Download or read book Curriculum Community and Urban School Reform written by B. Franklin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-03-01 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book asserts that efforts to reform schools, particularly urban schools, are events that engender a host of issues and conflicts that have been interpreted through the conceptual lens of community.
Download or read book Curriculum Community and Urban School Reform written by B. Franklin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-03-01 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book asserts that efforts to reform schools, particularly urban schools, are events that engender a host of issues and conflicts that have been interpreted through the conceptual lens of community.
Download or read book Community Organizing for Urban School Reform written by Dennis Shirley and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Observers of all political persuasions agree that our urban schools are in a state of crisis. Yet most efforts at school reform treat schools as isolated institutions, disconnected from the communities in which they are embedded and insulated from the political realities which surround them. Community Organizing for Urban School Reform tells the story of a radically different approach to educational change. Using a case study approach, Dennis Shirley describes how working-class parents, public school teachers, clergy, social workers, business partners, and a host of other engaged citizens have worked to improve education in inner-city schools. Their combined efforts are linked through the community organizations of the Industrial Areas Foundation, which have developed a network of over seventy "Alliance Schools" in poor and working-class neighborhoods throughout Texas. This deeply democratic struggle for school reform contains important lessons for all of the nation's urban areas. It provides a striking point of contrast to orthodox models of change and places the political empowerment of low-income parents at the heart of genuine school improvement and civic renewal.
Download or read book Including Families and Communities in Urban Education written by Catherine Hands and published by IAP. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The work of school, family and community partnerships is complex and messy and demands a thoughtful and deep investigation. Currently, parent and community involvement does not draw on school reform and educational change literature and conversely the school change literature often ignores the crucial role that communities play in educational reform. This edited volume focuses on structural considerations regarding education and the school communities, school-level and family culture, and the interrelationships between the agency and actions of school personnel, family members, community citizens and students. This book extends the dialogue on school reform by looking at parent and community engagement initiatives as part of the school reform literature. The contributors illustrate the negative impact on students and their education when assumptions made by school personnel regarding the organization of education, the nature of families, and the contributions they should make to their children’s education are not challenged.
Download or read book Spinning Wheels written by Frederick M. Hess and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost everyone agrees that America's urban schools are a mess. But while this agreement has fostered widespread support for aggressive reform, Frederick Hess argues that much of what ails urban education is actually the result of continuous or fragmentary reform. Hess explains that political incentives drive school superintendents to promote reforms--to demonstrate that they are "making a difference." Superintendents have to do this quickly, both because their tenure is usually three years or less and because urban communities are anxious to see educational improvement. However, the nature of urban school districts makes it very difficult to demonstrate concrete short-term improvement. The result is what he terms "policy churn," which distracts teachers and principals from efforts to refine classroom teaching while seldom resulting in successful long-term changes. Hess argues that policymakers have misallocated resources by pursuing the "right" structure or the "best" pedagogy while paying insufficient attention to the more mundane--and more important--questions of how to implement, refine, and sustain a particular approach in their particular district. Hess explains that previous research on high-performing schools suggests that the best schools are characterized by focus and by an ability to develop expertise in specific approaches to teaching and learning. To help educators and policymakers adopt and nurture a focused agenda, he recommends institutional changes that increase the effectiveness of performance outcomes and reduce the incentives to emphasize symbolic reform.
Download or read book Professionalism and Community written by Karen Seashore Louis and published by Corwin. This book was released on 1995-03-24 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Authors Louis and Kruse examine the question: Why do some school communities succeed and others fail? They take a look at five urban schools that have been attempting restructuring for several years - enough time to show results. They describe how the development of a professional community - or the lack thereof - impacts the implementation of change and how teachers' efforts at professionalism can positively affect the process. Focusing on the structural, social, and human conditions of schooling, the authors describe how to form a professional community. Using their extensive research on professionalism, they develop a framework for evaluating the elements of community and then use the framework to present a cross-case analysis of various schools in the study. Professionalism and Community is a potent source of information for all policymakers and school leaders who are committed to long-term, effective change. It reveals a significant reason why so many well-intentioned, well-planned reforms fail, in spite of individual commitment and the heroic efforts of the participants. By observing those who have gone before, readers can learn important lessons from this study and discover the keys to making their own reform efforts work.
