New Books on Education

It is the season when school is starting for millions of students and I have been reading several new books having to do with education in the K-12 environment. This unusually long post reviews three soon to be published titles:

First, The Bridge to Brilliance by Nadia Lopez with Rebecca Paley (Penguin Viking; August 30, 2016) relates the story of Mott Hall Bridges Academy. This middle school was founded in 2010 by Lopez in a very poor neighborhood of Brooklyn. Even though her situation is quite different, I found many of Principal Lopez’s comments to be insightful, such as when she talks about “the basic tools of teaching: being present, being repetitive, coming at it from another way, asking many questions, having patience and not giving up.”  At the school where I teach, we just held an Institute Day session on the importance of names which definitely fits her philosophy.    

The Bridge to Brilliance is a very readable description of the challenges and struggles faced by both teachers and students. Lopez notes that “many issues contribute to the devastating difference between education for white children and education for those of color, including poverty, inequitable distribution of resources, and lower parental involvement and education levels.”  Lopez’s response? “Find the positive [in a student or situation] and use that as the starting place for improvement.”  She provides additional thoughts in chapters like “The Vision” or “Expanding Horizons” which are valuable for all of us who are working to support scholars and foster lifelong learners.

Mott Hall Bridges Academy was featured in the blog Humans of New York and profiled in The New York Times, The Atlantic and by pbs. The Bridge to Brilliance received a starred review from Booklist.

Teacher by Michael Copperman (U of Mississippi P, Sept. 6, 2016) is written by a Stanford graduate and describes his two years (2002 to 2004) in Teach for America with fourth graders in the Mississippi Delta. Frankly, Teacher was difficult to read at times, especially those sections which dealt with the prevalence of corporal punishment.  Copperman was clearly impacted, perhaps even traumatized, by his time with Teach for America and it makes me wonder how many other young, idealistic volunteers are also scarred by their experience. Coincidentally, pbs just published a video report about corporal punishment; noting that 70% of the cases occur in five states (Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia), although it is still permitted in twenty-one.

Kudos to the University of Mississippi Press for making Teacher by Michael Copperman available. As I read, I was reminded of The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy and of Christy by Catherine Marshall.  Set in different times and places, each of those books also described the experience of a first year teacher and a class full of students living in poverty.   Copperman continues to make a difference and now works with first-generation college students of diverse backgrounds at the University of Oregon.

Substitute by Nicholson Baker (Penguin Blue Rider Press, Sept. 6, 2016) is a lengthy and generally boring recap of the 28 days which Baker spent as a substitute teacher. He won the National Book Critics Circle Award fifteen years ago for another non-fiction work, Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper. However, I was most disappointed in how little analysis or introspection was presented in Substitute, although I am beginning to understand that this fits with Baker’s writing style and heavy emphasis on description. As I read, I wondered again and again how he was able to capture the many details and still be fully present for children as a substitute teacher. For example, were those mind-numbing worksheets a time-filler provided on days with substitutes or a regular part of the students’ school experience?  A more useful work would have embedded the author as an observer for a longer period and with a consistent group of students as Kristina Rigza described in Mission High. ADDED September 8:  Here is his analysis (at least in part), recently published in The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/magazine/fortress-of-tedium-what-i-learned-as-a-substitute-teacher.html

Baker lives in Maine so there is some logic in his choosing a state where teachers make only 87% of the national average salary and one whose education system scored C+ (marginally better than Illinois and the national score) in Education Week’s overall evaluation. Also, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative began in 2002 as the first to give all older students a laptop. Baker, though, just kept repeating details of his “teaching” days and did not reflect on any of these variables; nor did he seem to describe the positive use of technology despite over 100 references to iPads. Despite its starred review from Booklist, I recommend substituting a different title for this one.

If you have a book related to education to recommend, please let us know.  Teachers are incredibly inspirational – for students and for each other.  As librarians, we are so fortunate to have the national School Librarian of the Year working in one of our sending districts.  Congratulations to Todd Burleson of Hubbard Woods school!