Download or read book The Wisdom and Wit of Diane Ravitch written by Diane Ravitch and published by People & Society. This book was released on 2019-03-25 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diane Ravitch is a lightning rod in American Society. She is a fearless defender of public education as the foundation stone of democracy. In this unique collection of her most important writings, Diane Ravitch provides remarkable insights into her seminal thinking on public education, and on the dangers to democracy of treating parents as consumers, students as products, and teachers as compliant followers of commercial scripts. In the Foreword, Yohuru Williams writes that by reading these essays, "we all can harness the power of her insights for the fight ahead." He states: "Those currently in the struggle, for example, may appreciate the opportunity for reflection on how far we have come and the road we have left to travel. Those new to the struggle may find a source for imitation and inspiration as well as a blueprint for engagement. It is as important and necessary now as it was a decade ago. Finally for the veterans, the book can offer new stimulation and encouragement to carry on, despite the feelings of being worn down and perhaps a bit bitter from so many years of fighting the good fight." In the following pages, you will encounter some of Diane's most inspired and insightful writings full of the wit and wisdom that have made her an icon among teachers, community leaders, students, and activists concerned with preserving public education. Diane's unwavering support of public education has made her a national treasure. Public school teachers love her. In The Wisdom and Wit of Diane Ravitch Diane shines a light on their courage and endurance. She inspires them. But through her writing she also strikes fear into the hearts of all those - oligarchs, politicians, hedge fund financiers, and corporate reformers - who are intent on dismantling public schools and turning them into corporate money makers. Similarly, through her pen, Diane confronts the detractors of public education and exposes the nefarious purposes of the Common Core, high stakes testing, and corporate reform. She names names - Bill Gates, Eva Moskowitz, Mark Zuckerberg, David Coleman, Charles and David Koch, and the Waltons. Essentially, Diane has a most extraordinary talent for encouraging readers to inhabit what's happening in the texts that she is writing. We stand beside her and take up the challenge of resisting, persisting, and pushing down the risks to children whose public schools are in jeopardy and who are growing up in a democracy that is in peril. Her goal is to bring hope to all those educators who have been disrespected by plutocrats. In these writings, she does exactly that.

Download or read book Understanding and Using Challenging Educational Theories written by Karl Aubrey and published by SAGE Publications Limited. This book was released on 2024-08-30 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introducing: 20 key educational thinkers who have offered challenging perspectives on education Exploring: Their ideas, how to apply them in practice and their relevance to teaching and learning today. Understanding: The strengths and limitations of each theory and links to other concepts. This third edition includes: Two new chapters on the works of Diane Ravitch and Gloria Ladson-Billings Revamped reflective tasks with a greater practical focus for the classroom Fully updated chapters with links to current educational socio-political developments, and expanded critical commentary This is an essential textbook for any university course that includes learning theory, with particular relevance for initial teacher education, education studies and early childhood degrees. Karl Aubrey has recently retired from his post at Bishop Grosseteste University. Alison Riley is the Programme Leader for the BA Early Childhood Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University. The perfect companion to Aubrey & Riley: Understanding and Using Educational Theories 3e (9781529761306).

Download or read book Slaying Goliath written by Diane Ravitch and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2020-01-21 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of the foremost authorities on education in the United States, Slaying Goliath is an impassioned, inspiring look at the ways in which parents, teachers, and activists are successfully fighting back to defeat the forces that are trying to privatize America’s public schools. Diane Ravitch writes of a true grassroots movement sweeping the country, from cities and towns across America, a movement dedicated to protecting public schools from those who are funding privatization and who believe that America’s schools should be run like businesses and that children should be treated like customers or products. Slaying Goliath is about the power of democracy, about the dangers of plutocracy, and about the potential of ordinary people—armed like David with only a slingshot of ideas, energy, and dedication—to prevail against those who are trying to divert funding away from our historic system of democratically governed, nonsectarian public schools. Among the lessons learned from the global pandemic of 2020 is the importance of our public schools and their teachers and the fact that distance learning can never replace human interaction, the pesonal connection between teachers and students.

