Edward St. John is such a believer in teaching all students as though they were gifted that he's co-written a book about the accelerated school movement and is starting a training center on the University of Dayton's campus this fall. Here, educators will school Ohio teachers and principals in techniques to raise the bar in classrooms. A Chorus of Voices in Restructuring , to be published this fall. The presence of parents makes schools more caring places for students.
Remarkable things can happen.
Having another set of eyes in the schools can lead to creative problem-solving. St. John, professor of educational administration at UD, teamed up with Alison Griffith, a former colleague at the University of New Orleans, and Leeta Allen Hayes, a former graduate student who had been a staff member on the Louisiana Accelerated Schools Project, to examine accelerated schools in impoverished school districts in Louisiana that made great inroads because of family involvement. His newest book offers case studies of four of those schools and provides lessons for educators and parents who want to work together to improve their schools. Two experienced noteworthy changes in test scores. One has been a subject on national television, and one has become a high-achieving school with a multicultural curriculum.