Description
Merrow, a long-time education correspondent for NPR and PBS, outlines what he believes are excellent practices in American public education and argues that it is possible to expand these practices nationwide. Decrying the single measure evaluation approach that is currently in vogue with many politicians, he looks at a variety of measures in the same fashion as his earlier PBS special report "School Sleuth: The Case of an Excellent School." Chapters explore such topics as testing and assessment, technology, teacher preparation time, safety, homework, special education, and more. At the heart of the work is the wish to see excellent teachers have the tools and motivation to stay in teaching for the long-term. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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How do you evaluate a school? Today parents and teachers lean on standardized test scores - along with image, rumor, and reputation - to make vital decisions. However, a single number is inevitably misleading. Author John Merrow, host of PBS's premier documentary series on youth and learning, "The Merrow Report, " delves into the problem of school evaluation. He shows that there are really only three kinds of schools: bad, good enough, and excellent. "Good enough" is the kind of school that most people settle for, schools people want to believe are okay. Each of the chapters in Choosing Excellence explores some aspect of schooling: safety, academics, values, technology, and so on. He spotlights excellent practices and strategies, concluding each chapter with a list of evidence for visitors to look for.
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