Best Practice: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools, Second Edition [Paperback]

Steven Zemelman (Author), Harvey "Smokey" Daniels (Author), Arthur Hyde (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0325000913 | ISBN-13: 978-0325000916 | Publication Date: August 13, 1998 | Edition: 2nd

In its original edition, Best Practice was the first book to summarize the emerging standards of state-of-the-art teaching, offering practical descriptions of instructional excellence across the curriculum. Now, in this extensively revised and expanded second edition, we find updated descriptions of progressive teaching in six subject areas: reading, writing, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts.

New and revised features include:

• thorough coverage of all major national standards projects, including a dozen key documents released since 1993
• a critical review and chronology of recent school reforms, with a balanced look at the fractious standards movement itself
• updated chapters on reading and writing that incorporate the new NCTE and IRA standards
• a retrospective on the NCTM standards, based on a decade of attempted implementation
• a look at the destructive impact politics has had on history and social studies curriculums
• a new chapter on Best Practice in the arts, with an emphasis on K-12 curriculum integration
• many new classroom stories.

While the second edition draws upon official standards documents from a disparate array of leading professional groups, it nonetheless reveals a surprising and encouraging level of agreement: The consensus is that students learn best in schools that are student centered, experiential, democratic, and collaborative - yet rigorously challenging. Following Best Practice, we may yet attain this goal.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steven Zemelman has worked in many capacities to promote the sustainability of innovative schools in Chicago. For eight years he directed the Center for City Schools at National-Louis University, and he is a founding director of the Illinois Writing Project. He has spearheaded the start of a number of innovative small high schools in the city. His experiences and research in these areas led to his Heinemann book 13 Steps to Teacher Empowerment, coauthored with Harry Ross. Steve has been a frequent collaborator with Harvey "Smokey" Daniels. They have coauthored six books and videos with Heinemann, including the new Best Practice, Fourth Edition; Content-Area Writing; Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content-Area Reading; Rethinking High School and its companion video; and A Community of Writers. These books are filled with practical strategies for making writing, reading, the content areas, and indeed the life of a school itself into a deeper and richer learning experience for kids. Zemelmen and Daniels are known for immediately useful teaching strategies that range from brief, easy-to-use reflections that help students learn right in class to bigger public-writing projects that can make school truly memorable for kids and teachers alike. Steve consults with schools and districts around the country and may be contacted directly at [e-mail]

Harvey Daniels has been a city and suburban classroom teacher and a college professor, and now works as a national consultant and author on literacy education. In language arts, Smokey is known for his pioneering work on student book clubs, as recounted in Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups, and Minilessons for Literature Circles. Smokey has recently coauthored three bestselling books on content-area literacy: Comprehension & Collaboration; Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content-Area Reading, and Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher's Guide. He is also coauthor of the new Best Practice, Fourth Edition, and editor of Comprehension Going Forward. Smokey works with elementary and secondary teachers throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, offering demonstration lessons, workshops, and consulting, with a special focus on creating, sustaining, and renewing student-centered inquiries and discussions of all kinds. Smokey shows colleagues how to simultaneously build students' reading strategies, balance their reading diets, and strengthen the social skills they need to become genuine lifelong readers.

Arthur Hyde is the author or coauthor of the Heinemann titles Understanding Middle School Mathematics; Comprehending Math; Best Practice, Fourth Edition; and Mathwise. A professor of mathematics education at National-Louis University , he received its Excellence in Teaching award. While teaching high school mathematics in Philadelphia , he developed a variety of creative methods for teaching math. He also obtained a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Pennsylvania , where he later was Associate Director of Teacher Preparation. He continues to work frequently in elementary and middle school classrooms and conducts extensive professional development programs on mathematics and problem solving in Chicago and its surrounding school districts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann; 2nd edition (August 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0325000913
• ISBN-13: 978-0325000916
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #729,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Best Practice Is Common Sense, January 15, 2000

By 

Lea C. Bell (Crown Point, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Practice: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools, Second Edition (Paperback)

As part of my school's curriculum committee, Best Practices is on our assigned reading list. After reading the introduction I was shocked to find the book not only interesting, but also easy to read. The book's main premise is that school reform, what ever direction a school chooses to take, is a process, not a magic potion. Meaningful school reform, according to the authors, could and prbably should take at least three years. No one standardized test and no one curriculum can be a cure-all for improving student performance. Best Practice tells how to begin the process of reform to produce improved student performance in an environment dedicated to that process.

27 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for teachers who want to engage students, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Best Practice: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools, Second Edition (Paperback)

As an instructor of a graduate level education course, this book is an excellent example of the best that is happening in classrooms. It is filled with practical and engaging ways to involve students in their own learning. A must for all first and 20 year teachers.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - Let's use research to guide our practice!!, April 2, 2004

By 

Jungman "jungman7" (Webster, IA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Practice: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools, Second Edition (Paperback)

Too often we base our educational practice on ideology, folk lore, or tradition. Education has suffered from this. We have also suffered from those who would use a business paradigm to make educational decisions. Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde of synthesized the major research findings related to effective teaching in various academic areas. They present their findings in a way that is very easy to understand and apply. This should be required reading for all principals, teachers, school board members, governors, presidents, and legislators.