Description
Book SynopsisMuch of school reform during the past decade has been influenced by neoliberal and neoconservative economic and social policies and Rightist politics. Although the authors of
School Reform Critics do not abandon their own ideas about the need for progressive changes in K12 schooling, they critique in specific ways the current so-called school reform movement, focusing on education in a democracy, context and policy implications, teachers and teacher education, and diversity and social justice. Their insightful chapters make a major contribution to our thoughtful consideration of where we are headed and in what direction we should be going if we seek to advance the public good, ensure a stronger democracy, and create more academically meaningful and equitable schools for all children. The book will especially engage readers in such courses as foundations of education, educational policy, curriculum studies, and teacher education.
Trade Review«Although school reform has been on the educational agenda for decades, the outcomes have been lethal for teachers, students, and public education itself. Rather than ‘leaving no child behind’, current reforms have in fact made the situation worse, particularly for the most vulnerable students; and rather than ‘racing to the top’, current reforms are leading us down the wrong path. With a distinguished group of contributors and under the able editorship of Joseph L. DeVitis and Kenneth Teitelbaum, this volume examines the meaning, goals, and results of the neoconservative agenda and proposes a more promising approach for the future of public education.
School Reform Critics is certain to make a substantial contribution to the conversation on school reform, standardization, and democracy.» (Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, Language, Literacy, and Culture, University of Massachusetts Amherst)
«‘School Reform Critics’ is exactly the kind of book that critically and democratically engaged educators need at this moment. There are more responsive and powerful ways of engaging in substantive educational reform than those that are dominant now. DeVitis and Teitelbaum have brought together a group of articulate and very thoughtful educators who provide us with the tools to think more powerfully about what is happening today. The result is a book that cannot fail to stimulate and challenge.» (Michael W. Apple, John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison; author of ‘Can Education Change Society?’)
«Although school reform has been on the educational agenda for decades, the outcomes have been lethal for teachers, students, and public education itself. Rather than ‘leaving no child behind’, current reforms have in fact made the situation worse, particularly for the most vulnerable students; and rather than ‘racing to the top’, current reforms are leading us down the wrong path. With a distinguished group of contributors and under the able editorship of Joseph L. DeVitis and Kenneth Teitelbaum, this volume examines the meaning, goals, and results of the neoconservative agenda and proposes a more promising approach for the future of public education.
School Reform Critics is certain to make a substantial contribution to the conversation on school reform, standardization, and democracy.» (Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, Language, Literacy, and Culture, University of Massachusetts Amherst)
«‘School Reform Critics’ is exactly the kind of book that critically and democratically engaged educators need at this moment. There are more responsive and powerful ways of engaging in substantive educational reform than those that are dominant now. DeVitis and Teitelbaum have brought together a group of articulate and very thoughtful educators who provide us with the tools to think more powerfully about what is happening today. The result is a book that cannot fail to stimulate and challenge.» (Michael W. Apple, John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison; author of ‘Can Education Change Society?’)
Table of ContentsContents: Nel Noddings: Education in a Democracy – Susan Ohanian: And They Call It Education Reform – Dennis Carlson: Picking Up the Pieces of Neoliberal Reform Machines in Urban Schools – Lawrence C. Stedman: Subverting Learning and Undermining Democracy: A Structural and Political Economy Analysis of the Standards Movement – John Smyth: «It Need Not Have Been This Way»: School Reform Around the Socially Just School in Australia and Lessons from the Finnish Educational Miracle – Kenneth J. Saltman: Schooling in Disaster Capitalism: How the Political Right Is Using Disaster to Privatize Public Schooling – Kenneth Teitelbaum: Teacher Education in Volatile Times: Forward to the Basics – Carolyn M. Shields: A Critical Examination of Today’s (Un)Democratic Reform Agenda for Teachers, Administrators, and Teacher Education – Daniel P. Liston: Teacher Education and Markets Matter – Christine E. Sleeter: Diversity, Social Justice, and Resistance to Disempowerment – Donyell L. Roseboro: Rethinking School Reform and Neighborhood Schools – Tian Yu: Obama and Antiracist Education: Lessons for Teachers – Martin J. Wasserberg: No Voices Left Behind – Christopher Leahey: Teaching Under the Weight of Race to the Top in New York State – Joshua P. Starr: Danger Signs: Neglecting the Systemic Complexities of School Reform.
