A Fragile Enterprise: Yesterday's Schools and Tomorrow's Students

by Nancy Brigham

Overview

A Fragile Enterprise recounts true stories the front lines of the struggle between the entitled few and the marginalized many in America’s public schools. In this book, you'll learn about the national narrative of education from the viewpoint of students and their families. You'll discover:

• That despite the massive expenditure of public funds, large-scale national education improvement efforts have largely failed
• That failing schools seldom have the resources and skills to implement the programs that are thrust upon them.
• That the charter school solution leaves behind the students who need help the most.
• How seldom families are involved in meaningful ways in the education of their children.
• What the best teachers do and why they do it that way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475846010
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/30/2019
Pages:	182
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Nancy Brigham has been engaged in education research and program evaluations for 35 years. A Fragile Enterprise is based on thousands of interviews, hundreds of classroom observations and first-hand experience in failing schools that strive to serve struggling students.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Section One: Students and Families

Chapter One: How Students Experience School

Chapter Two: Addressing School Violence Through Student Connectedness

Chapter Three: Jeremy: A Boy on a Tightrope

Chapter Four: Family Connections: How Important?

Section Two: Teachers and Instruction

Chapter Five: The Best Teachers

Chapter Six: Professional Development: Large Investment, Limited Results

Chapter Seven: Angels of Special Education

Chapter Eight: Who Destroyed Co-Teaching at Hanover Middle School?

Chapter Nine: Adult Basic Education: A Program in the Shadows

Section Three: Schools In Need

Chapter Ten: Failing Schools, Faulty Solutions

Chapter Eleven: How Useful are External Interventions?

Section Four: Testing and Evaluation

Chapter Twelve: The National Obsession with Testing Students

Chapter Thirteen: Do it Yourself Evaluations

Section Five: Summary and Conclusions

Chapter 14: Conclusion

Appendix: Tool Box

Editorial Reviews

06/17/2019

Brigham reports on her experience as an educational researcher in this scattered collection denouncing various aspects of U.S. K–12 education. The challenges of impoverished districts, troubled home lives, and serving students with disabilities are illuminated by Brigham’s reports of what she learned using her research technique of “shadowing,” which seeks to understand school from students’ points of view, but the insights arising from these efforts are lost in chapters that go on to broadly sketch problems with charter schools, adult basic education, professional development, and implementing programs of reform. It’s not clear who the book is aimed at, since some chapters collate best or worst teaching practices, several focus on students with disabilities, and others advise administrators on how to improve school environments or hire educational researchers. Brigham’s sympathy for the disadvantaged is clear, but the dearth of analysis or a framework for relating the varied topics weakens the cage-rattling effect. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Ms. Brigham takes us into the school lives of today’s adolescents through their own voices and experiences. She gives the reader a “behind the scenes” look at how schools work to make abstract concepts such as “a sense of belonging” and connectedness a reality for all of their students, a daunting but attainable task. As a former teacher and teacher trainer, Ms. Brigham’s words, exemplars, and images ring true to me. A must-read for parents, students, teachers, and administrators.

Cynthia Mata Aguilar

Kudos to Nancy Brigham for including a chapter on Adult Basic Education that sheds light on the importance of ABE in the full compendium of services offered in the U.S. education system, placing it front and center in a discussion it deserves. She provides a cogent reminder that it takes courage for adults to return to the classroom, where too often they have met failure in the past, to develop the literacy skills and self-confidence necessary to move forward in their lives.

Kathleen J. Mackin

With keen observation and thoughtful context, Nancy Brigham identifies the key elements of successful, mainstreamed education for students with special needs, even in the challenging high school years.

Sandra Seitz

Nancy Brigham is a gifted writer whose discerning style is complemented by her insight and wide-reaching compassion for the children she is portraying. Her stories of students, educators and administrators practically leap from the page. The broader message of does not get lost, but is enhanced by her riveting accounts of what goes on within the institutional walls of schools in 21st century America.

Andrea Cleghorn

Nancy provides a helpful summary of the key features of successful professional development programs as well as common pitfalls we should work to avoid. Many programs professional developers fail by neglecting to meet teachers where they are and understand their school environments. It's a helpful reminder for anyone working in the field of professional development that it’s critical to understand the contexts in which we work in order to successfully foster instructional growth.

Claire Gogolen

Nancy Brigham’s keen eye for detail captures the delicate tensions teachers routinely face in setting expectations and establishing learning norms in their classrooms. The descriptions of how selected—and very accomplished—teachers engage their students from the first day of school and onward will catapult readers back into the excitement and promise of schooling.

Beth Gamse

An impressively informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking read, A Fragile Enterprise is an extraordinary and highly recommended contribution to our on-going national dialogue regarding education policies on the national, state, and local district level. While a core addition to community and academic library Contemporary Educational Issues collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of educators, education administrators, state and federal education policy makers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.

Midwest Book Review

The chapter on professional development rings true to me as a former teacher, researcher and one-time professional development provider. In the two latter roles I felt my greatest contribution was helping colleagues understand the complex culture of schools and the perspectives of teachers desperate for evidence-based tools and techniques they could bring directly to their classrooms. Nancy provides vivid examples of what not to do and fair warning to those who risk being careless with teachers’ time and attention.

Corinne Herlihy