Restoring Honor to Public Schools: A Teacher's Vision for American Education

by William E. Smith, Gerald Bracey (Foreword by)

Overview

In this insightful analysis of public school policy, including No Child Left Behind, William E. Smith offers a unique perspective—he has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels; served in several administrative roles, including principal of an impoverished, rural K-5 school and a K-12 laboratory school; and been a teacher educator and educational scholar, before returning to the classroom. In Restoring Honor to Public Schools: A Teacher's Vision for American Education, Smith draws upon thirty years of experience in varied roles to provide an insider's look at teaching and learning. With clear and uncompromising analysis, he assesses the real impact of politics and educational policymaking on our children's lives. Smith provides thoughtful and achievable recommendations for honoring teachers and teaching and restoring civility and intelligence to our nation's discourse about education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578869305
Publisher:	R&L Education
Publication date:	01/16/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	341 KB

About the Author

William E. Smith has taught at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels and was Teacher of the Year for East Tennessee. He has also been an assistant principal, a district administrator, a principal in a rural K-5 elementary school, a teacher educator, and a university laboratory school director.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Reality, the Image, and the Discrediting of America's Public Schools
Chapter 3 Learning to Honor Education: A Lesson from Akina
Chapter 4 The Good News about America's Schools
Chapter 5 How Politicians and Journalists Shape Public Perceptions of Schools
Chapter 6 The Consequences of Misrepresenting Public School Quality
Chapter 7 Illusions, Misguided Notions, and Questionable Intentions: How Educational Policymaking Has Gone Wrong
Chapter 8 High Stakes Accountability Measures and Illusions of Quality
Chapter 9 A Tale of Two Teachers: The Passionate Professional and the Dispirited Functionary
Chapter 10 The No Child Left Behind Act: Illusion and Reality
Chapter 11 The Truth about the Children Left Behind
Chapter 12 The NAEP and International Assessments: Education's Catch-22
Chapter 13 The Political Process of Educational Reform: How Parents, Educators, and Children Get Left Behind
Chapter 14 Why Nostalgia Is a Poor Basis for Educational Policy
Chapter 15 The Shortcomings of Common Sense as a Basis for Educational Policy
Chapter 16 Honoring Teachers and the Process of Educational Change: Making a Commitment to Sound Principles
Chapter 17 Honoring Teachers and Teaching
Chapter 18 Elevating Our Nation's Public Discourse about Education
Chapter 19 Afterword

What People are Saying About This

Julia Swanson

The author provides crucial knowledge that every parent needs to be aware of in order to make informed decisions on their children’s education and the policy that shapes it. Numerous anecdotes provide clear illustrations that parents can identify with and learn from. Restoring Honor to Public Schoolsgives parents a description of the culture of teaching and the unique value system of teachers. This value system and the teacher accountability it champions is the key to success in the classroom. Smith eloquently makes the case for restoring honor to American education, and with this book, he takes his readers the first step in that direction.

Editorial Reviews

In this examination of educational politics and policy, Smith provides an insider's look at public schools by drawing on his experiences as a teacher, administrator, and teacher educator.

Bristol Herald Courier

William Smith gives voice to the most pressing issues confronting our public schools. There were times that I literally stood up and cheered as I read Restoring Honor to Public Schools. Though the book does not resort to sentimental or emotional ploys, I often found myself emotionally charged as a veteran educator who has lived through many of the significant issues presented in this book. William Smith gives honor to public schools and to those of us who dedicate our lives to public education; butmost importantly, he gives honor to the children we serve...

Keith Hertzog

From the opening vignette in an historic one-room schoolhouse to the concluding final thoughts, Restoring Honor to Public Schools provides a message of hope. William Smith seeks to open a dialogue that honors, respects, recognizes and holds in esteem all the good that public schools have done and continue to do in our democracy.

Cathleen D. Rafferty

Smith vividly demonstrates with a combination of research and personal anecdotes from thirty years in education that NCLB is having profound consequences on the entire educational system in the United States that will affect—and should concern—every citizen. This book is an in-depth conversation with an experienced, intelligent, passionate, observant, and dedicated teacher who is worried about the future of education in America. Part memoir of thirty years teaching, part analysis of the educational system, and part call to arms, Restoring Honor to Public Schools should interest, intrigue, and inform a wide variety of Americans, from parents and teachers to politicians and journalists—or anyone interested in the education of our children.

Andrew Slap

The author provides crucial knowledge that every parent needs to be aware of in order to make informed decisions on their children’s education and the policy that shapes it. Numerous anecdotes provide clear illustrations that parents can identify with and learn from. Restoring Honor to Public Schoolsgives parents a description of the culture of teaching and the unique value system of teachers. This value system and the teacher accountability it champions is the key to success in the classroom. Smith eloquently makes the case for restoring honor to American education, and with this book, he takes his readers the first step in that direction.

Julia Swanson