Frogs into Princes: Writings on School Reform

by Larry Cuban, James A. Banks

Overview

Here is the essential collection of Larry Cuban’s writings on urban school reform spanning his 45-year career. These carefully selected studies and articles examine instructional, curricular, organizational, and governance reform in mostly poor and minority districts and schools. The volume includes an Introduction and Epilogue that frames the book, giving readers a sense of Cuban’s career as teacher, administrator, and researcher, and how those experiences were intimately tied to the writings presented here. Cuban’s deep compassion for students and educators, and his commitment to educational equality for all children, is evident in every page of this stunning collection.

Book Features:

• Brings together in one volume the insights gained from decades of thinking about and working in schools.
• Describes how the current standards and accountability movement, propelled by the No Child Left Behind Act, has had mixed effects upon schools, teaching, and learning.
• Argues convincingly that the problems of inner-city schools can be solved when communities and schools work together to reduce poverty and racism within the larger society.
• Offers empirically based and practical knowledge about ways to maximize the possibilities for successful school reform.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807748596
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	04/12/2008
Series:	Multicultural Education Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Larry Cuban is Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University. In addition to How Teachers Taught, his books include Teachers and Machines, Frogs into Princes: Writings on School Reform, Why Is It So Hard to Get Good Schools? and How Can I Fix It? Finding Solutions and Managing Dilemmas.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword   James A. Banks     vii
Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction     1
Lessons Learned     5
Selected Writings and Speeches     7
Teacher as Reformer: An Insider's Perspective
1962-Teaching at Glenville     13
1969-Teacher and Community     20
Necessary Revisions in Teacher Education     23
A Role Problem: Teacher or Social Worker?     32
An Assessment of the Proposed Training Model     35
Moving From an Insider to an Outsider Perspective
1984-Transforming the Frog into a Prince: Effective Schools Research, Policy, and Practice at the District Level     41
District Policies     45
Implementation Strategies     50
Unanticipated Consequences     61
1989-The "At-Risk" Label and the Problem of Urban School Reform     70
Framing the Problem     72
The Case Against the Graded School     75
Past Efforts to Redesign Schools     76
The Difficulty of Redesign     77
Incremental Change     79
1990-Reforming Again, Again, and Again     85
Classrooms: Teacher-Centered Instruction     86
Curriculum: The Academic and the Practical     87
Centralizing and Decentralizing Authority     89
Why Do Reforms Appear Again and Again?     91
A Rational Explanation for Recurring Reforms     91
Value Conflicts: A Political Perspective     97
Institutional Perspective     102
Concluding Comments     105
2001-Leadership for Student Learning: Urban School Leadership-Different in Kind and Degree     111
Nationalizing Education Reform     111
Learning from the Past     113
Reforming Schools-The Current Agenda     115
Dispelling Some Urban Myths     118
An Initial Agenda for Action     122
Merged Perspectives in Reforming Classroom Practice
1993-Introduction to How Teachers Taught     127
Reforming Schools and Classrooms     129
Explanations for Constancy and Change     140
2006-Reflections on Two Decades of Computers in Classrooms     148
Introduction     148
1:1 Computing     149
A Final Word     157
2007-Hugging the Middle: Teaching in an Era of Testing and Accountability     159
How Have Teachers Taught?     160
How Are Teachers Teaching?     164
A Follow-Up Study of How Teachers Taught     165
Making Sense of Conflicting Evidence     180
Reflections on Urban School Reform     188
Index     197
About the Author     204

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A fascinating review of Larry Cuban's 45-year-long quest for urban school reform."
—Jack Jennings, Center on Education Policy, Washington, D.C.

“If heeded, Cuban’s clarion call for school reform will help our nation move closer to the ideals of justice and equality that it loudly proclaims around the world.”
—James A. Banks, University of Washington, Seattle