Download or read book Reign of Error written by Diane Ravitch and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2014-08-26 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of the foremost authorities on education in the United States, former U.S. assistant secretary of education, an incisive, comprehensive look at today’s American school system that argues against those who claim it is broken and beyond repair; an impassioned but reasoned call to stop the privatization movement that is draining students and funding from our public schools. In a chapter-by-chapter breakdown she puts forth a plan for what can be done to preserve and improve our public schools. She makes clear what is right about U.S. education, how policy makers are failing to address the root causes of educational failure, and how we can fix it.

Download or read book What If Everybody Understood Child Development written by Rae Pica and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understand the connection between how kids grow and how they learn After 35 years as an education consultant, Rae Pica knows the importance of understanding the natural course of child development. In this collection, she keeps kids front and center as she provides thought-provoking commentary and actionable insights on topics such as the Common Core, the self-esteem movement, and standardized testing. Sure to inspire discussion, this pocket-size powerhouse of educational philosophy includes 29 short essays on topics critical to best practice in child development and education Opinions of experts supported by research and anecdotal evidence Real-life stories shared by teachers and parents References to related articles and interviews with experts

Download or read book Troublemaker written by Chester E. Finn, Jr. and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2008-02-04 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few people have been more involved in shaping postwar U.S. education reforms--or dissented from some of them more effectively--than Chester Finn. Assistant secretary of education under Ronald Reagan, and an aide to politicians as different as Richard Nixon and Daniel Moynihan, Finn has also been a high school teacher, an education professor, a prolific and best-selling writer, a think-tank analyst, a nonprofit foundation president, and both a Democrat and Republican. This remarkably varied career has given him an extraordinary insider's view of every significant school-reform movement of the past four decades, from racial integration to No Child Left Behind. In Troublemaker, Finn has written a vivid history of postwar education reform that is also the personal story of one of the foremost players--and mavericks--in American education. Finn tells how his experiences have shaped his changing views of the three major strands of postwar school reform: standards-driven, choice-driven, and profession-driven. Of the three, Finn now believes that a combination of choice and standards has the greatest potential, but he favors this approach more on pragmatic than ideological grounds, arguing that parents should be given more options at the same time that schools are allowed more flexibility and held to higher performance norms. He also explains why education reforms of all kinds are so difficult to implement, and he draws valuable lessons from their frequent failure. Clear-eyed yet optimistic, Finn ultimately gives grounds for hope that the best of today's bold initiatives--from charter schools to technology to makeovers of school-system governance--are finally beginning to make a difference.

Download or read book School Boards in America written by G. Maeroff and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-11-14 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: School boards spend almost $500 billion in taxpayer-provided funds, they employ more than 6 million people, offering pensions and lifetime health benefits that have helped build the obligation that has put state governments in fiscal peril. This book lifts the veil of obscurity from school boards and makes readers think about the issues.

Download or read book Saints and Scamps written by Steven M. Cahn and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1994 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An incisive and witty probe into ethics of the academic world.

