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This is a book that will get people talking—in book clubs, in parent groups, and in political arenas too. In it, Dr. Elaine Garan provides an easy-to-read, question-and-answer format to help readers think through the vital issues in education and parenting. It's a compelling, compassionate, and even entertaining must-read for anyone who cares about children and where their tax dollars are going.
An award-winning researcher and educator, Garan addresses all the hot-button topics that can confuse parents and concern teachers. These include:
- the role of phonics in reading instruction
- invented spelling
- scripted reading programs
- back-to-basics teaching methods
- high stakes testing
- what sweeping school reforms really mean for our children.
She expertly helps readers cut through the avalanche of propaganda and media buzzwords so they understand which corporations and entrepreneurs are getting ahead in the name of scientific research and school reform—while we foot the bill and many of our children are left behind. Finally, this book helps readers see that the teaching methods and materials used in schools can determine the roles children will assume in society as either followers—or as thinkers, doers, and future leaders.
You can use this book as a reference tool to seek out answers to specific questions you may have—but more than likely Garan's engaging writing style will have you turning pages almost as if you were reading a novel instead of a book packed with research-based facts. You'll be compelled to share this book with friends, family, and colleagues. To be sure, it will ruffle some feathers, but it will also open your eyes. This book will help you take back control of your own thinking and assume an informed and active role in our children's future.
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Table of Contents
I. School Reform and What it Means for Our Children
1. Schools, Wizards, and Pulling Back Curtains
2. Behind Curtain Number I: School "Reform"
3. Behind the Curtain of Accountability: All About Testing
4. A Hard Look at Stress and Competition
II. What Is Learning? How Do We Learn?
5. Bottom-Up Teaching, Methods, Materials, and Research
6. Government-Approved Programs, Methods, and the Research Claims
7. Top-Down Teaching, Methods, Materials, and Research
8. What Can We Do About It?
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