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The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve

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There are people on the national scene who think that that giving kids a head start on school is a bad idea. They should be made to read Peg Tyre's "The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve." They won't, of course, but if you have young children or have children who have young children, I hope you will --- it's a chatty, non-theoretical story of how our schools got to be testing-machines-so-the-states-get-federal-education-money and how, despite that, you can help your offspring acquire some book learning.

As Tyre tells it, early childhood education is a recent phenomenon. In the 1830s, an influential education warned that the "mental excitement" would over-stimulate children. In l930, only .09 per cent of young children attended nursery school. As late as the 1950s, only 16 per cent left their homes for school experiences.

It's now generally agreed that, as Tyre writes, "the central building blocks of literacy must be laid down before kindergarten." Interestingly, that means talking to kids --- and having kids talk back. A four-year-old from a family of involved, professional parents has heard 45 million words. A working class kid: 26 million words. A welfare kid: 13 million. (Thanks to handheld devices, this is changing. And not for the better. So if you're texting away while your kid tries to tell you something certain to bore you --- put the thing down!!!)

What's more important --- a good teacher or a small class? Are audiobooks ok? Why are Asian kids such high-achievers? (Answer: It's not because they're smarter.) How much time in a school day is actually devoted to learning? Does recess matter? Why is education so much better in South Korea and Finland? "The Good School" will tell all.

Peg Tyre is a mother. (Her last book, The Trouble With Boys, is a smart blend of research and hard-won personal knowledge.) She's not a professional educator. She's as much of a resource as a great librarian or that teacher you'll never forget. Use her.

As Vice President of Outreach at LePort Schools in Orange County, CA, I hear from many parents how difficult it is to choose a good school. All too often, families come to our school after trying one or several other schools, public or private, and being very disappointed. "If only I'd known back then what to look for and what questions to ask", is a sad refrain of parent comments.

There's lots of good writing out there about what works in education, but what's unique about this book is the combination of key research and parent anecdotes in an easy-to-use, practical guide you can read in just a few hours.

As Mrs. Tyre writes, choosing a school is likely one of the most important decisions you'll ever make for your child. You owe it to yourself to be an educated consumer: it's the only way you'll be able to ask the questions, and discern the difference between your school choices, before your child ends up at a school that doesn't serve her well.

Once you read this book, do read the school's web site, thoroughly. Ask the tough questions Mrs. Tyre discusses. Meet the teachers, and engage them in a conversation about their background and the subjects they teach. Look at textbooks and other teaching materials. Request an extended classroom observation. Be critical, very critical: if you can't understand how the school works after doing this research, if the people you talk to don't seem passionate and eager to work with you, if the answers you receive are not compelling (or if you aren't invited to see inside the classroom or speak with teachers), that's a red flag you should take seriously!

As someone at a private school who is in charge of educating parents about the difference between our school and other options, I love it when parents are educated and probe deeply before committing to our school. As Mrs. Tyre writes, "Administrators and teachers at good schools want you to ask questions when you go on an Open House tour. They want you to have a sophisticated idea of what you should look for when you visit a classroom."

I will recommend this book to our staff and potential parents, to help them make better, more informed school choices, and to educate themselves on one of the most important decisions they'll ever make.

This book did its job well; it established a framework, it convinced me of its main points, and it was a very fast read. It has a chapter devoted to preschool, which (the author says) has a fairly different role to play than elementary school. It has chapters devoted to research on reading and mathematics, and I was pleased by Ms. Tyre's focus on research and what is shown to work worldwide. Moreover, as a teacher myself, I am acutely aware of the truth of Ms. Tyre's assertions about the civilized detachment with which we treat teaching and teachers, saying "ah... that's just his teaching style," rather than "why are all of his students failing?"

After reading this book, I feel like I have several new lenses through which to evaluate my children's teachers. Right now, I'm trying to work up the courage to ask them where they all did their undergraduate work. I'm not sure I'm going to like the answers....

I am glad that we do not practice medicine in this country the way we practice education. No one would survive. Peg Tyre has produced a book that points at ways to avoid our fatal adherence to the myth and legend of American education; and it's a good book, too. This is a book that all Americans involved in education should read, as it articulates in clear language just the sort of dilemma we find ourselves in. Alas, despite her reasoned argument to the contrary, I think much of the sub-text of this book is: move to Finland. That is, at least until your children are out of school.

