Challenging widely held beliefs about American public education, Jay Greene argues that many assumptions regarding funding, student capabilities, testing, and vouchers are misconceptions perpetuated by special interest groups. He suggests that the narrative surrounding the failures of public schools is misleading and calls for a reevaluation of the education system. By exposing these myths, Greene encourages readers to reconsider the true factors influencing educational outcomes and the potential for reform.
Expanding school choice and competition is the single most important action we can take to improve America's schools. Although school choice faces strong opposition from powerful teacher unions and their entrenched political allies, expanding choice via vouchers, charters, and tax credits has repeatedly been shown to improve student achievement, reduce segregation, promote civic values, and facilitate other productive reforms. This eloquent Broadside outlines the case for school choice and shows how it is the most appealing strategy for anyone serious about educational reform.
Christian teachers and students developing their own sense of the past will
benefit from exploring the variety of Christian historiographical approaches
described and evaluated in this volume.--Ian Clary Themelios
For many reasons, failure in education reform is rarely admitted. Even though
it is incredibly hard work to try and improve the enormous and diverse
American education system, because there are political consequences of
admitting that a particular effort did not live up to its promises and
pressure from philanthropic funders to show success, unsuccessful efforts are
often swept under the rug or papered over with public relations efforts that
avoid wrestling with the tough realities of educational improvement. This
doesn't help anyone. As any educator will tell you, failure is an essential
part of learning. Insofar as education reform needs to be a learning movement
itself, it has to be able to admit where it has failed and learn from it.
Failure Up-Close engages a select group of scholars from across the
ideological spectrum to examine particular education reform efforts of recent
years that have not succeeded and offer lessons for school and system
improvement that can be learned from them. Rather than view failure as
negative, this volume looks at failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. In
fact, the editors endeavored to find authors that would analyze reforms for
which they had some fundamental sympathy. The goal is not to bash particular
efforts or castigate their supporters but rather to help those supporters
understand how to do what they do better, and ultimately, do better for
children.
The mystery of the missing sock is no more in this compelling adventure. Walk with Stuart on his journey through the washing machine and learn what it is like to be a sock! A great book for young readers, but a fun story for all. Detailed illustrations that capsulate the imagination of the reader, allowing something new to be found during every read.
