Improbable scholars : the rebirth of a great American school system and a strategy for America's schools / David L. Kirp.

By:

Kirp, David L [author.]

Material type: Text

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9780199987504
0199987505

Other title:

Rebirth of a great American school system and a strategy for America's schools

Subject(s): Genre/Form:

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Improbable scholars.DDC classification:

371.2/070974926 23

LOC classification:

LB2822.83.N5 K57 2013eb

Other classification:

SOC000000 | EDU000000 | POL028000

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

Introduction : High Stakes -- The Pie : Room 210, George Washington Elementary School -- New Kids on the Block : George Washington Elementary School -- Gruntwork : The Endless Business of Building a Great School System -- The Magic Kingdom : Preschool for All -- Mother Teresa meets Mayor Daley : Good Schools = Smart Politics -- Can These Eagles Soar? Union City High School -- Where Fun Comes to Die (And Be Reborn) : George Washington Elementary School-Reprise -- The Odyssey Continues : Union City School System, One Year Later -- What Union City Can Teach America : Nationwide, Slow and Steady Wins the Race.

Summary: "No school district can be all charismatic leaders and super-teachers. It can't start from scratch, and it can't fire all its teachers and principals when students do poorly. Great charter schools can only serve a tiny minority of students. Whether we like it or not, most of our youngsters will continue to be educated in mainstream public schools. The good news, as David L. Kirp reveals in Improbable Scholars, is that there's a sensible way to rebuild public education and close the achievement gap for all students. Indeed, this is precisely what's happening in a most unlikely place: Union City, New Jersey, a poor, crowded Latino community just across the Hudson from Manhattan. The school district--once one of the worst in the state--has ignored trendy reforms in favor of proven game-changers like quality early education, a word-soaked curriculum, and hands-on help for teachers. When beneficial new strategies have emerged, like using sophisticated data-crunching to generate pinpoint assessments to help individual students, they have been folded into the mix. The results demand that we take notice--from third grade through high school, Union City scores on the high-stakes state tests approximate the statewide average. In other words, these inner-city kids are achieving just as much as their suburban cousins in reading, writing, and math. What's even more impressive, nearly ninety percent of high school students are earning their diplomas and sixty percent of them are going to college. Top students are winning national science awards and full rides at Ivy League universities. These schools are not just good places for poor kids. They are good places for kids, period. Improbable Scholars offers a playbook--not a prayer book--for reform that will dramatically change our approach to reviving public education"--Provided by publisher.

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"No school district can be all charismatic leaders and super-teachers. It can't start from scratch, and it can't fire all its teachers and principals when students do poorly. Great charter schools can only serve a tiny minority of students. Whether we like it or not, most of our youngsters will continue to be educated in mainstream public schools. The good news, as David L. Kirp reveals in Improbable Scholars, is that there's a sensible way to rebuild public education and close the achievement gap for all students. Indeed, this is precisely what's happening in a most unlikely place: Union City, New Jersey, a poor, crowded Latino community just across the Hudson from Manhattan. The school district--once one of the worst in the state--has ignored trendy reforms in favor of proven game-changers like quality early education, a word-soaked curriculum, and hands-on help for teachers. When beneficial new strategies have emerged, like using sophisticated data-crunching to generate pinpoint assessments to help individual students, they have been folded into the mix. The results demand that we take notice--from third grade through high school, Union City scores on the high-stakes state tests approximate the statewide average. In other words, these inner-city kids are achieving just as much as their suburban cousins in reading, writing, and math. What's even more impressive, nearly ninety percent of high school students are earning their diplomas and sixty percent of them are going to college. Top students are winning national science awards and full rides at Ivy League universities. These schools are not just good places for poor kids. They are good places for kids, period. Improbable Scholars offers a playbook--not a prayer book--for reform that will dramatically change our approach to reviving public education"--Provided by publisher.