Download or read book Fear and Learning in America written by John Kuhn and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2014-02-21 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this moving account, “America’s Superintendent” John Kuhn lays bare the scare tactics at the root of the modern school “reform” movement. Kuhn conveys a deeply held passion for the mission and promise of public education through his own experience as a school administrator in Texas. When his “Alamo Letter” first appeared in the Washington Post, it galvanized the educational community in a call to action that was impossible to ignore. This powerful book requires us to question whether the current education crisis will be judged by history as a legitimate national emergency or an agenda-driven panic, spurred on by a media that is, for the most part, uninterested in anything but useless soundbites. Essential reading for teachers, administrators, policymakers, and everyone concerned with public education, Fear and Learning in America: Analyzes school reform from the perspective of a practicing school administrator who isn’t sold on the corporate reform package.Places school reform in the historical context of similar episodes of national hand-wringing.Offers encouragement and appreciation to classroom teachers who are exhausted by the vilification that modern school reform has served up. “John Kuhn’s book is packed with more wisdom than any 10 books that I have read about American education. It is the wisdom born of experience. It is the wisdom of a man who cares about children, families, and community.” —From the Foreword by Diane Ravitch, author of Reign of Error “In Fear and Learning in America, John Kuhn weaves together stories from his life as a teacher and missionary with tales from history. The result is a fresh way of thinking about schools and educational policy. Refuting A Nation at Risk, Mr. Kuhn warns, persuasively, of ‘a rising tide of inequality.’ His message, artfully delivered in this important book, should be heeded.” —John Merrow, education correspondent, PBS NewsHour, and president, Learning Matters, Inc. “Kuhn is a superb educator and his valuable book effectively dissects the myths about today’s high-stakes testing environment and the worsening conditions under which educators are expected to make miracles every day, or else. His cogent arguments against such policies demonstrate what is really important and should inform the debate about public education.” —Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers “This book is a brilliantly clear defense of public education as our nation’s most valuable asset. John Kuhn fearlessly names the fact that today’s education reformers, like the renowned emperor, wear no clothes.” —Christine Sleeter, professor emerita, California State University Monterey Bay

Download or read book Learning by Heart written by Tony Wagner and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A page turner. With candor and clarity, Tony Wagner tells the story of his remarkable life and, in so doing, tells the story of our education system.” —Angela Duckworth, Founder and CEO, Character Lab, and New York Times bestselling author of Grit One of the world's top experts on education delivers an uplifting memoir on his own personal failures and successes as he sought to become a good learner and teacher. Tony Wagner is an eminent education specialist: he has taught at every grade level from high school through graduate school; worked at Harvard; done significant work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and speaks across the country and all over the world. But before he found his success, Wagner was kicked out of middle school, expelled from high school, and dropped out of two colleges. Learning by Heart is his powerful account of his years as a student and teacher. After struggling in both roles, he learned to create meaningful learning experiences despite the constraints of conventional schooling--initially for himself and then for his students--based on understanding each student's real interests and strengthening his or her intrinsic motivations. Wagner's story sheds light on critical issues facing parents and educators today, and reminds us that trial and error, resilience, and respect for the individual, are at the very heart of all teaching and learning.

Download or read book A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door written by Jack Schneider and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2023-03-07 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A trenchant analysis of how public education is being destroyed in overt and deceptive ways—and how to fight back In the “vigorous, well-informed” (Kirkus Reviews) A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, the co-hosts of the popular education podcast Have You Heard expose the potent network of conservative elected officials, advocacy groups, funders, and think tanks that are pushing a radical vision to do away with public education. “Cut[ing] through the rhetorical fog surrounding a host of free-market reforms and innovations” (Mike Rose), Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire lay bare the dogma of privatization and reveal how it fits into the current context of right-wing political movements. A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door “goes above and beyond the typical explanations” (SchoolPolicy.org), giving readers an up-close look at the policies—school vouchers, the war on teachers’ unions, tax credit scholarships, virtual schools, and more—driving the movement’s agenda. Called “well-researched, carefully argued, and alarming” by Library Journal, this smart, essential book has already incited a public reckoning on behalf of the millions of families served by the American educational system—and many more who stand to suffer from its unmaking. “Just as with good sci-fi,” according to Jacobin, “the authors make a compelling case that, based on our current trajectory, a nightmare future is closer than we think.”

