Description
Book SynopsisSet in 2029, The Education of Sam Sanders tells the story of an 8th grader searching for meaning in his school experiences. In a public school system beset by the finality and rigidity of standardized tests and curriculums, Sam Sanders, with the help of his teacher and mother, defies the system and creates something new: a curriculum that enlightens rather than categorizes students. In this hopeful yet frightening look at an educational future not too far from our own, we encounter the high cost of inquiry-oriented learning and the even higher cost of a system that suppresses it. The Education of Sam Sanders is a valuable book for young adults in schools, students of teaching, teachers, and parents/citizens concerned by current trends in public education. This inspiring work offers a unique and in-depth analysis of the high stakes testing and standardization movements and surfaces ideas for how we might change our current direction.
Trade ReviewLike too many good science fiction tales of old, we're much closer to the storyline T.S. Poetter has invented. . .[and] the climate of opinion he creates than I wish were true. It's a well-deserved and well-executed blow, at times humorous, but too often chilling, on behalf of what is becoming commonplace in American schooling. Sam's futuristic school lives with me daily as I work across this nation trying to remember what 'school reform' was supposed to be about. But we're not there yet, and there is time to turn back as his fictional characters do. It offers us a chance to break the silence and discuss where and [for] what [reason] we're educating the future generation. -- Deborah Meier, Emeritus chair, Coalition of Essential Schools; author and founder of Central Park East and Mision Hill schools in East Harlem and Roxbury, Boston
The Education of Sam Sanders is an attempt to put a face on his long standing arguments against proficiency testing and the disruption it causes in the educational process....the story works as both fiction and sociology lesson." -- Bob Ratterman, The Oxford Press
T.S. Poetter invents a new category of educational research. He brings together the medium and the message in a way that informs our senses-all of them: what we think, how we feel, and who we are. Sam's eyes become our eyes, and things are never the same again. This is a powerful book that should be read by those who are looking for new ways to understand schools and to bring about change. -- Thomas J. Sergiovanni,, Lillian Radford Professor of Education, Trinity University
