World Class by Teru Clavel

WORLD CLASS by Teru Clavel describes “One Mother's Journey Halfway Around the Globe in Search of the Best Education for Her Children” since they attended school in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo before moving back to the United States. This is definitely a topic of high interest to our students, especially those whose parents may have been educated in other countries. There are certainly cultural differences and attitudes which are fascinating and Clavel describes many of them.  However, she is extremely negative about the Palo Alto school district, one of our sister schools. Frankly, this caused me to wonder how reasonable it was to try to generalize her children’s experience(s) as describing an entire nation’s (or region’s) school system? As other reviewers have noted, I do believe that her intentions were good, but I felt that she often made sweeping statements which were rather simplistic and sometimes repetitive, as she herself says, “One of the hard truths I came around to in California was that I’d been a little naïve about the US education system in general. … I had downplayed in my own mind how deeply rooted and systemic the problems are.”  To her credit, she includes extensive notes and references, plus a glossary and index. Also, Clavel, draws a number of parallels, noting, for example that in 2017 the OECD found that globally teachers make an average of 88 percent of the salary of those in other professions with the same level of education (in US middle schools, that figure is 60 percent) – if we want the best teachers (and reduced turnover) for our children, we should reflect that in our compensation and provide better financial incentives. I also liked how she tried to steer the conversation to learning, rather than schools, although I believe there is much more that could have been written about innovation in American schools relative to Asian ones. Overall, her suggestions about dealing with administrators or encouraging your child to read the classics seemed unrealistic for many parents. She says, “I’ve always believed that you assess your child’s education every day and then support them as best you can” which is certainly important, but at what point should those students be taking increased responsibility for their own intellectual and emotional growth? If you are interested in education, I would suggest beginning by shadowing a high school student at your local school as well as reading other titles, such as these recent ones.

Ghosts in the Schoolyard by Eve L. Ewing

GHOSTS IN THE SCHOOLYARD by Eve L. Ewing is a non-fiction work about the 2013 decision -- and subsequent public reaction – regarding the closing of roughly 50 public schools in Chicago, most of which were in predominantly African American neighborhoods. Ewing, assistant professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, asks “Why do people care so much about failing schools?”  She begins by defining racism and argues that as a sociologist, racism is not so much what individuals think and see as the “set of structures organizing the way society works… systems …  bound up in in the perpetuation of historical policies rooted in more explicit racism.”  Ewing uses her first chapter of four chapters to profile Walter H. Dyett High School and the month long hunger strike that community members held to keep it open. Still focusing on the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, she next reviews the history of segregation and public housing; our students, too, learn about red-lining in Chicago. In a third chapter, she shares transcripts of public hearings so that the community activists, teachers, and students can be heard. In her final chapter, Ewing describes institutional mourning – “the idea that we can mourn lost institutions just as we mourn lost people.” It is a fascinating study touching on the turnover and corruption in CPS, as well as a lack of transparency and seeming inability to recognize the needs and wants of local communities.  

I have been suggesting GHOSTS IN THE SCHOOLYARD to student researchers due to their interest in K-12 education and the relatively local connection since many volunteer or interact with CPS students and/or learn about Chicago neighborhoods.  Ewing writes in a very accessible way and this is the type of text which could become required summer reading for a course like American Studies, or Social Justice. The text includes about 30 pages of biographical references, plus a useful index, as well as definitions and background on a set of terms and people. GHOSTS IN THE SCHOOLYARD received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.

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!

Beyond Measure by Vicki Abeles

You have probably seen or at least heard about the documentary film Race to Nowhere which Vicki Abeles created a few years ago in 2010.  This week she will be sharing more thoughts in a new book, called Beyond Measure, which will accompany her new film of the same name. Once again, she is asking us to examine the educational system in this country, with particular focus on the excessive amount of homework, striving for perfection, and the emotional and physical costs involved. 

To me, the book Beyond Measure takes a long time to lay out the issues although it does rely effectively on both anecdote and research to document concerns about children’s health and the many pressures they face.  It is not until the last chapter that Abeles begins to really outline some ideas for change. These very specific actions include suggested steps to be taken at home and at school. Beyond Measure, like Race to Nowhere, deserves a read and subsequent conversation involving students, parents, teachers and policy makers. 

Here is a quick trailer: