My Reading List
When I started writing with the intent of having my work published, it was hard to get over the ego hump—to believe I had something meaningful to say and someone else would want to read it. I still am fascinated by the idea that others might be interested in my opinions and analysis!
With that in mind, I decided to post the following list of the education-related books I’ve read over the past year. It seems only fair that readers have some notion of what—in addition to past experiences—contributes to my thinking. (FYI, the hyperlinks are to book reviews. I did not to link to Amazon because I’m a big believer in supporting local, independent book stores…like 57th Street Books in Hyde Park!).
The Little School System That Could: Transforming a City School District, By Daniel L. Duke, 2008
The Moderates Dilemma: Massive Resistance to School Desegregation in Virginia, Edited By Matthew D. Lassiter & Andrew B. Lewis, 1998
Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count, By Richard E. Nisbett, 2009
Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America, By Paul Tough, 2008
Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach For America, By Donna Foote, 2008
Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America, By Jay Mathews, 2009
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets, By Sudhir Venkatesh, 2008
Outliers: The Story of Success, By Malcolm Gladwell, 2008
So Much Reform So Little Change: The Persistence of Failure in Urban Schools, By Charles M. Payne, 2008
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I loved Sam Freedman’s book about Seward Park, Small Victories. I love There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz, no about school per se but about children’s lives.
I just saw a press preview of an amazing new documentary I’ll blog about later this week, The Providence Effect, about Providence St. Mel, a legendary school in Chicago.
I enjoyed Work Hard. Be Nice, I thought the author presented the story well. As a professional educator, I, however, struggle with the message TFA and KIPP sends to the general public. In my opinion these “success stories” over simplify the challenges we face as educators. Would I have been a better teacher and administrator with such experiences rather than the traditional teacher and administrative schooling and experiences I had? I don’t think so, but I’m not sure the public would agree after reading this book. Could just be my internal bias… I would like to hear from others reactions and thoughts on this topic.
Jeff — I think you’re right with your point that the general public might get the idea that it is simple to turn things around in public education by doing what TFA and KIPP do. There are only 82 KIPP schools in the United States, which means there are 82 KIPP principals and perhaps 1,600 KIPP teachers. The model they use is refined, and they get their pick of the most talented people for every position. Teach For America is similar in that the organization gets its pick of people–the acceptance rate has been around 15% for about a decade; this past year 4,000 of 30,000 applicants were accepted into the program. These folks excelled at the finest universities in the country and are obsessed with raising student achievement and changing kids’ lives. TFA has a sophisticated selection process that has reduced attrition greatly over the past decade and strives to find people who are the right fit for the program. This collection of high achievers creates peer pressure (i.e., a cohort effect) that helps members perform at high levels.
That said, KIPP and Teach For America also do things as organizations that are beyond what many schools and districts do. Teachers are connected with student performance, and are evaluated on their students’ growth. (Many teachers and teachers unions around the country fight against this use of data in regular public schools.) Both organizations expect that, at the least, teachers will raise students’ achievement 1.5 grade levels per year. Finally, the professional development models used to support the organizations’ teachers are in some ways more sophisticated and effective than those used by many disticts/schools. (Read this recent Ed Week article for more about TFA’s model, in which $20,000 is spent on each corps members over two years: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/09/11/03tfa_ep.h29.html?r=1426359036) So I would argue that a TFA teacher who stays in the classroom beyond the two-year commitment and continues to teach (many TFA alums move on to work in KIPP schools) or becomes a principal will be able to perform at a level equal or higher to that of someone who went through the traditional education track.
This doesn’t mean, however, that the entire education system can be fixed using the TFA or KIPP model. Their models work because they are small and they limit their growth to maintain high quality programs and personnel.
In response to another comment. See in context »I would recommend “Whatever It Takes” by Geoffrey Canada. Although I am not in the field of education, I found Canada’s philosophy of improving inner-city schools to be innovative and the current status of those schools truth telling.