Download or read book Suzanne Davis Gets a Life written by Paula Marantz Cohen and published by Paul Dry Books. This book was released on 2014-04-03 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Incredibly charming…Suzanne Davis Gets a Life has an emotional honesty and moments of real wisdom."—Philadelphia Inquirer Cohen "portrays timeless and universal challenges through a buoyant combination of humor, pathos, and gumption."—Booklist "Suzanne Davis Gets a Life isn't just seriously entertaining, it's entertainingly serious…I want my romantic comedy heroines to have wit, but I want them to have character too, and be as interested in the world as in themselves. Paula Marantz Cohen has given me all of that."—Margo Jefferson A "witty commentary on contemporary life, enriched by a funny, flawed, and likable heroine."—Kirkus "Ms. Cohen is a perceptive, comic writer."—Wall Street Journal Suzanne Davis lounges around her tiny New York City apartment in her pajamas, writing press releases for the International Association of Air-Conditioning Engineers, listening to the ticking of her biological clock, and wondering where life is taking her. As her 35th birthday looms, Suzanne embarks on a wrong-headed, but very funny, quest—to find Mr. Right and start the family she hopes will give meaning to her life. Her quest plunges us into the world of her Upper West Side apartment building, a world of overly invested mothers, fanatical dog-owners, curmudgeonly longtime residents, and young (and not so young) professionals. All are keenly observed by Suzanne, whose witty self-deprecation endears her to us even as it makes us want to shake some sense into her. Light in its tone but incisive in its social satire, Suzanne Davis Gets a Life balances its wit with true concern for its protagonist. We can’t help but wish Suzanne success in “getting a life.” But can such a search possibly yield the meaning she craves? When her extremely annoying mother arrives on the scene, it appears that her plan has been hijacked. But serious illness opens her to new people and a new perspective. She ends by getting a life—even as she may lose one.

Download or read book Common Sense written by Joel Greenblatt and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States is supposed to offer economic opportunity to everyone. It shouldn’t take a worldwide pandemic and nationwide protests to bring economic and racial inequality to the forefront of problems we desperately need to solve. But now that the opportunity is here, what should we do? How can we create more equality, opportunity, and growth for everyone? Not someday, but what can government and the private sector do right now to disrupt a status quo that almost everyone wants to change? In Common Sense, the New York Times best-selling author Joel Greenblatt offers an investor’s perspective on building an economy that truly works for everyone. With dry wit and engaging storytelling, he makes a lively and provocative case for disruptive new approaches—some drawn from personal experience, some from the outside looking in. How can leading corporations immediately disrupt our education establishment while creating high-paying job opportunities for those currently left behind? If we want a living wage for everyone, how can we afford it while using an existing program to get it done now? If we subsidize banks, what simple changes can we make to the way we capitalize and regulate them to help grow the economy, increase access, and create more jobs (while keeping the risks and benefits where they belong)? Greenblatt also explains how dramatically increasing immigration would be like giving every American a giant bonus and the reason Australia might be the best place to learn about saving for retirement. Not everyone will agree with what Greenblatt has to say—but all of us can benefit from the conversations he aims to start.

Download or read book The End of Education written by Neil Postman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-06-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this comprehensive response to the education crisis, the author of Teaching as a Subversive Activity returns to the subject that established his reputation as one of our most insightful social critics. Postman presents useful models with which schools can restore a sense of purpose, tolerance, and a respect for learning.