Download or read book Improving Urban Schools written by Chance W. Lewis and published by IAP. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) has been diversely defined by various researchers (e.g. Buck Institute, 2003; Capraro & Slough, 2009; Scott, 2009; Wolf, 2008), during the last decade, STEM education has gained an increasing presence on the national agenda through initiatives from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES). The rate of technological innovation and change has been tremendous over the past ten years, and this rapid increase will only continue. STEM literacy is the power to “identify, apply, and integrate concepts from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to understand complex problems and to innovate to solve them” (Washington State STEM, 2011, Internet). In order for U.S. students to be on the forefront of this revolution, ALL of our schools need to be part of the STEM vision and guide students in acquiring STEM literacy. Understanding and addressing the challenge of achieving STEM literacy for ALL students begins with an understanding of its element and the connections between them. In order to remain competitive, the Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy has recommended that the US optimize “its knowledge-based resources, particularly in science and technology” (National Academies, 2007, p. 4). Optimizing knowledge-based resources needs to be the goal but is also a challenge for ALL educators (Scheurich & Huggins, 2009). Regardless, there is little disagreement that contemporary society is increasingly dependent on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and thus comprehensive understandings are essential for those pursuing STEM careers. It is also generally agreed that PK-12 students do not do well in STEM areas, both in terms of national standards and in terms of international comparisons (Kuenzi, Matthews, & Mangan, 2006; Capraro, Capraro, Yetkiner, Corlu, Ozel, Ye, & Kim, 2011). The question then becomes what might PK-12 schools do to improve teachers’ and students’ STEM knowledge and skills? This book will look at equity and access issues in STEM education from PK-12, university, and administrative and policy lenses.
Download or read book So Much Reform So Little Change written by Charles M. Payne and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This frank and courageous book explores the persistence of failure in today's urban schools. At its heart is the argument that most education policy discussions are disconnected from the daily realities of urban schools, especially those in poor and beleaguered neighborhoods. Charles M. Payne argues that we have failed to account fully for the weakness of the social infrastructure and the often dysfunctional organizational environments of urban schools and school systems. The result is that liberals and conservatives alike have spent a great deal of time pursuing questions of limited practical value in the effort to improve city schools. Payne carefully delineates these stubborn and intertwined sources of failure in urban school reform efforts of the past two decades. Yet while his book is unsparing in its exploration of the troubled recent history of urban school reform, Payne also describes himself as "guardedly optimistic." He describes how, in the last decade, we have developed real insights into the roots of school failure, and into how some individual schools manage to improve. He also examines recent progress in understanding how particular urban districts have established successful reforms on a larger scale. Drawing on a striking array of sources--from the recent history of various urban school systems, to the growing sophistication of education research, to his own experience as a teacher, scholar, and participant in reform efforts--Payne paints a vivid and unmistakably realistic portrait of urban schools and reforms of the past few decades. So Much Reform, So Little Change will be required reading for everyone interested in the plight--and the future--of urban schools.
Download or read book Detroit School Reform in Comparative Contexts written by Edward St. John and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-08 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book critically examines how the narrative of global economic competition was used to rationalize college preparatory curriculum for all high school students and promote charter schools in Detroit. Using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, the study identifies neighborhood risk factors undermining students’ academic success, along with the positive effects of churches and service centers as mitigating forces. The authors focus on a range of topics and issues including market competition, urban decline, community resources, testing and accountability, smaller schools, and engaged learning. The volume illustrates how action studies by engaged scholars working with community activists empowers students to overcome emerging barriers.
Download or read book A Decade of Urban School Reform written by S. Paul Reville and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Decade of Urban School Reform looks at this critical era in the Boston schools and distills valuable insights and lessons for school leaders and reformers everywhere. In the last decade, the Boston Public Schools has undergone critical reforms that have been of intense interest to school leaders and policymakers throughout the country. Under the leadership of superintendent Thomas Payzant, the Boston schools implemented extensive reform strategies that yielded notable results. Fittingly, at the end of Payzant's superintendency in September 2006, the Boston Public Schools received the Broad Prize for Urban Education for being the most improved urban school district in the country. With chapters that explore questions pertaining to governance, human resources, instruction, data collection, disabilities, community engagement, and other topics, the book offers a detailed, comprehensive portrait of a school system managing the complex and daunting tasks of system-wide reform. The result is a timely, in-depth contribution to the small group of indispensable writings on urban school reform.
Download or read book Community Action for School Reform written by Howell S. Baum and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2003-08-14 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents an innovative community approach to educational improvement. Community Action for School Reform tells the story of a partnership between Baltimore community activists and a university as they created an organization to improve neighborhood schools. The book examines the challenges they faced, such as persuading community members that they had the necessary knowledge to do something about the schools, starting and sustaining an organization, conducting and using research, engaging the school system, and funding their work. By analyzing the group's experiences, the author describes the challenges any school reform effort must address and shows directions for success.
