Seeds of Tomorrow: Solutions for Improving Our Children's Education
Put your feet up, grab some tea and read this book. Engel writes as if in the kitchen with friends. She is candid, clear and offers up story after story as both a parent and a teacher on the challenges and the solutions to improving student learning. This book is special in tone, detail, analysis and passion. It is worth every teacher and parent reading Seeds of Tomorrow to understand why and how we have become a nation driven to judge and reshape our educational system through standardized testing, and what our children will lose and gain through this decision. --Elaine Zimmerman, Connecticut Commission on Children and Parent Leadership Training InstituteFor everyone who cares about the well-being of every child, Angela Engel's Seeds of Tomorrow presents a thoughtful, provocative, and well-documented case for discarding traditional standards when measuring educational achievement. And while recognizing that public investments in quality education may be the most important thing a society can do for its children, Engel makes the case for the nation concretely addressing poverty, family stability, health care, child abuse, and other needs which make learning more likely. To her credit she offers many of the policy and practice changes needed to inspire children to learn and which restore confidence in adults that constructive change is possible. --Michael Petit, President, Every Child Matters Education FundA valuable guide for reconstructing an education that responds to the needs of heart and mind while contributing to a productive and just society. --H. M. Levin, Teachers College, Columbia University