SUBJECT INDEX:

EDUCATION:

Battling Corruption in America's Public Schools: Lydia G. Segal; Drawing on ten years of undercover work and research in four major school districts, Lydia Segal reveals how systemic waste and fraud siphon millions of dollars from urban classrooms. Segal shows how money is lost in systems that focus on process rather than on results, and how regulations established to curb waste and fraud provide perverse incentives for new forms of both. Calling for renewed powers for principals and a streamlining of oversight, Segal offers a bold, far-reaching plan to reclaim our schools.; Paperback 2005

The Blackboard and the Bottom Line: Larry Cuban; In this provocative new book, Cuban takes aim at the alluring cliché that schools should be more businesslike, and shows that in its long history in business-minded America, no one has shown that a business model can be successfully applied to education.; Hardcover 2005 / Paperback 2007

Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University: Edited by Don Babai; This book presents a critical look at the history of Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) against the backdrop of ongoing debates about Middle Eastern studies and area studies in general. It also examines the multifaceted operations of CMES that serve the scholarly community, and it offers diverse assessments of the state of Middle Eastern studies today as well as visions of how Harvard might meet the complex challenges to the field in the years ahead.; Paperback 2006

The Education Gospel: W. Norton Grubb; Marvin Lazerson; In this hard-hitting history of "the gospel of education," W. Norton Grubb and Marvin Lazerson reveal the allure, and the fallacy, of the longstanding American faith that more schooling for more people is the remedy for all our social and economic problems--and that the central purpose of education is workplace preparation.; Hardcover 2004 / Paperback 2007

In Theory and in Practice: David C. Atkinson; Harvard University inaugurated The Center for International Affairs (CFIA) in 1958 as a new research center devoted to international relations. Atkinson’s history of the Center’s first twenty-five years explores the connection between knowledge and politics, beginning with the Center’s confident first decade and concluding with the second decade, which found the CFIA embroiled in Vietnam-era student protests.; Paperback 2008

Learning on the Job: Steven F. Wilson; In the 1990s, some failing school systems turned to private education management organizations to manage their schools. In Learning on the Job, industry insider Steven Wilson, the founder and CEO of Advantage Schools, looks back on the first tumultuous decade of this social experiment. Digging deep into the academic, financial, logistic, and political records of seven leading EMOs, he reveals the potential and pitfalls of their business and educational models, and their actual successes in the classrooms and the boardrooms.; Hardcover 2006

Lessons from Privilege: Arthur Powell; Around 10,000 American tax dollars will put a child through many public schools for a year. About 10,000 private dollars will put him through prep school. Why, then, is one system troubled and the other thriving? In this book, a renowned historian of education searches out the lessons that private schooling might offer public education.; Hardcover 1997 / Paperback 1998

Politics, Persuasion, and Educational Testing: Lorraine M. McDonnell; Exploring the political struggles inspired by mass educational tests, McDonnell analyzes the design and implementation of statewide testing in California, Kentucky, and North Carolina in the 1990s. McDonnell draws lessons from these stories for the federal No Child Left Behind act, with its sweeping directives for high-stakes testing. To read this book is to witness the unfolding drama of America's educational culture wars, and to see hope for their resolution.; Hardcover 2004

The Questions of Tenure: Richard P. Chait, Editor; Tenure is the abortion issue of the academy, igniting arguments and inflaming near-religious passions. But beyond anecdote and opinion, what do we really know about how it works? Chait and his colleagues offer the results of their research on key empirical questions and conclude that no single tenure system exists. Still, since no academic reward carries the cachet of tenure, few institutions will initiate significant changes without either powerful external pressures or persistent demands from new or disgruntled faculty.; Hardcover 2002 / Paperback 2005

Standards Deviation: James P. Spillane; After intensively studying several school districts' responses to new statewide science and math teaching policies, Spillane argues that administrators and teachers are inclined to assimilate new policies into current practices. As new programs are communicated through administrative levels, the understanding of them becomes increasingly distorted, no matter how sincerely the new ideas are endorsed. Such patterns highlight the need for systematic training and continuing support for those entrusted with carrying out large-scale educational change.; Hardcover 2004 / Paperback 2006

Tinkering toward Utopia: David Tyack; Larry Cuban; Tinkering toward Utopia documents the dynamic tension between Americans' faith in education as a panacea and the moderate pace of change in educational practices. David Tyack and Larry Cuban suggest that reformers today need to focus on ways to help teachers improve instruction from the inside out instead of decreeing change by remote control, and also to keep in mind the democratic purposes that guide public education.; Hardcover 1995 / Paperback 1997

Who Controls Teachers' Work?: Richard M. Ingersoll; Drawing on large national surveys as well as wide-ranging interviews with high school teachers and administrators, Ingersoll reveals the shortcomings in the two opposing viewpoints that dominate thought on this subject: that schools are too decentralized and lack adequate control and accountability; and that schools are too centralized, giving teachers too little autonomy.; Hardcover 2003 / Paperback 2006

Widener: Matthew Battles; Since its opening in 1915, the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library has led a spirited life as Harvard's physical and, in a sense, its spiritual heart. With copious illustrations and wide-ranging narrative, this book is not only a record of benefactors and collections; it is the tale of the students, scholars, and staff who give a great library its life.; Hardcover 2004