Making the Grade: Reinventing America's Schools. (Book Reviews).Author Tony Wagner argues against what today's K-12 schools are doing to America s children in this cogent and sensible book. Wagner, who is co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is a graduate school at Harvard University, and is one of the top schools of education in the United States. It offers six doctoral concentrations and thirteen masters programs. , points out in Making the Grade: Reinventing America's Schools that many public school students today are very much at risk, particularly those who are poor and non-white, echoing the 1983 National Commission on Excellence in Education The National Commission on Excellence in Education produced the 1983 report titled A Nation at Risk. It was chaired by David P. Gardner and included prominent members such as Nobel prize-winning chemist Glenn T. Seaborg. report. Instead of being "sorting machines" as they have been in the past, public schools have the responsibility to teach all students higher-order thinking Higher-order thinking is a fundamental concept of Education reform based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Rather than simply teaching recall of facts, students will be taught reasoning and processes, and be better lifelong learners. skills and how to use new technologies, he says. Wagner views the qualities needed to succeed in the working world and in higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. to be essentially the same. He blames the heightened emphasis on testing and the standards movement as leading contributors to the schools' shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw. Shortcomings may also be:
In describing how schools can be reinvented, he describes the need for a "shared vision." This requires a deeper understanding of good teaching practices that can achieve the goals of teaching essential skills needed for "work, continuous learning and citizenship today." Wagner also cites individual schools that exhibit an entire community engaging in a dialogue about education and forming what he calls "New Village Schools." These are schools that are supported by community members and groups dedicated to reinventing education for all children. (Making the Grade: Reinventing America's Schools by Tony Wagner, Routledgefalmer, 29 W. 35th St., New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY 10001, 2002,176 pp., $22.95 hardcover) |
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