Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students (Paperback)

~ Ms. Denise Clark Pope (Author) "I wish I could have a class full of students like Eve,"1 says the chair of the history department, describing one of his "ideal" pupils..." (more)
Key Phrases: grade trap, Business House, Ivy League, Faircrest High (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By and large, the recent focus on American education has been on the shortcomings of our worst schools. Pope, a lecturer at the Stanford University School of Education, zeroes in on a well-regarded California public high school and explores "the educational experience" from the students' points of view. Her year-long shadowing of five intelligent, motivated students from diverse backgrounds raises the troubling proposition that even our best schools may be misserving our best students, and reveals the ambiguous nature of our successes. Devoting a detailed chapter to the school lives of each student, Pope asks two important questions: "What exactly is being learned in high schools like Faircrest? And at what costs?" The answers are dismaying. Students learn that getting A's is of supreme importance, and that it is sometimes more advantageous to be "system savvy" than it is to actually learn the material. Still, Pope's five subjects work hard at grueling routines, sacrificing sleep and social lives to the desire to succeed. The costs of their achievements, she suggests, are "severe anxiety or breakdowns," "persistent health or sleep problems" and ethical compromise in the conflict between these students' ideals and values and the grade-grubbing, self-serving alliances with adult advocates and (usually subtle) cheating they deem necessary to success. A scholarly study presented with great clarity and enlivened by vignettes of student life, this work provides a fresh perspective on the state of American education, and yet another reason to press for systematic reform.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In this important and timely study, Pope, a veteran teacher, curriculum expert, and lecturer at the Stanford University School of Education, offers a revealing look at the quandaries of today's high school students. The book is based on Pope's yearlong research, which consisted of shadowing and interviewing five successful students of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds at a highly regarded California public high school. Pope adroitly takes the students' point of view and finds that they are frustrated by being caught in a "grade trap"; often stressed out, exhausted, and anxious, they are resentful that their future success is dependent on their GPA and test scores. These and similar findings raise critical questions for concerned parents, educators, and policy makers involved in all levels of education, making this an essential purchase for high school, college, and university libraries and one strongly recommended for public libraries where interest in education is strong. Samuel T. Huang, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (January 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300098332
• ISBN-13: 978-0300098334
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,084 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #61 in	Books > Nonfiction > Education > College & University > Student Life
  #71 in	Books > Nonfiction > Education > High School
  #72 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Education > By Level > High School

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT Read, January 1, 2005

By	LinkinBlink182 "We Suck Because We Don't Care" (Gurnee, Illinois) - See all my reviews

I was browsing through my library's High School/College section and in it I spotted the interesting title and design of the book. I decided to check it out and read it and within reading the first 2 pages I was completely immersed in it. This book is AMAZING. It really gives you a glimpse into these 5 students lives and ALL they have to do and put up with. Its also written very well, the writing is very effective.
The thing is I'm in 8th grade, going to be a freshman next year, and ALREADY I can see these things start to happen. I already see the start and/or development of the tactics that the 5 students do to "survive" in school, the cheating, the copying, and the plagiarism among others. And another thing, like this is really worrisome for me, I mean I can already see myself as an "Eve" clone, studying all the time, having ZERO life, in order to get into an Ivy. But is there ANY other option but to do these things? I don't believe so. It seems like if students don't do all these things they WON'T "succeed" grade-wise in high school and then WON'T get into a good college, won't get high paying jobs and be successful, what kids like the ones described (and I) want to get. It seems like its the only choice. And what are people going to do about it? NOTHING. It would take forever to reform all of our high schools and middle schools and odds are it wouldn't succeed. So are we pretty much just STUCK where we are? Really seems like it, and its pretty bad. I WANT to be engaged in learning and all of those things, but by the look of it, it seems like that won't happen in high school. You never know though, right?
Anyways, this is an EXCEPTIONAL book and everyone should read it (especially anyone with an education related occupation, such as a teacher). I wish more adults read this kind of stuff and were aware of what goes on every weekday from 7 AM to 2 PM at their local (and maybe their kid's) high school. The high schoolers already know. I highly, highly recommend this book.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what a find!, November 15, 2003

By	Rachel (Alameda, CA USA) - See all my reviews

When I found this book on the bookshelf at the library, I couldn't believe my eyes. A book about how I feel. These 5 kids are so similar to myself and my friends at school. Most of my student body sees me or my friends as those kids who are going to be going to UCLA, UCSD, Stanford, or an Ivy League. It's a lot of pressure on all of us. If I get anything under a 90% on some test, everyone makes such a big deal, and the putdowns don't help any either.

I am one of those kids who doesn't get much more than 5 hours of sleep on a good day , without all the homework to worry about. On a bad day, with lots of homework, I might end up staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning, then having to wake up for school at 6. I haven't done an all-nighter, but I've had friends who've had 2 all-nighters in one week, and she was on the verge of going crazy from lack of sleep. Weekends are the only time I can catch up on sleep, but I can't sleep in because of all the homework that I'd put off during the week that I'd have to finish on the weekends.

I don't relate to just one of the 5 kids, but certain traits are similar to mine, like when Eve talks about how her friendships with people are strained because they are all competing for the same grade. Same with when Kevin brushes off a "B+" as no big deal, but really wanting that "A", I totally understand where he's coming from, because that's how I am.

I think that this is a book that everyone should read, whether or not you want to believe it, since what is there is true for a lot of kids, and maybe if it is known that all the pressure on us really takes a toll on our lives, then maybe this pressure with be lifted.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The road to change, November 29, 2005

By	Richard A. Simon "jakeberger" (Roslyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Denise Pope's engaging book is a wonderful vehicle to stimulate dialogue and discussion about the state of the high school experience. Unlike most books on education that are written by "academics", "Doing School" features the authentic voices of students and the stress they feel in a competitive academic setting. I highly recommend this book to teachers, parents, and students as a way to consider changes to practices at schools that create unnecessary stress. "Doing School" is also a cry to teachers to make classrooms engaging environments and to revise grading practices so as to encourage genuine work rather than "gotya" tests.