In this groundbreaking book, Theodore and Nancy Sizer insist that students learn not just from their classes but from their school's routines and rituals, especially about matters of character. They convince us once again of what we may have forgotten: that we need to create schools that constantly demonstrate a belief in their students.
In From the Outside In, Carolyn T. Adams addresses the role of suburban elites in setting development agendas for urban municipalities and their larger metropolitan regions. She shows how major nongovernmental, nonmarket institutions are taking responsibility for reshaping Philadelphia, led by suburban and state elites who sit on boards and recruit like-minded suburban colleagues to join them. In Philadelphia and other American cities, Third Sector organizations have built and expanded hospitals, universities, research centers, performing arts venues, museums, parks, and waterfronts, creating whole new districts that are expanding outward from the city's historic downtown. The author draws on three decades of scholarship on Philadelphia and her personal experience in the city’s nonprofit world to argue that suburban elites have recognized the importance of the central city to their own future and have intervened to redevelop central city land and institutions. Suburban interests and state allies have channeled critical investments in downtown development and K–12 education. Adams contrasts those suburban priorities with transportation infrastructure and neighborhood redevelopment, two policy domains in which suburban elites display less strategic engagement. From the Outside In is a rich examination of the promise and difficulty of governance that is increasingly distinct from elected government and thus divorced from the usual means of democratic control within an urban municipality.
A critical challenge for urban charter/autonomous/independent schools is finding educational leaders with the courage to lead with authenticity; integrity and ingenuity. This title begins by cultivating the balance of self, personal and professional, that guides leaders to manage operational and educational demands of leading a school.
In dozens of places in New York City where a charter school and a traditional public school hold classes in the same building, charter school students in those buildings have achieved "proficiency" on statewide tests several times more often than traditional public school students taking the same tests. In 2013, a fifth-grade class in a Harlem charter school scored higher on a mathematics test than any other fifth-grade class in the entire state of New York. That included, as the New York Times put it, "even their counterparts in the whitest and richest suburbs, Scarsdale and Briarcliff Manor." Nationwide, charter schools have only a fraction of the number of students who attend traditional public schools. But charter schools enrollment is growing faster, especially in low-income minority communities. From 2001 to 2016, enrollment in traditional public schools rose 1 percent, while charter school enrollment rose 571 percent. In cities across the country, with many students on waiting lists to transfer into charter schools, public school officials are blocking charter schools from using school buildings that have been vacant for years, in order to prevent those transfers from taking place. Even in states where blocking charter schools from using vacant school buildings is illegal, the laws have been evaded. In some places, vacant school buildings have been demolished, making sure no charter schools can use them. Book jacket.
Based on their own in-depth study of 17 diverse charter schools in California and other recent studies from around the country, the authors explore how the laissez-faire policy of charter schools interacts with the lives of children, educators, and parents in diverse social, economic, and political contexts.
Controversies over the merits of public and private education have never been more prominent than today. This book evaluates public and private schooling, especially in regard to choices families must make for their children.While choice among publics schools is widely advocated today by families and states, public support for private education - including vouchers, tax credits, charter schools, and private contracting - is politically controversial. The authors accessibly describe what research shows as to the effects - for communities and children - of these approaches. They move beyond school choice to show how other factors - most notably the family - have a strong effect on a child's educational success. The book helps educators and parents better understand the rapidly changing educational environment and the important choices they make in educating the nation's children.
Public education in the United States faces an unprecedented crisis. The explosive growth of charter schools over the last two decades has shaken the status quo to its core. At stake are the future of public schools and how they will continue to educate our nation's youth. Clashes over money and ideologies have led to a struggle between the public education establishment and those at the forefront of educational reform. The conflict is being waged in the court of public opinion, as well as in courtrooms throughout the country. While the outcome is impossible to predict, both sides are preparing for a fight of David versus Goliath proportions. Collaboration is critical to the success of both. In Charter Storm, they use their combined knowledge and research of over 120 individual interviews over five years to teach you about-- - essential insights those new to the charter school movement need for their schools to survive and thrive - how aggressive educational establishment pushback threatens to sweep away the most vulnerable - key issues authorizers must know to effectively oversee their organizations - the overwhelming challenges the educational establishment faces today and how it can effectively navigate the changing local and national educational landscape - why active participation and support of charter school associations are essential to each charter school and the educational reform movement's long-term success - what every charter school parent needs to know to create and support an exceptional educational experience for his or her children.
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development