I have been a teacher in secondary schools and colleges for thirty-five years. When I read about the No Child Left Behind Act or the Race to the Top attempted antidote to the NCLB, I feel nothing but despair for the children of this country. My own children's public middle school is so disfunctional that one feels one is walking into a giant Saturday Night Live skit. The "visitor" labeling machine doesn't work; no one standing by, so I just walk right in. My daughter's sixth grade English teacher presents a power-point with the final slide admonishing: "Student success is based on parental envolvment" (sic). The science teacher has written an activity on the board with the word "Exersise" (!?) heading the instructions. My son's English teacher informs me that she will be off for a couple of days, while she and her husband sneak away for a ski weekend (gee,ever heard of summer vacation?). Running out of things to do in Math, my son's math teacher slips in a video of the Lewis and Clark Expedition(?). Faced with a two-block chunk of time for physical education during a bright spring morning in northern Virginia, my son's gym teacher turns on a video of "Sandlot" and returns to his wrestling magazine (my son noted that so many people were talking that he could not even hear the movie!). A solid history teacher whom both I and my son like, disappears one day for a "family emergency", never to return. Meanwhile, the class is taken over by a series of substitutes who allow the students to do whatever they wish, as long as they keep down the noise. The school's principal seriously considers cancelling an overseas exchange trip because the students would miss the last two half-days of school (filled with more videos and jabber, I presume). The local PTA proudly boasts of a program that rewards students who reach Standards of Learning excellence with the opportunity to throw pies in the faces of their teachers. The website displays photos of the hapless teachers with their faces smeared with Coolwhip pies, smiling like the saps they are. I could go on, but I will stop there.

Peg Tyre is absolutely correct in all things she says in this book. I support her activist stance and admire her clear, well-written prose. I feel that the educational issues in this country are as critical as the health care issues. Bigger in some ways and even more critical. I am not sure, then, that this book will turn the tide of American education. But I applaud her work, especially Chapter Seven, "Teachers Matter." They sure do. And as long as only 23 % of American teachers "got decent enough SAT scores back in high school to be considered in the top third of their class" we shall continue to have the schools we have. As a top graduate in high school and/ or college, why would anyone do the work of teaching for 40K per year, when that same individual can step in to a business job at 60 to 70K? And let's not look to education schools; they're abysmal.

Still, read this book. It'll give you something to think about next time you walk into that over-crowded lunchroom or sign-up for a conference with that over-worked, under-respected (or even under-qualified, or, dare I say it, lazy) teacher.

This is without doubt one of the best books on education I've ever found. Ms. Tyre brings a career worth of experience, research and exposure to bear and shines light on some of the darkest, most confusing aspects of the modern education system. While speaking with authority on her subject, she maintains the empathy of a fellow parent seeking the best education for her own kids and the deep respect for good educators borne from years of working with and being awed by them.

Everyone - parents and non-parents alike - should read this book. In an era where education reform is a constant source of discussion and serious division, everyone needs the knowledge and insight in this pages. Vital topics include:
* The scientific evidence on how children learn math, science and reading that should influence and inform every school curriculum (but often doesn't)
* How standardized tests are developed, what the really tell us (or don't) and how they are actually eroding our public education system
* Where children should be developmentally by age/grade, what information parents actually need to know to assess how their compares to the standard and how to navigate the school system to actually get it
* How to be an active, engaged parent without being a "helicopter" parent or dismissed as an annoying nutcase
* The truth about teacher training, assessment programs, why it can be hard for schools to find and keep the best teachers

Ms. Tyre writes with an honest, friendly voice that makes this book easy to read but some of what she says will shock you. Whether you're a new teacher trying to understand why your students aren't learning, a parent trying to find your way amongst the baffling system or a tax-payer trying to help your school district get the most for your money, this is a must read book!

It's worth noting that Ms. Tyre strikes a wise balance in her approach - she neither lays the entire burden/blame at the feet of schools nor advocates parents pulling the children out of them entirely. She does not shirk the upfront facts about the role parents must play in a child's education, but she acknowledges the limits on family resources and the opportunities that exist in most schools to do more than what it currently happening.

I have two young kids entering pre-k and kindergarten. Without the advice of this book, how to evaluate the choices, and even what all of the factors to be considered are, is an enigma. The book is critical for parents just putting their kids into school or who want to improve their ability to evaluate schools and teachers.

