The School Reform Landscape Reloaded

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.

This book culminates five years of extensive field-based inquiry with teachers and principals in four reforming school contexts. It arises from living alongside teachers and principals, entering into their realities, engaging them in conversations, seeing school life through their eyes, and employing the words and images they use to wrap around their experiences. It involved thinking narratively about schools as sites of high drama within which teachers and principals negotiate meaning as knowledgeable and knowing human beings. It gave primacy to everyday events taking shape on school landscapes. It meant creating spaces and devoting enormous amounts of time to observing and listening hard to what teachers and principals say and do when reform initiatives become personally lived in context--from their points of view.

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.

Education Restated: Getting Policy Right on Accountability, Teacher Pay, and School Choice offers the education policy community a roadmap for change in three hot-button policy areas. In each of these areas policy has been anchored around the wrong core values. By putting the right core values at the heart of policy, state governments can create more favorable conditions for education improvement at the local level. Education Restated takes a pragmatic approach to policy change, recognizing that the forces that created today’s policies have not gone away—and that on complex issues there are legitimate competing interests. This book harmonizes the best ideas of opposing policy camps and identifies opportunities to strengthen connections between K-12 and early childhood. For advocates seeking common ground with historical adversaries, Education Restated provides some ideas on where they might find it.

From the student teacher interested in educational policy to thenew school board member dedicated to school improvement, thisdistinctive reader is for anyone who cares about innovation andchange in the nation's schools. The Jossey-Bass Readers on SchoolReform offers a definitive collection of articles, book excerpts,and seminal reports on educational reform and its many challenges. Containing selected commission reports and other public documentsthat signal important shifts in the policy arena, you'll listen inas expert contributors debate controversial issues such as schoolchoice, desegregation, bilingual education, school finance, andstudent needs, offering diverse policy perspectives and givingreaders a rich and seasoned view of the reform landscape. You'llalso gain insight into issues of school governance and organizationand examine how reforms in teaching, testing, curriculum, andstandards are changing classrooms, schools, and the profession ofteaching. Grounded in scholarship and filled with wisdom, TheJossey-Bass Reader on School Reform is a comprehensive introductionto the complexities of educational change and what we can do tomake reform lasting and meaningful.

The Risky Business of Education Policy focuses commentary and analysis on some of the most pressing policy challenges facing public school educators and those invested in a healthy, vibrant public-school system. The book shares insights and makes recommendations from leading scholar-practitioners, namely from educational leadership and science education, on ways to ponder, navigate, and challenge serious policy issues. The chapters present important policy topics and critical analysis of the topics from the authorial perspective of experienced educators leading the preparation of future school leaders and teachers. Through fast paced, user-friendly chapters, contributors grapple with an education reform policy issue of the day, reflecting what is contentious territory while wading through it. These educational researchers also make evidence-informed practical recommendations for educators and policymakers on how to better approach the policy challenges presented, so public education can be improved for all children. Each chapter contains stimulating ideas, useful information, and practical tips for school practitioners, higher education faculty, and constituent groups.

The Eighth Edition of Contemporary Curriculum: In Thought and Action prepares readers to participate in the discussion of curriculum control and other matters important to K-12 and university educators. The text highlights major philosophies and principles, examines conflicting conceptions of curriculum, and provides the intellectual and technical tools educators and administrators need for constructing and implementing curriculum.

This title in the Opposing Viewpoints Series examines different facets of school reform, such as the role of politics in school reform, school vouchers and charter schools, and the impact of standardized testing in the wake of Common Core.