Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools, by David L. Kirp
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Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools, by David L. Kirp
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No school district can be all charismatic leaders and super-teachers. It can't start from scratch, and it can't fire all its teachers and principals when students do poorly. Great charter schools can only serve a tiny minority of students. Whether we like it or not, most of our youngsters will continue to be educated in mainstream public schools.The good news, as David L. Kirp reveals in Improbable Scholars, is that there's a sensible way to rebuild public education and close the achievement gap for all students. Indeed, this is precisely what's happening in a most unlikely place: Union City, New Jersey, a poor, crowded Latino community just across the Hudson from Manhattan. The school district--once one of the worst in the state--has ignored trendy reforms in favor of proven game-changers like quality early education, a word-soaked curriculum, and hands-on help for teachers. When beneficial new strategies have emerged, like using sophisticated data-crunching to generate pinpoint assessments to help individual students, they have been folded into the mix.The results demand that we take notice--from third grade through high school, Union City scores on the high-stakes state tests approximate the statewide average. In other words, these inner-city kids are achieving just as much as their suburban cousins in reading, writing, and math. What's even more impressive, nearly ninety percent of high school students are earning their diplomas and sixty percent of them are going to college. Top students are winning national science awards and full rides at Ivy League universities. These schools are not just good places for poor kids. They are good places for kids, period. Improbable Scholars offers a playbook--not a prayer book--for reform that will dramatically change our approach to reviving public education.
Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools, by David L. Kirp- Amazon Sales Rank: #418804 in Books
- Brand: Kirp, David L.
- Published on: 2015-05-15
- Released on: 2015-05-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.10" h x .80" w x 9.20" l, .99 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 272 pages
Amazon.com Review Guest Review by "Publishers Weekly"
Too many American public school students, especially poor and minority students, lack basic reading and math proficiency and are educated by uninspired teachers. What to do? To find out, UC Berkeley education and public policy expert David Kirp spent a year at in classrooms in a school district in Union City, N.J., that, improbably, works very well, despite its 20% poverty rate and substantial immigrant population. Among the keys to success are mutual help among teachers through mentoring, and more informal support among students through learning centers, as well as a sophisticated bilingual program. Kirp devotes a chapter to Union City’s preschools, which are available to all and focus on pre-K language development skills. Particularly on the high school level, Union City isn’t immune to the bane of contemporary education, “teaching to the [state proficiency] test.” However, Kirp shows how administrators and teachers mine test data to benchmark and help advance students’ progress, so that 89% of those who begin high school graduate compared with 74% nationally. The school system also benefits from a mayor who doubles as a state senator and has secured extra state education funding. This impressive book doesn’t provide a blueprint, but the author describes seven guiding principles for how other school systems can achieve sustained educational success.
From Booklist *Starred Review* There are no quick fixes is the thoroughly researched and pragmatic counsel offered by Kirp, professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, after his year of observing Union City, New Jersey’s public-school system. Most of Union City’s at-risk students come from poor Latino immigrant families, who experience the disruptions and trauma associated with inner-city conditions. Yet Union City students achieve on a par with their suburban peers. How? Through the district’s generation-long adherence to principles that include high-quality, full-day preschool beginning with three-year-olds; progressive (and joyful) classroom practices; coaching for new teachers; and administrators who use data not to punish teachers but to improve student learning. Kirp’s warm portraits of talented teachers, squirmy students, and visionary leaders prepare the ground for his indictment of today’s soulless test-taking culture and illustrate the effectiveness of Union City’s plan-do-review approach to systemwide policymaking, which contrasts starkly with no excuses turnaround strategies touted by celebrity school reformers. While remarkable, Union City is not unique. Kirp profiles diverse districts that also buck the odds for at-risk students by following similar long-term plans. What does not work, Kirp admonishes, is leading by intimidation, exalting market solutions, and impatient school boards adopting policies that result in constant churn—the enemy of success. Slow and steady really does win the race. --Carolyn Saper
Review "What Kirp considers an exemplary public school system that is a demonstrable improvement over what generally prevails now is replicable everywhere, requiring only fiercely hard work. Teachers, concerned parents, political leaders-Kirp's book has something for everyone, and it deserves the widest possible audience discussion." -Kirkus (starred review)
