{"product_id":"becoming-good-american-schools-isbn-9780787962241","title":"Becoming Good American Schools","description":"\"A convincing portrait of teachers actively engaged in educational reform...offering a hopeful yet realistic vision of revitalized democracy inspired by a passion for the public good. This book is an eloquent defense of civic virtue.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eJonathan Kozol\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eAmazing Grace\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSavage Inequalities\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\"Rich, realistic, invigorating, and scary. Any middle school educator who has been part of an effort to reform the educational process will see himself or herself in this book--as the brave risk taker, the naive visionary, the frightened frontline trooper, and the touched individual who can make a difference.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eJudy Cunningham\u003c\/b\u003e, principal, South Lake Middle School, Irvine, California\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis book tells the stories of sixteen schools in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and Vermont that sought to alter their structures and practices and become places fostering innovative ideas, caring people, principles of social justice, and democratic processes. Based on longitudinal, comparative case-study research, these accounts attest to the power of committing to public virtue and the struggle of educators to transform that commitment into changed school practice. The authors argue that better schools will come only when policy makers, educators, and citizens move beyond technical and bureaucratic reforms to engage in the same educative, socially just, caring, and participatory processes they want for schoolchildren. Those processes constitute betterment--both the means and the ends of school reform. Becoming Good American Schools is for administrators, policy makers, practitioners, and citizens who are prepared to blend inspiration and caution, idealism and skepticism in their own pursuit of good schools.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSITUATING THE STRUGGLE.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Struggle to Become Good Schools.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCultural Contradictions.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFOUR CULTURAL STRUGGLES.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBecoming Educative.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBecoming Socially Just.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBecoming Caring.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBecoming Participatory.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBECOMING BETTER.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStruggling to Scale Up.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStruggling in the Reform Mill.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA Passion for the Public Good.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppendix: Studying the Technical, Normative, and Political Dimensions of School Reform.\u003c\/p\u003e \"...is a provocative and challenging analysis...\" (Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, Volume 7, #3) \u003cb\u003eJEANNIE OAKES\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles. A prominent authority on school reform, she is author or coauthor of several books, including \u003ci\u003eKeeping Track\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTeaching to Change the World\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKAREN HUNTER QUARTZ\u003c\/b\u003e is a research scientist at the Center for Research in Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence (CREATE) at the University of California, San Diego. She is coeditor of \u003ci\u003eCreating New Educational Communities\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSTEVE RYAN\u003c\/b\u003e is assistant professor of secondary education in the School of Education at the University of Louisville.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMARTIN LIPTON\u003c\/b\u003e is a research associate in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eMaking the Best of Schools\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e Teaching to Change the World\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e  This book brings to life an ambitious American education reform agenda: transforming schools into places that foster meaningful engagement with ideas, caring people, principles of social justice, and democratic processes. It draws on longitudinal, comparative case-study research to tell the stories of sixteen schools in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and Vermont that sought to alter their deep structures and daily practices. Their stories illuminate contradictions deeply rooted in American culture—incongruities that not only threatened their efforts, but also revealed the limits of technical and rational approaches to school reform.  \u003cp\u003eThe accounts in this book attest to the power of committing to public virtue and the struggle of educators to transform that commitment into changed school practice. The authors argue that better schools will come only when policy makers, educators, and citizens move beyond technical and bureaucratic reforms to engage in the same educative, socially just, caring, and participatory processes they want for schoolchildren. Those processes constitute betterment—both the means and the ends of school reform. Becoming Good American Schools is for administrators, policy makers, practitioners, and citizens who are prepared to blend inspiration and caution, idealism and skepticism in their own pursuit of good schools.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jossey-Bass","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47988797866213,"sku":"NP9780787962241","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780787962241.jpg?v=1761781628","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/becoming-good-american-schools-isbn-9780787962241","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}