Selected Titles on
Education Policy and Practice
What the Best College Students Do
“Some very good books are worth reading for a few splendid pages alone. Ken Bain’s What the Best College Students Do is one such book… [It] combines interviews with a review of academic research on university learning… The ‘best’ students are curious risk-takers who make connections across disciplines. By following those instincts—rather than simply chasing ‘success’—the best students achieved it. Bain’s new book is a wonderful exploration of excellence.”
—David A. Kaplan, Fortune
Testing Wars in the Public Schools: A Forgotten History
“Written tests are the bête-noire of contemporary educational critics, who claim that the tests encourage a sterile and rote pedagogy. But in William Reese’s tale, they were originally part of reformers’ efforts to, yes, reform sterile and rote pedagogy! These stories—and a treasure-trove of other ones—come to life in this new look at the early years of American public schools.”
—Jonathan Zimmerman, New York University
Measurement
“Lockhart is famous in the math world for a 2002 essay about the state of mathematics teaching. He described it as akin to teaching music by forcing children to transcribe notation without ever touching an instrument or singing. Measurement is his attempt to change the equation: a conversational book about mathematics as an art that invites the reader to join in the fun. Sounding every bit the teacher whose love for his subject is infectious, he guides us through exercises in geometry and calculus—giving information and hints along the way while always encouraging us to ask, and answer, ‘Why?’ Lockhart does not try to make math seem easy; instead he wants his readers to understand that the difficulty brings rewards.”—Evelyn Lamb, Scientific American
Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can Be Done About It
“The most complete examination of the dropout issue I have ever seen… Rumberger examines every complex nuance, summarizes every important research paper and demolishes every Internet myth. His book is a masterpiece, something education wonks will keep close by… We can’t make any improvements, however, without knowing what hasn’t helped dropouts, and why. On those vital questions, this book will be the best resource for years to come.”
—Jay Mathews, The Washington Post
Teaching What You Don’t Know
“When top-down support and open communication become the norm, teaching outside one’s expertise can cease to be the nightmarish experience many feel it to be and become the illuminating and rewarding experience that Huston describes. While this is undoubtedly important, Huston’s consistently optimistic treatment of this subject and her clear suggestions for struggling teachers remain the book’s greatest strengths. Teaching What You Don’t Know is a pleasure to read and should be required reading in graduate pedagogy classes across disciplines.”
—Adam Pacton, Pedagogy
No Citizen Left Behind
“Levinson advocates restoring civic education, which gives young people insights into the workings of the American political system, to the educational curriculum on a national scale. She believes that ensuring all students receive the same civic education would strengthen our country and cause more citizens to take an active role in its government… Civic education is an area of education reform that experts have overlooked, but it could have a major impact on our country if achieved. The experiences and research Levinson shares have the potential to produce a national ‘aha’ moment.”
—Terry Christner, Library Journal
Trusting What You’re Told: How Children Learn from Others
“Harris argues that the longstanding idea that kids should be self-learners who gain knowledge mainly from their own explorations and observations is flawed… Harris’ book explores lots of interesting ideas, including the impact of a mother’s level of education on a child’s inquisitiveness and why kids trust what they learn from their parents.”
—Julie Rasicot, Education Week
Children’s Chances: How Countries Can Move from Surviving to Thriving
“With its amazing synthesis of evidence, Children’s Chances maps out what countries are now doing—and what more they can do—to address problems in the lives of children around the world. This book is a valuable resource, not just for agencies like Save the Children, but for individual citizens who champion all children’s opportunities to develop to their fullest potential.”
—Jasmine Whitbread, CEO, Save the Children
Teenage Citizens: The Political Theories of the Young
“Teenage Citizens is a tour de force. Taking a broad international view, it explores how ideas germane to citizenship such as democracy, loyalty, trust, and politics are learned. What does it mean to youths to be citizens of their country, and how do their views depend on their circumstances? Flanagan does what every successful scholar should do: she summarizes her life’s work, explains the contribution of each study, and shows how the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”
—Lonnie Sherrod, Fordham University
Kids Don’t Want to Fail: Oppositional Culture and the Black–White Achievement Gap
“Sociologist Harris provides an important corrective to academic theories and popular thought that attribute racial differences in educational achievement to students’ attitudes toward schooling.”
—G.L. Ochoa, Choice
