the pinnacle is directly related to the breadth and strength of the base. Overheard in a teachers lounge: One of my jobs is to help kids keep lids on their ids. " The only title in our democracy superior to that of President is the title of Citizen."...Former Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
