Getting to Excellent: How to Create Better Schools [Paperback]

Judith A. Langer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807744727 | ISBN-13: 978-0807744727 | Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Getting to Excellent is for everyone - educators, parents, civic leaders - who want students to think sharply, like learning, and have the high literacy skills that will open the path to success in school, work, and life. Using data from her groundbreaking study of diverse middle and high schools, Judith Langer shows us what makes the difference between highly effective schools and typical, business-as-usual schools. This very accessible volume: Provides research-based guidance from schools in California, Florida, New York, and Texas, four states with diverse students and different testing demands. Features many examples of schools in action, identifying particular features that are present in effective schools but don't exist in others. Examines the extent to which teachers and administrators are affected by the larger environment, leading to professional growth or malaise. Includes models for providing rich and exciting learning environments that undergird success for all students. Includes self-inspection checklists to help administrators, teachers, and others place their own school, on the continuum from "typical" to "excellent," and identify areas that need improvement.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Judith A. Langer is Distinguished Professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York, where she is founder and director of the Albany Institute for Research in Education and director of the National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement.

Product Details

• Paperback: 129 pages
• Publisher: Teachers College Press (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807744727
• ISBN-13: 978-0807744727
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,566,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for Everyone Interested in Improving Schools, January 4, 2005

By 

E. Close (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting to Excellent: How to Create Better Schools (Paperback)

What really constitutes an excellent school? In the midst of all of the controversy and criticism, this is the essential question for parents as well as teachers, administrators, and all community members. Judith Langer writes of her findings from her study of schools in New York, Florida, Texas, and California. In each chapter, Langer discusses differences between those schools she found to be excellent and those that were merely typical.

Langer provides checklists at the end of each chapter so that readers can compare local schools against the excellent ones described. She also provides suggestions for what teachers, administrators, parents, and other community members can do to use her findings to improve their schools. The last chapter addresses some frequently asked questions.

I can see this book being effectively used for discussion by study groups meeting to address school improvement (e.g., teacher and administrator meetings, PTA or PTO discussions). The design does not require that the book be read from cover to cover. Individuals and groups might choose to focus on one chapter at a time.