public schools

"Traces the emergence of corporate reform and describes how its tenets run counter to ... the key elements of a high-quality education. McGill draws from a wealth of experience as a school superintendent for over 40 years, including his tenure in Scarsdale during the 2001 district-wide boycott of New York State standardized tests. Showing how strong leaders working with teachers and the community have been able to strengthen schools, the author offers a model of [public] school reform that will prepare students for the 21st century."--Provided by publisher.

Presents a comprehensive examination of the data collectedon the academic structure of schools in America through sustained visits to over one thousand classrooms and carefully documented assessments of over twenty-seven thousand students, educators, and parents.

Examines the potential improvement to schools that strengthened relationships between teachers, parents, and principals could produce, discussing communication, teachers and principals as learners, and how to build a "community of learners.".

A history of one hundred and seventy-five years of teaching in America shows that teachers have always borne the brunt of shifting, often impossible expectations. Understanding the historical perspective, and the political and cultural baggage that is tied to teaching, is crucial if we have any hope of positive change. American education's many passages, including the feminization of teaching in the 1800's and the growth of unions, shows that the battles fought over nearly two centuries echo the very dilemmas we cope with today. Recent innovations like Teach for America, merit pay, and teacher evaluation via student testing are actually as old as public schools themselves. Long-festering ambivalence about teachers--are they civil servants or academic professionals?--and unrealistic expectations that the schools alone should compensate for poverty's ills have driven the most ambitious people from becoming teachers or prevented those that do, from sticking with it.

"A brilliant young scholar's history of 175 years of teaching in America shows that teachers have always borne the brunt of shifting, often impossible expectations. In other nations, public schools are one thread in a quilt that includes free universal child care, health care, and job training. Here, schools are the whole cloth. Today we look around the world at countries like Finland and South Korea, whose students consistently outscore Americans on standardized tests, and wonder what we are doing wrong. Dana Goldstein first asks the often-forgotten question: "How did we get here?" She argues that we must take the historical perspective, understanding the political and cultural baggage that is tied to teaching, if we have any hope of positive change. In her lively, character-driven history of public teaching, Goldstein guides us through American education's many passages, including the feminization of teaching in the 1800s and the fateful growth of unions, and shows that the battles fought over nearly two centuries echo the very dilemmas we cope with today. Goldstein shows that recent innovations like Teach for America, merit pay, and teacher evaluation via student testing are actually as old as public schools themselves. Goldstein argues that long-festering ambivalence about teachers--are they civil servants or academic professionals?--and unrealistic expectations that the schools alone should compensate for poverty's ills have driven the most ambitious people from becoming teachers and sticking with it. In America's past, and in local innovations that promote the professionalization of the teaching corps, Goldstein finds answers to an age-old problem"--.

Examines the history, problems, and concerns of public education in America.

Joel Klein, former chancellor of the New York City schools, offers a behind-the-scenes story of the city's campaign to improve public education.

Examines how Horace Mann's vision of tax-supported public schools has influenced the educational system in the United States and discusses where the government has deviated from that vision and where they have remained true to its original purpose.

Most of the programs intended to deal with drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, violence, etc have failed because, according to William Kilpatrick, schools and parents have abandoned the moral teaching they once provided. Kilpatrick shows how we can correct this problem by providing our youngsters with the stories, models and inspiration they need in order to lead good lives.