"Improbable Scholars is one of the most hopeful books that I have read in a long time. It shows why there are no quick fixes and how schools succeed. He describes a model of success that can be achieved in every school." -Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System " 'There are no quick fixes' " is the thoroughly researched and pragmatic counsel offered by Kirp after his year of observing Union City, New Jersey's public school system...Kirp's warm portraits of talented teachers, squirmy students, and visionary leaders prepare the ground for his indictment of today's soulless test-taking culture and illustrate the effectiveness of Union City's "plan-do-review" approach to systemwide policy making...Slow and steady really does win the race." -Booklist (starred review)"In Improbable Scholars David Kirp has discerned the essence of what our students and our public education system need: competent and caring classroom teachers and paraprofessionals, working in concert with other adults to surround students with the academic and non-academic supports that deeply impact their learning. This riveting book reminds us that, while there is no magic bullet, long-term success is possible. Labor-management collaborations and community involvement are critical for creating lasting school transformation." -Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers "At a time when would-be reformers offer a plethora of miracle cures, Improbable Scholars digs deep into the complexity of transforming urban schools from classroom teaching to the political leadership and community support needed to ensure access and opportunity for all learners. David Kirp's ability to connect his observations with research provides evidence that the strategies used by Union City are grounded in sustainable-and replicable-reforms." -Dr. Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools "In Improbable Scholars, David Kirp challenges the conventional wisdom fueling today's school reform agenda. With his trademark insight and fluid prose, Kirp uses a high-achieving urban district to argue that coherence and patience count for more than incentives and a 'no excuses' mindset, while pressing the case for a kinder, gentler vision of school reform. Agree with Kirp or not, educators, parents, and would-be reformers need to read this book, reflect on it, and argue about it." -Frederick M. Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute "Improbable Scholars is a once-in-a-generation book on what will matter most in education over the next generation: giving our immigrant-origin students a real chance to achieve the American Dream. This extraordinary account takes the reader from the classroom to the mayor's office, vividly detailing how a poor urban school district has brought Latino immigrant kids into the mainstream. The story, masterfully told by one of our foremost thinkers in education today, goes beyond the facile cure-alls, clichés, and yes, magical thinking, that plague much writing in education today. This is the one book everyone interested in authentic models for change needs to read." -Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, Dean and Distinguished Professor, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies "Impressive...describes seven guiding principles for how other school systems can achieve sustained educational success." -Publishers Weekly"This powerful book exposes one of the greatest lies in America - that 'perform-or-die' accountability for teachers and choice for students will cure what ails public education - and reveals the real way forward. With a gifted writer's eye for telling detail and a gifted scholar's sense of the big picture, Kirp shows how a school system in one of the nation's poorest cities is succeeding without these so-called reforms, and in so doing uncovers the essentials for remaking American education. Brilliant and important."-Robert B. Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, and former U.S. Secretary of Labor "Improbable Scholar represents the best of what qualitative research in education can provide. Professor Kirp conducted a systematic study of teachers and administrators at work in Union City. Improbable Scholars draws out the intricate linkages among national, state, local, and even school-specific politics and policy: linkages that often are missed by researchers who focus exclusively on one level or the other. And by wrapping this informed perspective in a compelling narrative about how real people operate within institutional and organizational constraints, Kirp provides policy and practical lessons for those who care about improving urban public schools." -Ron Avi Astor, Lenore Stein-Wood and William S. Wood Professor of School Behavioral Health, University of Southern California"My students appreciated the vivid and grounded account, finding it much more accessible than most social research. They were grateful for a book that made a convincing case for urban public schools' capacity to improve, and that took on corporate ideas about school reform." -David Cohen, Harvard Graduate School of Education and University of Michigan School of Education"Improbable Scholars is a compelling, inspiring account of one urban school district's successful reform, despite poor odds. David Kirp does not peddle the false promise of a quick fix, but rather illuminates the smart work and steadfast commitment of a community of educators. His lucid analysis and lessons for practitioners