Fear and learning in America
Subtitle: bad data, good teachers, and the attack on public education
By: John Kuhn ; foreword by Diane Ravitch
Series: The teaching for social justice series; Teaching for social justice series
Publisher: Teachers College, Columbia University
Published: 2014
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 162
ISBN-13: 9780807755204; 9780807755723
Subjects: Educational change; Public schools; Educational equalization; Education; Standards
Description: "In this moving account, 'America's Superintendent' John Kuhn lays bare the scare tactics at the root of the modern school 'reform' movement. Kuhn conveys a deeply held passion for the mission and promise of public education through his own experience as a school administrator in Texas. When his 'Alamo Letter' first appeared in the Washington Post, it galvanized the educational community in a call to action that was impossible to ignore. This powerful book requires us to question whether the current education crisis will be judged by history as a legitimate national emergency or an agenda-driven panic, spurred on by a media that is, for the most part, uninterested in anything but useless soundbites. Essential reading for teachers, administrators, policymakers, and everyone concerned with public education, Fear and Learning in America: Analyzes school reform from the perspective of a practicing school administrator who isn't sold on the corporate reform package; Places school reform in the historical context of similar episodes of national hand-wringing; Offers encouragement and appreciation to classroom teachers who are exhausted by the vilification that modern school reform has served up."--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: An unlikely activist; title: Scaring America; title: Standardized junk science; title: Superteachers, miracles, and destructive idealism; title: The educational dark ages I : ignorance; title: The educational dark ages II : mendacity; title: Why we don't fix things; title: Compounding poverty with inequity; title: The prescription has failed; title: Appendix : A layperson's guide for involved teachers, students, and parents.