American Education: A History by Wayne J. Urban, Jennings L. Wagoner, Jr., Milton Gaither
This book discusses the history of the American education system. It even explores Native American education before colonization occurred. It covers the major educational movements of each period. The book is chronologically organized, making it easy to follow. It even offers coverage of minorities and women.
It is one of the best books about education reform because it’s an excellent starting point. Instructors can use the content to understand how the system has evolved. They will learn what policies worked before. Then they can implement them within their classroom. Also, some older tactics can be adopted and improved to fit the times.
Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol
The novel addresses the financial gap between schools in wealthy and poorer areas. The author, Jonathon Kozul, spent two years touring the country and interviewing educators.
He visited places such as Illinois and Washington. He found that the urban schools he visited were overcrowded and understaffed. Some of the essential elements, like books and classrooms, were also lacking.
This book addresses the current divide, helping influence educators to advocate for equality. In fact, the wealthiest school districts receive 15.6% more funds than poorer areas. With unequal funding, those in well-off neighborhoods receive more advantages later in life. So, it’s crucial teachers speak up on this issue.
What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated? by Alfie Kohn
Few writers ask us to question our fundamental assumptions about education as provocatively as Alfie Kohn. Time magazine has called him’perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.’ And the Washington Post says he is ‘the most energetic and charismatic figure standing in the way of a major federal effort to make standardized curriculums and tests a fact of life in every U.S. school.’
In this new collection of essays, Kohn takes on some of the most important and controversial topics in education of the last few years. His central focus is on the real goals of education-a topic, he argues, that we systematically ignore while lavishing attention on misguided models of learning and counterproductive techniques of motivation.
U.S. Education is in Trouble, Let's Fix It!: 22 Reform Proposals by Richard Garrett
Changes to Improve Schools is a book about educational reform. Richard Garrett has spent ten years researching the U.S. K-12 system to find things in need of improvements. The book has 17 chapters that cover a wide range of topics such as the performance of American students, classroom discipline, and apprehensions younger graduates face when deciding to pursue educational fields.
Waiting for “Superman”: How We Can Save America’s Failing Public Schools by Participant
By 2020, the United States will have 123 million high-skill jobs to fill — and fewer than 50 million Americans qualified to fill them. Educators, parents, political leaders, business people, and concerned citizens are determined to save our educational system. Waiting for “Superman” offers powerful insights from some of those at the leading edge of educational innovation, including Bill and Melinda Gates, Michelle Rhee, Geoffrey Canada, and more. Waiting for “Superman” is an inspiring call for reform and includes special chapters that provide resources, ideas, and hands-on suggestions for improving the schools in your own community as well as throughout the nation. For parents, teachers, and concerned citizens alike, Waiting for “Superman” is an essential guide to the issues, challenges, and opportunities facing America’s schools.
Teaching Community by Bell Hooks
Ten years ago, bell hooks astonished readers with Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Now comes Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope – a powerful, visionary work that will enrich our teaching and our lives. Combining critical thinking about education with autobiographical narratives, hooks invites readers to extend the discourse of race, gender, class and nationality beyond the classroom into everyday situations of learning. bell hooks writes candidly about her own experiences. Teaching, she explains, can happen anywhere, any time – not just in college classrooms but in churches, in bookstores, in homes where people get together to share ideas that affect their daily lives.
