Available:*
Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010278301 | LB1607.52.M4 D45 2010 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
On Order
Summary
Summary
A much-needed counterpoint to the sweeping rhetoric of reform, this important book offers a nuanced depiction of the challenges and possibilities at the school and classroom level. Through the experiences of urban high school teachers who partner with their local university, Del Prete provides unique insight into teaching and learning in the midst of reform. He effectively illustrates why focusing on teaching practice and school cultures--more than standards and accountability--is a more fruitful way to achieve real and lasting change. With powerful portraits from classrooms serving diverse and low-income students, this book:
Depicts the daily concerns and small victories of teachers determined to support all students in meaningful learning, and prepare them for postsecondary education. Characterizes the importance of a coherent school learning culture, based on one of the most effective small urban schools in the country. Illustrates the potential of university-school partnerships to support the development of teaching practices that will help close the achievement gap.Author Notes
Thomas Del Prete is Director of the Jacob Hiatt Center for Urban Education, and Chair of the Education Department at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He has worked for more than two decades on teacher education, university-school partnership, and school reform.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
Del Prete (Clark Univ.) brings a human face to urban high school reform by examining change at the national, state, school, and classroom levels. Through case studies of classrooms in the ethnically diverse, low-income setting of Worcester, Massachusetts, del Prete explores Clark University's partnership with three high schools to examine how universities and high schools can work together to improve learning. Situating the case studies in Massachusetts, a state lauded for its test-based accountability, del Prete explores the complexity and problematic nature of these statistics by refocusing attention on teaching practice and learning cultures. The studies provide examples of how teachers' work is enabled or complicated by the sometimes conflicting goals and strategies of reform. The author proposes a new agenda for reform that includes actions in five areas: institutional culture and practice; teaching quality; educational opportunity and quality; partnerships and networks; and community revitalization. The book features fascinating insights into the classrooms of effective teachers from multiple content areas. Del Prete closes with larger lessons for reform. Especially helpful is the figure summarizing the necessary components of an equitable and transformative practice, as well as the two tables that present a framework for academic development and school coherence. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. P. M. Del Prado Hill Buffalo State College