and policymakers should be required reading for all who set out to improve urban education." -Susan Moore Johnson, Jerome T. Murphy Research Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education"This engaging, discerning, and compelling book describes vivid examples of powerful and effective schools and teachers attaining academic excellence in low-income schools. It conveys the rich possibilities of public schools and is an antidote to the doomsayers and harsh critics of public schools and teachers. This elegantly written, engaging, and inspiring book provides hope for the growing percentage of low-income, minority, and immigrant students who populate the nation's public schools. The messages it conveys merit wide reading, discussion, and action." -James A. Banks, Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies and Director, Center for Multicultural Education, University of Washington, Seattle
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Most helpful customer reviews
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful. Realistic View of Teaching By Ann Bailey Lynn I've been teaching in a school similar to Washington Elementary for ten years. It's rare these days to read something in education that makes you proud to be a teacher, and proud of the work we do day in and day out as teachers. This book isn't about a white knight or one teacher coming to save the poor kids, it's not about the evil teachers and how one politician came in to save the day, it's not about teachers who are ignoring the system and doing their own thing. It's about the ins and outs of teaching and all of the players involved in making sure children get an excellent education. This book makes me proud of not just being a teacher, but of my whole profession.And that's not something I've said or written in a very, very long time.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful. Best Educaton Book I've Read in Awhile By Janice W. Resseger I've been up late recently reading Berkeley professor, David Kirp's new book about school reform in Union City, New Jersey: Improbable Scholars: the Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools (Oxford University Press, 2013). "Union City ranks sixty-first nationwide in its concentrated poverty.... It's also the nation's most crowded municipality." Virtually all students are Latino-Latina, many recent arrivals and a sizeable percentage English language learners. And yet, teachers, administrators, and students are all working hard--and strategically. Test scores reflect a transformation in the district in recent years.Kirp confronts the public education rhetoric war directly. He spent a year in Union City immersed in classrooms and the way the district works, and he shows us a school system where the emphasis is on improving instruction, connecting with and supporting each student, experimenting with bilingual education, supporting teachers--many of whom grew up in this school district, and focusing way beyond the requirements of the New Jersey ASK standardized test. An academic, Kirp also presents the research that supports reforms being implemented in Union City.An important piece of the puzzle Kirp describes is the universal pre-school New Jersey has been providing for some time in its 31 Abbott districts, the poorest school districts in the state, where opportunity to learn including universal preschool was instituted as part of the remedy in Abbott v. Burke, probably the nation's longest running and most successful school finance litigation. (In recent years there has been pressure at the state level to reduce investment in the Abbott districts, a potential threat to the progress this book describes.)This is an inspiring book and one of the most hopeful books I've read in a long, long time. While it is an entirely secular book, it surely is appropriate reading for the Easter season. Kirp emphatically rejects the hubris embedded in today's technocratic school reform where wealthy theorists are content to experiment with shattering neighborhoods and undermining the humanity of committed teachers with econometric Value Added Metric rankings based on students' standardized test scores, VAM rankings that have sometimes been published in the newspaper. This is a book about people working every day to build human connections in a place where the public schools have, quite recently, become the heart of the community.I hope everybody will read this book. Wouldn't it be amazing if it became a best seller.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Use in my college Social Policy Analysis classes to inspire students By S. Rabinovici So far as I'm concerned, David Kirp is a national treasure. I observed his analytical skill and effort on behalf of improving public policies for children while I studied for my PhD at UC Berkeley. I now use his editorials and excerpts from this book in the classes I teach in Public Policy at Mills College. In particular, his careful efforts to document, unpack, and de-mystify real life success stories cut through the pervasive cynicism and fatalism that prevent forward progress on educational reform. It's not that we lack for good ideas--it's just the lack of political will and visionary leadership (on the micro and macro scale) that stand in our way. My hope is that the bottom up strategies portrayed in this book will both inspire (and embarrass) us into action--if these communities can make their kids the priority, there's no reason left why each of us can't join them in doing so in our own available ways and means.
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