Download or read book The Man Who Saved New York written by Seymour P. Lachman and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2011 Empire State History Book Award presented by New York State Archives Partnership Trust The Man Who Saved New York offers a portrait of one of New York's most remarkable governors, Hugh L. Carey, with emphasis on his leadership during the fiscal crisis of 1975. In this dramatic and colorful account, Seymour P. Lachman and Robert Polner's examine Carey's youth, military service, and public career against the backdrop of a changing, challenged, and recession-battered city, state, and nation. It was Carey's leadership, Lachman and Polner argue, that helped rescue the city and state from the brink of financial and social ruin. While TV comedians mocked and tabloids shrieked about the Big Apple's rising muggings, its deteriorating public services, and the threats and walkouts by embattled police, firefighters, and teachers, all amid a brutal recession, Carey and his team managed to hold on and ultimately prevailed, narrowly preventing a huge disruption to the state, national, and global economy. At one point, the city came within a few hours of having to declare itself incapable of paying its debts and obligations, but in the end stability and consensus prevailed, and America's largest city stayed out of bankruptcy court. The center held. Based on extensive interviews with Carey and his family, as well as numerous friends, observers, and former advisors, including Steven Berger, David Burke, John Dyson, Peter Goldmark, Judah Gribetz, Richard Ravitch, and Felix Rohatyn, The Man Who Saved New York aims to place Carey and his achievements at the center of the financial maelstrom that met his arrival in Albany. While others were willing to let the city go into default, Carey was strongly opposed, since it would not only affect the state as a whole but would have reverberations both nationally and internationally. In recounting the 1975 rescue of New York City and the aftershocks that nearly sank the state government, Lachman and Polner illuminate the often-volatile interplay among elite New York bankers, hard-nosed municipal union leaders, the press, and influential conservatives and liberals from City Hall to the Albany statehouse to the White House. Although often underappreciated by the public, it was Carey's force of will, wit, intellect, judgment, and experiences that allowed the state to survive this unparalleled ordeal and ultimately to emerge on a stronger footing. Further, Lachman and Polner argue, Carey's accomplishment is worth recalling as a prime example of how governments—local, state, and federal—can work to avoid the renewed the threat of bankruptcy that now confronts many overstretched states and localities.

Download or read book The Educated Mind written by Kieran Egan and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Educated Mind offers a bold and revitalizing new vision for today's uncertain educational system. Kieran Egan reconceives education, taking into account how we learn. He proposes the use of particular "intellectual tools"—such as language or literacy—that shape how we make sense of the world. These mediating tools generate successive kinds of understanding: somatic, mythic, romantic, philosophical, and ironic. Egan's account concludes with practical proposals for how teaching and curriculum can be changed to reflect the way children learn. "A carefully argued and readable book. . . . Egan proposes a radical change of approach for the whole process of education. . . . There is much in this book to interest and excite those who discuss, research or deliver education."—Ann Fullick, New Scientist "A compelling vision for today's uncertain educational system."—Library Journal "Almost anyone involved at any level or in any part of the education system will find this a fascinating book to read."—Dr. Richard Fox, British Journal of Educational Psychology "A fascinating and provocative study of cultural and linguistic history, and of how various kinds of understanding that can be distinguished in that history are recapitulated in the developing minds of children."—Jonty Driver, New York Times Book Review

Download or read book In Defense of a Liberal Education written by Fareed Zakaria and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2015-03-30 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CNN host and best-selling author Fareed Zakaria argues for a renewed commitment to the world’s most valuable educational tradition. The liberal arts are under attack. The governors of Florida, Texas, and North Carolina have all pledged that they will not spend taxpayer money subsidizing the liberal arts, and they seem to have an unlikely ally in President Obama. While at a General Electric plant in early 2014, Obama remarked, "I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree." These messages are hitting home: majors like English and history, once very popular and highly respected, are in steep decline. "I get it," writes Fareed Zakaria, recalling the atmosphere in India where he grew up, which was even more obsessed with getting a skills-based education. However, the CNN host and best-selling author explains why this widely held view is mistaken and shortsighted. Zakaria eloquently expounds on the virtues of a liberal arts education—how to write clearly, how to express yourself convincingly, and how to think analytically. He turns our leaders' vocational argument on its head. American routine manufacturing jobs continue to get automated or outsourced, and specific vocational knowledge is often outdated within a few years. Engineering is a great profession, but key value-added skills you will also need are creativity, lateral thinking, design, communication, storytelling, and, more than anything, the ability to continually learn and enjoy learning—precisely the gifts of a liberal education. Zakaria argues that technology is transforming education, opening up access to the best courses and classes in a vast variety of subjects for millions around the world. We are at the dawn of the greatest expansion of the idea of a liberal education in human history.