School Reform Proposals
School Reform Proposals

Author: Alex Molnar

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2002-04-01

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 1607525534

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Twelve American academics and researchers contribute 13 chapters to this text reviewing current research on the conditions, policies, and practices in the reform of the American public school system. Coverage includes an examination of schools as institutions, and their structures; the teachers who deliver public education; and various proposals to replace all or part of the traditional public education system with institutions from outside that system. The reforms examined include examples of those which have clearly demonstrated their effectiveness, and others of questionable value. For scholars, policymakers, and citizens interested in education reform. No subject index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

U.S. Education is in Trouble, Let's Fix It!
U.S. Education is in Trouble, Let's Fix It!

Author: Richard W. Garrett

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2023-07-17

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1475872488

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Changes to Improve Schools is a book about educational reform. Richard Garrett has spent ten years researching the U.S. K-12 system to find things in need of improvements. The book has 17 chapters that cover a wide range of topics such as the performance of American students, classroom discipline, and apprehensions younger graduates face when deciding to pursue educational fields.

The School Reform Landscape Reloaded
The School Reform Landscape Reloaded

Author: Christopher H. Tienken

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-10-30

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1475850301

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The School Reform Landscape Reloaded: More Fear, Myths, and Lies peels back the curtain of school reform to examine the tensions that exist between the democratic and equitable system of public education and the emerging dual system based on elite interests aimed at profit-making and decreasing education equity. The author takes in-depth and controversial look at school reform since the launch of Sputnik I. Education reform events, proposals, and policies are examined through the lens of progressivist philosophy and critical social theory. Some of the issues and policies critiqued include the neoliberal corporate influence on education, the Sputnik myth, A Nation At Risk, standardization, charter schools, and other relevant topics. The author provides an evidence-based view of the free-market reform ideas and he pierces the veil of the new reform policies to find that they are not built upon empirical evidence, but instead rest solidly on foundations of myth, fear, and lies. Ideas for a new set of reform policies, based on empirical evidence and supportive of a unitary, equitable, and democratic system of education are presented.

The School Reform Landscape
The School Reform Landscape

Author: Christopher H. Tienken

Publisher: R&L Education

Published: 2013-02-22

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 1475802595

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In The School Reform Landscape: Fear, Mythologies, and Lies, the authors take an in-depth and controversial look at school reform since the launch of Sputnik. They scrutinize school reform events, proposals, and policies from the last 60 years through the lens of critical social theory and examine the ongoing tensions between the need to keep a vibrant unitary system of public education and the ongoing assault by corporate and elite interests in creating a dual system. Some of events, proposals, and policies critiqued include the Sputnik myth, A Nation At Risk, No Child Left Behind, the lies of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, and other common reform schemes. The authors provide an evidence-based contrarian view of the free-market reform ideas and pierce the veil of the new reform policies to find that they are built not upon empirical evidence, but instead rest solidly on foundations of myth, fear, and lies. Ideas for a new set of reform policies, based on empirical evidence and supportive of a unitary, democratic system of education are presented.

Tinkering toward Utopia
Tinkering toward Utopia

Author: David B. TYACK

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 0674044525

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For over a century, Americans have translated their cultural anxieties and hopes into dramatic demands for educational reform. Although policy talk has sounded a millennial tone, the actual reforms have been gradual and incremental. Tinkering toward Utopia documents the dynamic tension between Americans' faith in education as a panacea and the moderate pace of change in educational practices. In this book, David Tyack and Larry Cuban explore some basic questions about the nature of educational reform. Why have Americans come to believe that schooling has regressed? Have educational reforms occurred in cycles, and if so, why? Why has it been so difficult to change the basic institutional patterns of schooling? What actually happened when reformers tried to reinvent schooling? Tyack and Cuban argue that the ahistorical nature of most current reform proposals magnifies defects and understates the difficulty of changing the system. Policy talk has alternated between lamentation and overconfidence. The authors suggest that reformers today need to focus on ways to help teachers improve instruction from the inside out instead of decreeing change by remote control, and that reformers must also keep in mind the democratic purposes that guide public education.

Edutopia
Edutopia

Author: Winston Apple

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2003-10

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 0595300162

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For some time now, we have been inundated with a steady stream of books and articles detailing the problems plaguing public education. Edutopia goes beyond the criticisms to offer a comprehensive list of proposed reforms addressing the problems. The general thrust of these proposals is to de-regulate education, removing elements of compulsion, and giving students and parents the freedom to make meaningful choices with regard to the nature of their educational experiences. The reforms proposed in Edutopia go well beyond quick fixes and fresh coats of paint, to offer parents and students meaningful alternatives to the present system of public education in America.

The Graveyard of School Reform
The Graveyard of School Reform

Author: William L. Fibkins

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-06-16

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1475814550

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Graveyard of School Reform: Why the Resistance to Change and New Ideas explores the critical role resistance plays in defeating valued programs for students, parents, and staff. It is time for education reformers to face the hard truths about the skilled and destructive forces of resisters and to learn that good ideas and calls for change are not enough. Reformers need to learn how to overcome these entrenched forces and muster new skills with the will to win, courage, and the persistence required. Resistance has been given little attention for far too long considering the huge cost and the loss of programs we desperately need. Fibkins argues that reformers often accept defeat when they should be discovering new ways to win. As an education reformer Fibkins has observed far too many necessary programs meet an untimely death due to the naivety of reformers. By reviewing lessons learned from other failed reforms and analyzing successful reforms, Fibkins new book addresses issues and presents doable models for reformers to succeed and deliver what administrators, staff, parents, students, and community members need to make their schools the best they can be.

Fixing Urban Schools
Fixing Urban Schools

Author: Paul T. Hill

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2010-12-01

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 0815716257

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Every year, in one out of three big cities, the school superintendent leaves his or her job, sending local community leaders back to square one. Cleveland, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., are struggling to recreate their failed school systems, and many more cities are likely to follow. City leaders need more than new superintendents. They need stable reform strategies strong enough to move an entrenched system. Unfortunately, it is not clear where they can turn for help. Education experts are deeply divided about whether teacher retraining or new standards are enough to reform a struggling city system, or whether more fundamental changes, such as family choice and family-run schools, are needed. Based on new research, this book identifies the essential elements of reform strategies that can transform school performance in big cities beset by poverty, social instability, racial isolation, and labor unrest. It also suggests ways that local leaders can assemble the necessary funding and political support to make such strategies work.

The Challenge of School Reform
The Challenge of School Reform

Author: Lewis C. Solmon

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1607525631

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This work expands on the ideas and themes discussed in the first two volumes in this series on education policy: The first book — Talented Teachers: The Essential Force for Improving Student Achievement — examines the importance of teacher quality. Years of research have repeatedly confirmed what we inferred to be true—outside of the home environment, the quality of a student’s teacher has the strongest impact on learning. After talented teachers were found to be a powerful component for bettering education, the second book — Improving Student Achievement: Reforms that Work — introduces reform ideas and programs that positively impact both teacher quality and student work. Now, The Challenges of School Reform: Implementation, Impact, and Sustainability deepens these discussions by exploring the answers to questions regarding ensuring the longevity and sustained success of effective school reform.