In this provocative and practical book, author Eric Nadelstern provides a proven-effective blueprint for narrowing the achievement gap in our schools, especially for children of color who have been historically underserved. The author, one of the chief architects of the New York City reforms under Joel Klein, discusses the cutting-edge changes that were implemented in the last decade in NYC and identifies the ten most important lessons learned about whole-school-system improvement. In this last decade, NYCs public schools underwent extensive reforms that increased graduation rates by 30%the first significant increase in more than 50 years. For the first time, this book presents an insiders view of the Bloomberg-Klein years and the reforms that transformed the nations largest school system. 10 Lessons from New York City Schools is a must-read for those who believe schools can succeed and for all those who want to understand how.
It is now time to break down the ideology of exceptionalism in the United States and other Anglo-American nations if we are to develop reforms that will truly inspire our teachers to improve learning for all our studentsespecially those who struggle the most. In that essential quest, Pasi Sahlberg is undoubtedly one of the very best teachers of all. From the Foreword by Andy Hargreaves, Lynch School of Education, Boston College Finnish Lessons is a first-hand, comprehensive account of how Finland built a world-class education system during the past three decades. The author traces the evolution of education policies in Finland and highlights how they differ from the United States and other industrialized countries. He shows how rather than relying on competition, choice, and external testing of students, education reforms in Finland focus on professionalizing teachers work, developing instructional leadership in schools, and enhancing trust in teachers and schools. This book details the complexity of educational change and encourages educators and policymakers to develop effective solutions for their own districts and schools.
If you lived anywhere else in the country, you would probably send your child to your neighborhood high school. In New York City, it’s much more complicated than that. But what parent has time to research hundreds of school options? To help you choose a high school that is just right for your child, Clara Hemphill and her colleagues at Insideschools visited nearly all of the city’s 400 high schools. This essential revision of the critically acclaimed parents’ guide features new school profiles; invaluable advice to help parents and students through the stressful admissions process; and new sections on alternative schools, vocational schools, and schools for students learning English. Featuring interviews with teachers, parents, and students, this guide uncovers the “inside scoop” about school atmosphere, homework, student stress, competition among students, the quality of teachers, gender issues, the condition of the building, class size, and much more. “For [this] third edition I looked for schools that spark students’ curiosity, broaden their horizons, and help them develop into thoughtful, caring adults.” —Clara Hemphill Praise for Clara Hemphill’s Parents’ Guides! New York Daily News... “Brisk, thoughtful profiles of topnotch, intriguing schools.” Big Apple Parent... “Hemphill has done for schools what Zagat’s did for restaurants.” New York Magazine... “Thoughtful, well-researched…required reading.” The New York Times... “A bible for urban parents.”
Written in an accessible style, the papers in this volume document and analyse particular components of the Children First reforms, including governance, community engagement, finance, accountability, and instruction. Aimed at instituting evidence-based practices to produce higher and more equitable outcomes for all students, the policies that comprise the Children First initiative represent an attempt at organisational improvement and systemic learning.
The memoir of an innovative American educator and the remarkable school she built—“a lucid presentation of what progressive education can accomplish” (The New York Times). Over a century ago, American educator Caroline Pratt created an innovative school that fosters creativity and independent thought by asking the provocative question: “Was it unreasonable to try to fit the school to the child, rather than . . . the child to the school?” A strong-willed small-town schoolteacher who ran a one-room schoolhouse by the time she was seventeen, Pratt came to viscerally reject the teaching methods of her day, which often featured a long-winded teacher at the front of the room and rows of miserable children sitting on benches nailed to the floor. In this “persuasive presentation of progressive education,” Pratt recounts how she founded what is now the dynamic City and Country School in New York City, invented the “unit blocks” that have become a staple in classrooms around the globe, and played an important role in reimagining preschool and primary-school education in ways that are essential for the tumultuously creative time we live in today (Kirkus Reviews).
New York Times Bestseller (Education) The Economist Best Books of the Year Selection In this revealing and provocative memoir, the former chancellor of the New York City schools offers the behind-the-scenes story of the city’s dramatic campaign to improve public education and an inspiring blueprint for national reform. In 2002 New York City’s newly elected mayor, Michael Bloomberg, made a historic announcement: his administration had won control of the city’s school system in a first step toward reversing its precipitous decline. In a controversial move, he appointed Joel Klein, an accomplished lawyer from outside the education establishment, to lead this ambitious campaign. Lessons of Hope is Klein’s inside account of his eight-year mission of improvement: demanding accountability, eliminating political favoritism, and battling a powerful teachers union that seemed determined to protect a status quo that didn’t work for kids. Klein’s initiatives resulted in more school choice, higher graduation rates, and improved test scores. The New York City model is now seen as a national standard for meaningful school reform. But the journey was not easy. Klein faced resistance and conflict at every turn. Lessons of Hope lays bare the problems plaguing public education and shows how they can be solved. At its core lies Klein’s personal story: his humble upbringing in Brooklyn and Queens, and the key role that outstanding public school teachers played in nurturing his success. Engaging and illuminating, Lessons of Hope is essential reading for anyone concerned about the future of American public education.
