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Improbable Scholars
David L. Kirp
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Description for Improbable Scholars
Paperback. Num Pages: 272 pages. BIC Classification: 1KBB; JNF. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 237 x 157 x 20. Weight in Grams: 368.
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 ... Read moreCity, 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. Show Less
Product Details
Publisher
Oxford University Press United Kingdom
Place of Publication
New York, United States
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
About David L. Kirp
David L. Kirp, a nationally-known education expert, is James D. Marver Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. In seventeen books and scores of articles in newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, American Prospect, and the Atlantic, as well as in leading ... Read moreacademic journals, he has covered the education waterfront from cradle to college. After the 2008 election, he served on President Obama's Transition Team. Show Less
Reviews for Improbable Scholars
What Kirp considers an exemplary public school system that is a demonstrable improvement over what generally prevails now is replicable everywhere, requiring only fiercely hard work. Teachers, concerned parents, political leaders-Kirp's book has something for everyone, and it deserves the widest possible audience discussion." - Kirkus (starred review) Improbable Scholars is one of the most hopeful books that I have ... Read moreread in a long time. It shows why there are no quick fixes and how schools succeed. He describes a model of success that can be achieved in every school."-Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System 'There are no quick fixes' " is the thoroughly researched and pragmatic counsel offered by Kirp after his year of observing Union City, New Jersey's public school system...Kirp's warm portraits of talented teachers, squirmy students, and visionary leaders prepare the ground for his indictment of today's soulless test-taking culture and illustrate the effectiveness of Union City's "plan-do-review" approach to systemwide policy making...Slow and steady really does win the race." -Booklist (starred review) In Improbable Scholars David Kirp has discerned the essence of what our students and our public education system need: competent and caring classroom teachers and paraprofessionals, working in concert with other adults to surround students with the academic and non-academic supports that deeply impact their learning. This riveting book reminds us that, while there is no magic bullet, long-term success is possible. Labor-management collaborations and community involvement are critical for creating lasting school transformation." -Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers At a time when would-be reformers offer a plethora of miracle cures, Improbable Scholars digs deep into the complexity of transforming urban schools from classroom teaching to the political leadership and community support needed to ensure access and opportunity for all learners. David Kirp's ability to connect his observations with research provides evidence that the strategies used by Union City are grounded in sustainable-and replicable-reforms."-Dr. Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools In Improbable Scholars, David Kirp challenges the conventional wisdom fueling today's school reform agenda. With his trademark insight and fluid prose, Kirp uses a high-achieving urban district to argue that coherence and patience count for more than incentives and a 'no excuses' mindset, while pressing the case for a kinder, gentler vision of school reform. Agree with Kirp or not, educators, parents, and would-be reformers need to read this book, reflect on it, and argue about it."-Frederick M. Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute Improbable Scholars is a once-in-a-generation book on what will matter most in education over the next generation: giving our immigrant-origin students a real chance to achieve the American Dream. This extraordinary account takes the reader from the classroom to the mayor's office, vividly detailing how a poor urban school district has brought Latino immigrant kids into the mainstream. The story, masterfully told by one of our foremost thinkers in education today, goes beyond the facile cure-alls, clichés, and yes, magical thinking, that plague much writing in education today. This is the one book everyone interested in authentic models for change needs to read." -Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, Dean and Distinguished Professor, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies Impressive...describes seven guiding principles for how other school systems can achieve sustained educational success.
Publishers Weekly
This powerful book exposes one of the greatest lies in America - that 'perform-or-die' accountability for teachers and choice for students will cure what ails public education - and reveals the real way forward. With a gifted writer's eye for telling detail and a gifted scholar's sense of the big picture, Kirp shows how a school system in one of the nation's poorest cities is succeeding without these so-called reforms, and in so doing uncovers the essentials for remaking American education. Brilliant and important."-Robert B. Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Show Less
