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"It is no secret that American education is in crisis. Our children lag behind students in other countries--and they are losing ground. In The Learning Gap, Harold W. Stevenson and James W. Stigler put this crisis in perspective by comparing teachers, parents, children, schools, and educational practices in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and China." "Based on five major studies, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and featured on the front page of The New York Times, this is the first comprehensive account of what works in elementary education and what doesn't--and why. The authors analyze the role of standardized tests, tracking, special education, class size, money, classroom discipline, textbooks, and parental involvement and arrive at some startling conclusions that will drastically alter our understanding of the problems and possibilities of our schools. Television is not to blame for children's poor performance nor are underpaid or poorly trained teachers. And contrary to prevailing opinion, class size should be increased, and children should not begin academic preparation in preschool and kindergarten." "Most important, the authors show that parental involvement is critical to children's learning and that schools should reward individual effort rather than emphasize innate ability. Bringing a clarity of purpose to the debate on education that is missing from the schools themselves, The Learning Gap is a landmark study that will shape the educational agenda of the future."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Black and Hispanic students are not learning enough in our public schools, and their typically poor performance is the most important source of ongoing racial inequality in America today—thus, say Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom, the racial gap in school achievement is the nation's most critical civil rights issue and an educational crisis; it's no wonder that "No Child Left Behind," the 2001 revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, made closing the racial gap in education its central goal. An employer hiring the typical Black high school graduate or the college that admits the average Black student is choosing a youngster who has only an eighth-grade education. In most subjects, the majority of twelfth-grade Black students do not have even a "partial mastery" of the skills and knowledge that the authoritative National Assessment of Educational Progress calls "fundamental for proficient work" at their grade. No Excuses marshals facts to examine the depth of the problem, the inadequacy of conventional explanations, and the limited impact of Title I, Head Start, and other familiar reforms. Its message, however, is one of hope: Scattered across the country are excellent schools getting terrific results with high-needs kids. These rare schools share a distinctive vision of what great schooling looks like and are free of many of the constraints that compromise education in traditional public schools. In a society that espouses equal opportunity we still have a racially identifiable group of educational have-nots—young African Americans and Latinos whose opportunities in life will almost inevitably be limited by their inadequate education. When students leave high school without high school skills, their futures—and that of the nation—are in jeopardy. With successful schools already showing the way, no decent society can continue to turn a blind eye to such racial and ethnic inequality.
Higher education needs a new, holistic assessment of global learning. The studies in this edited volume investigate not just student learning, but also faculty experiences, program structures, and pathways that impact global learning. Showcasing recent, multi-institutional research related to global learning, this book expands the context of global learning to show its antecedents and impacts as a part of the larger higher education experience. Chapters look at recent developments such as short-term, off-campus, international study and certificate/medallion programs, as well as blended learning environments and undergraduate research, all in the context of multi-institutional comparisons. Global learning is also situated in a larger university context. Thus, there is a growing need for bridging across disciplinary and administrative silos, silos that are culturally bound within academia. The gaps between these silos matter as students seek to integrate off- and on-campus learning, and it is up to the academy to mind those gaps.
Despite the best efforts of educators, our nation's schools are dangerously obsolete. Instead of teaching students to be critical thinkers and problem-solvers, we are asking them to memorize facts for multiple choice tests. This problem isn't limited to low-income school districts: even our top schools aren't teaching or testing the skills that matter most in the global knowledge economy. Our teens leave school equipped to work only in the kinds of jobs that are fast disappearing from the American economy. Meanwhile, young adults in India and China are competing with our students for the most sought-after careers around the world. Education expert Tony Wagner has conducted scores of interviews with business leaders and observed hundreds of classes in some of the nation's most highly regarded public schools. He discovered a profound disconnect between what potential employers are looking for in young people today (critical thinking skills, creativity, and effective communication) and what our schools are providing (passive learning environments and uninspired lesson plans that focus on test preparation and reward memorization). He explains how every American can work to overhaul our education system, and he shows us examples of dramatically different schools that teach all students new skills. In addition, through interviews with college graduates and people who work with them, Wagner discovers how teachers, parents, and employers can motivate the &"net"; generation to excellence. An education manifesto for the twenty-first century, The Global Achievement Gap is provocative and inspiring. It is essential reading for parents, educators, business leaders, policy-makers, and anyone interested in seeing our young people succeed as employees and citizens. For additional information about the author and the book, please go to a href="http://www.schoolchange.org"www.schoolchange.org
A revised edition of a popular resource builds on the authors' findings that key problems in teaching methods are causing America to lag behind international academic standards, outlining a program for administrators, instructors, and parents that incorporates solutions based on current research. Reprint.
This publication offers sage advice on how to close the achievement gap by addressing the "attitude gap" that often affects underperforming students of all racial and ethnic groups.
"Famed director M. Night Shyamalan tells how his passion for education reform led him to the five indispensable keys to educational success in America's high-performing schools in impoverished neighborhoods"--
Explore why some schools are making more progress than others, so you can focus on what works and build the capacity of high-performance, high-poverty schools.
