Inventing Better Schools: An Action Plan for Educational Reform
A well-known school reform advocate, Schlechty adds a refreshing voice to the ongoing how-to-fix-our-schools debate (e.g., E.D. Hirsch, The Schools We Need & Why We Don't Have Them, LJ 10/1/96). Drawing from strategic planning and quality management, he argues that truly reinventing schools requires a fundamental conceptual shift, replacing the focus on teacher and student test performances and behavior with a renewed focus on "knowledge work": intellectual challenge and daily creative engagement. Blocking this shift is our obsession with test scores, teacher performance, and policy nostrums such as charter schools and privatization; as an alternative, Schlechty suggests a "charter district system" that would assemble public schooling's major constituencies?parents, educators, business, community leaders?and force them toward common goals. The basic plan of this lively book, including several process-oriented chapters, is founded on years of trial and error. Despite a disappointing bibliography, it is highly recommended for all academic education collections.?Jessica George, Illinois State Univ., NormalCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.