Save Our Schools

"Saving Our Schools exposes the ugly side of President George Bush's "No Child Left Behind" mandate, which has threatened to close more than 6,000 public schools, to the detriment of dedicated teachers and disadvantaged children alike. Revealing how NCLB forces schools with strictly limited resources to teach its children test-taking skills in a desperate bid to pass high-stakes standardized testing, and how the government blacklists successful professors, institutions, and methods that balk the NCLB party line, and much more, Saving Our Schools warns of an immediate threat to the integrity of public education and urges the reader to take action. An eye-opening social commentary, of keen importance in determining the nation's future. -Midwest Book Review

Praise for the First Edition: "Barr and Parrett have provided educators, policy makers, and parents with an outstanding resource. If you′re serious about leaving no child behind, this is the one book you need to read." —Bill Scott, Executive Director Kentucky School Boards Association Praise for the Second Edition: "We now have the tools to ensure that all our students are successful—what a glorious time for schools, thanks to Robert Barr and William Parrett!" —Nancy Golden, Superintendent Springfield Public Schools, OR Improve achievement for all students with winning strategies that respond to NCLB requirements! Demonstrating that both struggling students and low-performing schools can show dramatic improvement, the authors provide lessons learned from experienced teachers to help educators effectively instruct students who are disadvantaged, culturally diverse, or who may be at risk. Featuring the voices of students, teachers, and administrators, this field-tested guide reviews NCLB mandates and encourages educators to: Establish priorities that focus on student learning Create a school and classroom climate of respect Maintain high expectations for academic performance Rely on results-driven instructional and assessment practices Collaborate with parents and families Saving Our Students, Saving Our Schools, Second Edition, is a valuable resource for educators who want to ensure positive school change and support academic success for their students.

From grade school to graduate school, from the poorest public institutions to the most affluent private ones, our educational system is failing students. In his provocative new book, cognitive scientist and bestselling author Roger Schank argues that class size, lack of parental involvement, and other commonly-cited factors have nothing to do with why students are not learning. The culprit is a system of subject-based instruction and the solution is cognitive-based learning. This groundbreaking book defines what it would mean to teach thinking. The time is now for schools to start teaching minds!

Work dedicated to educating each child appropriately and identifying at-risk youngsters by Grade Two and salvaging them by Grade Eight.

In an educational milieu in which standards and accountability hold sway, schools can become places of stress, marginalization, and isolation instead of learning communities that nurture a sense of meaning and purpose. In Ensouling Our Schools, author Jennifer Katz weaves together methods of creating schools that engender mental, spiritual, and emotional health while developing intellectual thought and critical analysis. Kevin Lamoureux contributes his expertise regarding Indigenous approaches to mental and spiritual health that benefit all students and address the TRC Calls to Action.

It has been said that education is merely a reflection of society. Pathway to Success explores the changes in our society that have had a profoundly negative impact on students by creating such "Barriers to Learning" that many students cannot overcome. Our middle schools and high schools have become so subject matter oriented that many students do not feel any connection to their school. Pathway to Success sets forth a plan to assist students to overcome the "Barriers to Learning."The plan is focused on the student, highly individualized and meaningful. It provides the student with a connection to the school like never before. Professional staff will know their students well as they implement their individual education plan. Students’ academic as well as their social needs will be met. Students, who display serious behavioral problems, including signs of mental disorders, will be referred to appropriate professionals for help. The implementation of this plan will promote greater student achievement; fewer discipline problems, and a safer school environment. It will make education not just a reflection of society but a changing force.

Don McAdams, one of a small group of activists elected to the Houston Independent School District Board of Education in 1989, provides a fast moving first-person account of successful reform in the nation’s seventh largest school district. With tact and wisdom, the author shows that school reform is seldom about reading, writing, and arithmetic. Rather, it is mostly about power, status, and money. This is a great story filled with conflict and surprising turns of fate. No one interested in politics, governance, and management of urban school districts can afford to miss Fighting to Save Our Urban Schools . . . and Winning!