This frank and courageous book explores the persistence of failure in today's urban schools. At its heart is the argument that most education policy discussions are disconnected from the daily realities of urban schools, especially those in poor and beleaguered neighborhoods. Charles M. Payne argues that we have failed to account fully for the weakness of the social infrastructure and the often dysfunctional organizational environments of urban schools and school systems. The result is that liberals and conservatives alike have spent a great deal of time pursuing questions of limited practical value in the effort to improve city schools.Payne carefully delineates these stubborn and intertwined sources of failure in urban school reform efforts of the past two decades. Yet while his book is unsparing in its exploration of the troubled recent history of urban school reform, Payne also describes himself as “guardedly optimistic.” He describes how, in the last decade, we have developed real insights into the roots of school failure, and into how some individual schools manage to improve. He also examines recent progress in understanding how particular urban districts have established successful reforms on a larger scale.Drawing on a striking array of sources—from the recent history of various urban school systems, to the growing sophistication of education research, to his own experience as a teacher, scholar, and participant in reform efforts—Payne paints a vivid and unmistakably realistic portrait of urban schools and reforms of the past few decades. So Much Reform, So Little Change will be required reading for everyone interested in the plight—and the future—of urban schools.
27, and Michael W. Kirst, "Strengthening Federal-Local Relationships Supporting Educational Change," in Robert E. Herriott and Neal Gross, eds., The Dynamics of Planned Educational Change (Berkeley: McCutchan, 1979), p. 275. 70.
Written as a series of back-and-forth exchanges, this engaging book illustrates a model of civil debate between those with substantial, principled differences.
William T. Harris, "The Pedagogical Creed of William T. Harris," in Educational Creeds of the Nineteenth Century, ed. Ossian H. Lang (New York: Kellogg, 1898), p. 37. 34. W. T. Harris, "How the School Strengthens the Individuality of ...
He offers a systematic analysis of social capital both within the African-American community and outside it, and shows that while black social capital may have created solidarity against white domination in Baltimore, it hampered African ...
A Beacon Journal review of 4,263 audits released last year by State Auditor Dave Yost's office indicates charter schools misspend public money nearly four times more often than any other type of taxpayer-funded agency.
New foundations, created by astonishingly successful entrepreneurs, took on the mission of reforming American education. ... In 1998, the top four foundations contributing to elementary and secondary schooling were the Annenberg ...
Samuel P. Hays, “The Politics of Reform in Municipal Government in the Progressive Era,” Pacific Northwest Quarterly, October 1964, pp. 152, 170. 17. Ibid., p. 58. 18. David Tyack, The One Best System: A History of American Urban ...
In this book, he returns to this territory, but trains his focus on the still baffling fact that policy reforms--no matter how ambitious or determined--have generally had little effect on classroom conduct and practice.
This is an extensive, monograph–length revisiting.
Both policymakers and practitioners will benefit from these valuable insights.” —Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University, author of The Flat World and Education “A well-edited and ...