Peg Tyre, author of The Trouble with Boys pens this educational overview of U.S. schools. Covering such topics as the scramble to find the best pre-schools, testing, class size, and various models of teaching including their introduction into our nation's education system, Tyre claims that most parents are both misinformed and woefully unprepared to navigate the educational system in our country in order to achieve best outcomes for their child. She sites that even the most involved and informed parents struggle. Ripe with numerous examples, the picture she paints is shocking. Whether the realization that standardized testing covers only one third of the curriculum taught in schools, to the fact that American children have fallen staggeringly behind in their predicted ability to compete in a global job market, to the fact that good teachers exist side by side with bad teachers in the same school system and parents have virtually no say in who their child gets, Tyre's almost sarcastic style of writing really packs a wallop. Some of the personal testimonies are over-dramatized and the reader gets the distinct feeling that they are only getting an emotionally charged single side of the story. Good test scores however do not necessarily translate to the school doing a good job educating their charges. The good news is, and yes, good news does exist, is that she pulls no punches in telling us that we are in for a fight whenever we choose to advocate for our child's education. She encourages parents, including those with limited grasp of the way the education system works, to get involved by asking key questions she so graciously offers us. It is a starting point and a pretty good one at that. In fact, just reading the book should inspire anyone with a child in grades K-8 to ask better informed, more insightful questions of their own. Tyre offers useful takeaway points at the end of many chapters for those of us who are already overwhelmed in our everyday lives and unwilling to take on "one more thing" even something as crucial as the quality of the education our children are receiving. In addition to the book, there is also a website to check out at www.thegoodschool.org.

Great hands on advice for the parent looking to be an active consumer of, participant in, and supporter of their child's education. Provides great historical context for primary education, reviews research on what works, and lays out take-aways for parents that are constructive and practical. Best of all, this book sticks to manageable solutions within the control of parents rather than jump in the fight and take a side on school reform. I'm feeling so much better about touring elementary schools in a few weeks!

My wife and I oversaw our children's public school education in simpler times - no doubt about it. But now, despite the fact that our two daughters have both chosen to teach in the same school district within which they were educated, we worry about the schooling our grandchildren are receiving there. Perhaps, it is precisely because we have so much "inside information" about the school system that we worry so much. Despite what most young parents might think, it is difficult to distinguish a good school from a bad school. That is scary enough, but what should really terrify parents is that bad teachers riddle even the best schools.

Peg Tyre's The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve explains how parents can recognize good schools and good teachers when they see them. Because today's schools are evaluated on the results of standardized tests parents seldom understand, there is a good chance that their children are receiving an inadequate education - one that does not prepare them to be successful adults. Simply put, "teaching to the test" means that America's school children are getting a dumbed-down version of the education they deserve.

The Good School focuses on "seven essential domains of education" that parents need to understand if they are to protect their preschool-to-middle-school-age students. Tyre begins with a chapter on how to choose the right preschool for your child before moving into chapters on testing, class size, reading, mathematics, balance, and teachers. Her precise, and very readable, style makes her a good communicator, but Tyre is so determined that parents get her message that she goes one step farther by ending each segment of the book with a chapter summary list she calls "The Take Aways."

Much of what Tyre offers is good common sense, something that seems to be not so common these days. For instance, she remarks that a good way to separate good teachers from the "not-so-good" ones is to remember that the good ones "want you to have more information about education not less." And some of what she has to say touches on concerns that parents might already have about their children, such as her belief that a "poor-quality teacher-child relationship" in preschool or kindergarten can "set the stage for academic and behavioral problems through eighth grade."

Peg Tyre admits that "perfect schools" do not exist. Thankfully, as she points out, most students do not really need a perfect school - but they do need a good one. Unfortunately, it is more up to parents than ever before to find that good school for their children and, if they cannot find one, it is up to them to figure out how to help create one. The Good School tells you how to get that done.

This is a nice resource for parents who want to know the current science of education, but don't have the time or experience to sort through years of education journals. The examples and end-of-chapter-checklists are very helpful.

The cons are minor. The writing can get a bit rambly, especially in introductions and conclusions. Some little things are inconsistent; name references switch from last name to first, so you have to go back a few pages to figure out who she is talking about. And then there's the magazine-style writing gimmick of telling you one or two irrelevant details about the person (this boy is wearing a striped shirt; this woman has big hair). It's not enough info to personalize the character; it just seems random and distracting.

Overall, I liked this book and haven't seen anything else quite like it. I'm really glad it came out in time for our family to use the information.