In a field characterized by fads and short attention spans, Issues Facing Schools Today: The Challenges of Assessment, Bureaucracy and Consolidation is welcome indeed. The Parkersons explore the origins of school and district consolidation, educational bureaucracy, corporate influence, and political meddling in an organized and readable manner. In combination, these factors have produced an educational system that is ... Read moreboth alien to, and ineffective in educating, increasingly large number of our children. Although there is much to be done to reclaim the promise of education for all, the Parkersons remain cautiously optimistic.
Lorin Anderson, Carolina Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina As a long-time student of politics, I can say without hesitation that Issues Facing Schools Today is a timely treatment of an extremely important topic of contemporary public and elite discourse. Where we are in our thinking about education policy, and how we have come to this point, are often forgotten in public debate, though ignorance of the past undoubtedly increases the likelihood of making the same mistakes over and over again. The Parkersons' systematic treatment of themes central to the evolution of education policy provides a crucial context in which to view present and future changes in education policy. Their historical analysis of Assessment, Bureaucracy and Consolidation will no doubt better inform our deliberations regarding future directions in these policy areas, as well as identifying pitfalls in the formulation of education policy. Issues Facing Schools Today will be highly thought-provoking, unquestionably controversial, and will no doubt become essential reading for those propagating and studying educational reform-it's a winner.
Glenn Parker, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Purdue University The Parkersons' work is a must read for everyone interested in the major issues effecting our schools. Through careful historical analysis they argue that the trifecta of assessment, bureaucracy and consolidation is ultimately responsible for the crisis in public education today. This book is timely and immensely intriguing.
Herbert J. Walberg, Professor Emeritus & University Scholar, University of Illinois Chicago As school systems naively accepted and endorsed the consolidation of their local schools to fit a cost-saving business model, they forgot about educating their children. Issues Facing Schools Today is a superb, thoughtful overview of how this happened and its devastating impact on our children.
William Grobe, associate professor, Department of Educational Leadership, East Carolina University; past president, The National Association of Secondary School Principals Show Less