Description
Book SynopsisWith budget cuts looming every year, administrators and union leaders find themselves in a never-ending game of promoting how good their school is and why budget cuts will derail their ongoing success. The vehicle they choose for this ongoing self-promotion is what William Fibkins calls the dazzle approach, which focuses only on good news. Overtime administrators and staff often come to believe the positive reviews of the good news process and overlook or abandon those students who don't make good news but instead act out, fail, cause trouble and give the school a bad name. These are the bad news kids, and their lives are not newsworthy. This book is about the unintended consequences that can occur when the good news process becomes heavily embedded in school life -- a process that creates two different worlds in a school community that often prides itself on fostering unity and belonging. The school media promotions may say All is well here, but this positive spin belies the divisions
Trade ReviewDr. Fibkins book is a brilliant analysis of what is wrong with our high schools and what we need to do to make sure 'every' student is seen as worthy of opportunity, dignity and respect....As a Director of Social Services Agencies on both the East and West Coast, I have observed many of these students in search of some relief, hope, and a new beginning not offered in their schools. Fibkins exposes a school culture which encourages good news kids and their parents to dictate how their school operate and serve their personal interest of 'What’s in it for me,' 'How to get ahead and stay ahead,' and 'Get into the best colleges and universities.' Too often the bad news exists at the margins of school life with little hope and dreams for a productive future. They are on the outside, not in the mix. -- Charles Langdon, MSW, former executive of Children’s Home Society of Washington; clinical professor, School of Social Work, Stony Brook University, New York
Warning! This book is dynamite. It will blow up everything you thought you knew about how to run a high school. In Fibkins' world, focusing everything on high-achieving students ruins the school for everyone: bad students, parents, teachers, administrators—and the good students! Dr. Fibkins is not kidding, but stick with him. Behind the negativity is a startling vision that could turn your world upside down—for the better. -- Kenneth Guentert, President, The Publishing Pro LLC
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Chapter 1: Rise of Consumer-Driven Schooling Chapter 2: The Cost to Good News Kids and Parents Chapter 3: The Cost to Bad News Kids and Parents Chapter 4: The Cost to High School Principals Chapter 5: The Cost to Guidance Counselors Chapter 6: The Cost to Teachers Chapter 7: The Impact of the Bifurcation of American Society on our High Schools References