Download or read book Ghetto Schooling written by Jean Anyon and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that without fundamental change in government and business policies and restoring political power and economic opportunities to inner-city residents and the redirection of major resources back into the schools and the communities they serve, urban schools are consigned to failure, and no effort at raising standards, improving teaching, or boosting achievement can occur.
Download or read book Changing Urban Education written by Clarence Nathan Stone and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With critical issues like desegregation and funding facing our schools, dissatisfaction with public education has reached a new high. Teachers decry inadequate resources while critics claim educators are more concerned with job security than effective teaching. Though urban education has reached crisis proportions, contending players have difficulty agreeing on a common program of action. This book tells why. Changing Urban Education confronts the prevailing naivete in school reform by examining the factors that shape, reinforce, or undermine reform efforts. Edited by one of the nation's leading urban scholars, it examines forces for change and resistance in urban education and proposes that the barrier to reform can only be overcome by understanding how schools fit into the broader political contexts of their cities. Much of the problem with our schools lies with the reluctance of educators to recognize the profoundly political character of public education. The contributors show how urban political contexts vary widely with factors like racial composition, the role of the teachers' union, and relations between cities and surrounding metropolitan areas. Presenting case studies of original field research in Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, and six other urban areas, they consider how resistance to desegregation and the concentration of the poor in central urban areas affect education, and they suggest how cities can build support for reform through the involvement of business and other community players. By demonstrating the complex interrelationship between urban education and politics, this book shows schools to be not just places for educating children, but also major employers and large spenders of tax dollars. It also introduces the concept of civic capacity—the ability of educators and non-educators to work together on common goals—and suggests that this key issue must be addressed before education can be improved. Changing Urban Education makes it clear to educators that the outcome of reform efforts depends heavily on their political context as it reminds political scientists that education is a major part of the urban mix. While its prognosis is not entirely optimistic, it sets forth important guidelines that cannot be ignored if our schools are to successfully prepare children for the future.
Download or read book Community Control and the Urban School written by Mario D. Fantini and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1970 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book It Takes a City written by Paul T. Hill and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2001-09-19 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mayoral takeovers of big city public education systems are desperation measures. After decades of decline in school quality, something must be done to make sure city children learn enough to function as adults in American society. But how can city leaders make a real difference? This book, a sequel to Fixing Urban Schools (Brookings, 1998), is a practical guide for mayors, civic leaders, school board members, and involved citizens. Based on case studies of city reform initiatives in Boston, Memphis, New York City District #2, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Seattle, the book provides practical guidance on how to formulate a plan bold enough to work and how to deal with political opposition to change. It concludes that mayors and private sector leaders must stay engaged in education reform by creating new public-private institutions to support high quality schools.
Download or read book Small Schools and Urban Youth written by Gilberto Q. Conchas and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2007-08-23 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Finally, educators leading the movement to smaller high schools have a resource they can draw upon for guidance and direction. This book offers clear, practical advice on how to create small schools that are effective in meeting student needs." —Pedro Noguera, Professor New York University "Relevant, individualized, and an insightful read. This book will be useful for any school system working to develop small learning communities." —Nancy Betler, Teacher Mentor Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, NC Learn about big educational results in smaller schools! Educators are increasingly turning to small learning communities, which have proven to be highly effective in facilitating academic engagement and achievement, particularly among low-income urban students. This in-depth sociological study reveals the unique aspects of this movement and: Examines the structural and cultural features of small learning communities and small schools in two major urban cities Highlights students′ perspectives on school culture, personalization, and student involvement Offers timely suggestions to benefit students at all levels and in every educational setting Based on original research, this text offers school leaders and policy makers a deeper understanding of the broad, positive impact of small school reform.
Download or read book Handbook of Urban Education written by H. Richard Milner IV and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-04-14 with total page 715 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second edition of the Handbook of Urban Education offers a fresh, fluid, and diverse range of perspectives from which the authors describe, analyze, and offer recommendations for urban education in the US. Each of the seven sections includes an introduction, providing an overview and contextualization of the contents. In addition, there are discussion questions at the conclusion of many of the 31 chapters. The seven sections in this edition of the Handbook include: (1) Multidisciplinary Perspectives (e.g., economics, health sciences, sociology, and human development); (2) Policy and Leadership; (3) Teacher Education and Teaching; (4) Curriculum, Language, and Literacy; (5) STEM; (6) Parents, Families, and Communities; and (7) School Closures, Gentrification, and Youth Voice and Innovations. Chapters are written by leaders in the field of urban education, and there are 27 new authors in this edition of the Handbook. The book covers a wide and deep range of the landscape of urban education. It is a powerful and accessible introduction to the field of urban education for researchers, theorists, policymakers and practitioners as well as a critical call for the future of the field for those more seasoned in the field.