Building Engaged Schools: Getting the Most Out of America's Classrooms [Hardcover]

Gary Gordon (Author), Steve Crabtree (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2006

America's schools can meet the challenges of globalization and increased expectations — but not by doing what they're doing today. So argues this book, which challenges the faulty assumptions that guide American public education. Focusing on process — standards, curriculum, and testing — rather than people has created lethargic, alienated students and cynical, disillusioned teachers. If schools can learn anything from the business world, it is that the best way to improve productivity is to tap into the talents and motivation of human assets. The book spells out new ways to select teachers and principals, nurture students and educators, and foster more meaningful community involvement. The potential is there — this engaging guide shows how to tap it, with the ultimate goal of a more fully engaged society, and a better future for America’s children.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Drawing on 20 years as principal, teacher, and district administrator and the perspective offered by his current position with Gallup's education division, Gordon offers a critical examination of what is wrong with public education and how it might be fixed. He eschews grand government mandates in favor of efforts in individual schools to use the people and resources at hand and leverage underutilized talents. What is preventing schools from progressing, according to Gordon, are outdated assumptions, such as the ideas that testing will ensure accountability and higher standards; focusing on areas of weakness will lead to improvement; and selecting staff on the basis of knowledge and providing the perfect curriculum will ensure success. Based on research and Gallup studies, the remainder of the book offers examples of engaged schools and analyzes the elements that make them so--faculty, teachers, students, and parents, even the community. Gordon offers a refreshing look at what ails schools and argues that the road to improvement does not include a one-size-fits-all approach to education. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Gallup Press; 1 edition (September 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595620109
• ISBN-13: 978-1595620101
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Data-based, Thoughtful, and Compelling, October 26, 2006

By 

David N. Shearon "http://www.flourishingschoo... (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building Engaged Schools: Getting the Most Out of America's Classrooms (Hardcover)

Gallup's work in the area of strengths is well known and widely used in both the world of business and in many colleges. See, e.g., Now, Discover Your Strengths. This book makes a compelling case for reconciling the competing agendas of No Child Left Behind and the school, student, and teacher-centered approaches by rallying around engagement, for both students and teachers. As usual with Gallup's products, this one is backed up with the surveys and research Gallup has conducted over the years. Neither "engagement" nor "strengths" are left as "soft", unmeasurable terms. Those who want real, measurable improvement in schools and those who want schools to be a great place for teachers and students will find much to like, and perhaps a way to talk to each other in this book. In fact, the three elements that polls in 1995 and 2004 identified as things the public thinks are very important, but not likely to be happening in schools, could be the basis of a great vision statement:

* Students challenged to develop themselves to their full potential
* Motivated students
* Emphasizing the strengths of each student

(pp. 62-67).

If you're interested in education policy, you need to be conversant with the information and policy recommendations in this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's not limited to schools - all organizations can use this book, December 4, 2006

By 

Alan Harris (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building Engaged Schools: Getting the Most Out of America's Classrooms (Hardcover)

Don't be fooled by the title - there is applicability for a variety of organizations, and for profit and not-for-profit groups alike can benefit from Dr. Gordon's outstanding book. With my background and graduate work in education and business, I found myself immediately engrossed in this book and its uses beyond the classroom. I have enthusiastically endorsed this work to several friends and peers in business, education, and healthcare since my recent two-sitting reading of this book. If you are a fan of Carl Rogers, Peter Drucker, Donald Clifton ("How Full Is Your Bucket"), or Marty Seligman, you will love this book. If you have any interest in being part of the revolutionary change needed in corporate America or in the classroom (or school system), you will find yourself fully engaged in this wonderful, well-researched work (up to date with the Gallup organization's 2006 data on the engaged teacher and the engaged workforce). Dr. Gordon's detailed analysis of the six major (faulty) assumptions apply to many workplace situations as they do within the school system. Having previously been a fan of Jonathon Kozol's works, I recall being angry with the situation in many dysfunctional schools systems, but not knowing what, exactly, I could do with that anger. Now I have the material with this book to be part of the solution, both inside and outside of the educational setting. I obviously can't say enough of how much I enjoyed this book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teachers and students alike will benefit from this process., December 13, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building Engaged Schools: Getting the Most Out of America's Classrooms (Hardcover)

America's public schools often rely too heavily on the same old formula for passing success without rising to the challenge of making changes to the system. BUILDING ENGAGED SCHOOLS offers a program for so doing, outlining the many challenges public schools face and covering the different values inherent in 'soft' education activities often ignored in favor of standards and testing processes. Chapters come from a leader of Gallup's Education Division and focuses on how to tap into a child's inner drive and needs to build a classroom program that lifts them from alienation into engagement. Teachers and students alike will benefit from this process.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch