Full Description
A Fragile Enterprise recounts true stories from the front lines of the battlefield that U.S. public education has become in the struggle of the privileged few and the disenfranchised many, The stories tell how poor, minority, students with disabilities and non-English speaking students are short changed by schools that are not level playing fields, teachers who have ceased to care, and a system that seems willing to write off some students and their families as expendable.
In A Fragile Enterprise you will learn about the national narrative of education from the viewpoint of students and their families: You will discover:
·That despite the massive expenditure of public funds, large-scale national education improvement efforts have largely failed
·That failing schools seldom have the resources and skills to implement the programs that are thrust upon them.
·That the charter school solution leaves behind the students who need help the most.
·How seldom families are involved in meaningful ways in the education of their children.
·What the best teachers do and why they do it that way.
The process of finding solutions must begin at the heart of the system, the unique, irreplaceable children we are privileged to educate.
Contents
Dedication
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Section One: Students and Families
Chapter One: How Students Experience School
Chapter Two: Addressing School Violence Through Student Connectedness
Chapter Three: Jeremy: A Boy on a Tightrope
Chapter Four: Family Connections: How Important?
Section Two: Teachers and Instruction
Chapter Five: The Best Teachers
Chapter Six: Professional Development: Large Investment, Limited Results
Chapter Seven: Angels of Special Education
Chapter Eight: Who Destroyed Co-Teaching at Hanover Middle School?
Chapter Nine: Adult Basic Education: A Program in the Shadows
Section Three: Schools In Need
Chapter Ten: Failing Schools, Faulty Solutions
Chapter Eleven: How Useful are External Interventions?
Section Four: Testing and Evaluation
Chapter Twelve: The National Obsession with Testing Students
Chapter Thirteen: Do it Yourself Evaluations
Section Five: Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 14: Conclusion
Appendix: Tool Box