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.
Starting Up is a collection of first-person accounts by some of the best-known founders of new schools in America. Providing the kind of knowledge that only experience can teach, it is an invaluable resource for anyone in the process of or thinking about opening a new school, as well as those interested in the politics of today’s era of new school development. The authors share how they worked to make their educational aspirations a reality while wrestling with social and economic obstacles, such as the distressed state of the communities in which these schools operated and the constant competition for resources. Starting Up tells real stories that capture the rich sense of possibility that currently exists for urban education. Book Features: Behind the scenes accounts from the founders of innovative K–12 schools created to better serve primarily poor communities across the country. Lessons learned from school leaders, including both the rewards and challenges associated with starting a new school. An introduction by Pedro Noguera that situates start ups within current economic and political realities. Lisa Arrastía is the middle school principal at United Nations International School in New York. Her work in the classroom is the focus of the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary Making the Grade. Marvin Hoffman is the founding director of The University of Chicago Charter School, North Kenwood/Oakland campus and the associate director of the University’s Urban Teacher Education Program. “These are educators who recognize that although urban public schools are often deeply flawed and dysfunctional, they don’t have to be, and they are educators who act on the belief that it is possible to create schools that nurture and support the hopes and aspirations of those they serve.” —From the Foreword by Pedro Noguera, New York University “How might we reimagine our schools? This book offers a guide from those who have experienced firsthand the trials and tribulations of trying to create a school from the bottom up. It asks all the right questions, both the practical and the pedagogical. It feels like essential reading as we reconsider how our urban schools should look and function.” —Alex Kotlowitz, bestselling author of There Are No Children Here and The Other Side of the River
The inspiring true story of the first Girl Scout troop founded for and by girls living in a shelter in Queens, New York, and the amazing, nationwide response that it sparked “A powerful book full of powerful women.”—Chelsea Clinton Giselle Burgess was a young mother of five trying to provide for her family. Though she had a full-time job, the demands of ever-increasing rent and mounting bills forced her to fall behind, and eviction soon followed. Giselle and her kids were thrown into New York City’s overburdened shelter system, which housed nearly 60,000 people each day. They soon found themselves living at a Sleep Inn in Queens, provided by the city as temporary shelter; for nearly a year, all six lived in a single room with two beds and one bathroom. With curfews and lack of amenities, it felt more like a prison than a home, and Giselle, at the mercy of a broken system, grew fearful about her family’s future. She knew that her daughters and the other girls living at the shelter needed to be a part of something where they didn’t feel the shame or stigma of being homeless, and could develop skills and a community they could be proud of. Giselle had worked for the Girl Scouts and had the idea to establish a troop in the shelter, and with the support of a group of dedicated parents, advocates, and remarkable girls, Troop 6000 was born. New York Times journalist Nikita Stewart settled in with Troop 6000 for more than a year, at the peak of New York City’s homelessness crisis in 2017, getting to know the girls and their families and witnessing both their triumphs and challenges. In Troop 6000, readers will feel the highs and lows as some families make it out of the shelter while others falter, and girls grow up with the stress and insecurity of not knowing what each day will bring and not having a place to call home, living for the times when they can put on their Girl Scout uniforms and come together. The result is a powerful, inspiring story about overcoming the odds in the most unlikely of places. Stewart shows how shared experiences of poverty and hardship sparked the political will needed to create the troop that would expand from one shelter to fifteen in New York City, and ultimately inspired the creation of similar troops across the country. Woven throughout the book is the history of the Girl Scouts, an organization that has always adapted to fit the times, supporting girls from all walks of life. Troop 6000 is both the intimate story of one group of girls who find pride and community with one another, and the larger story of how, when we come together, we can find support and commonality and experience joy and success, no matter how challenging life may be.
Big cities have mostly failed in their efforts to reform public schools. This book shows why, and offers a framework for achieving future success. Fullan and Boyle, internationally renowned thinkers on school change, demonstrate that while the educational challenges of big cities can be overwhelming, they are not insurmountable. They identify six essential "push" and "pull" actions that can enable big school systems to improve student achievement. Leaders need to push to challenge the staus quo, convey a high sense of urgency, and have the courage needed to intervene. But they need to also pull together to create a commonly owned strategy, develop a profesisonal power of capital, and attend to sustainability. Examining three major cities, New York, Toronto, and London, through the decade of 2002 - 2012. this book weaves case studies with careful analysis and recommendations to hone in on which policies and strategies generate quality implementation that in turn raise the bar for all students and reduce the gap for the disadvantaged. Big-City School Reforms offers invaluable advice to those leading the next phase of school reform in cities around the world.
