Smart Schools, Smart Kids: Why Do Some Schools Work? [Paperback]

Edward Fiske (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1992

A revolution in education is sweeping across America. Smart Schools, Smart Kids takes readers into dozens of pioneering schools across the country to describe successful programs and how they work, the problems they have encountered, and the results they have achieved. Innovative reformers are transforming every aspect of the "nineteenth-century factory-model school" into a new kind of public school capable of educating kids for twenty-first century challenges. Smart Schools, Smart Kids shows how. It is a book that is sure to be warmly welcomed by parents, teachers, administrators, and public officials alike who want to improve education for their own and for all of America's children. This nation can no longer afford to wait for change: Smart Schools, Smart Kids will make a real difference now.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fiske, a longtime education correspondent for the New York Times , explores recent innovations in American education, offering hope with his pragmatic analysis.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Similar to Marvin Cetron's Educational Renaissance ( LJ 12/90), this well-structured book by the knowledgeable education correspondent for the New York Times and author of How To Get Into the Right College ( LJ 11/1/88) argues that education reform must move beyond the "Nation at Risk" more-of-the-same reform gimmicks currently touted. Fiske recommends adopting "smart school" concepts: decentralizing decision-making; requiring students to take responsibility for their own learning; using portfolios for assessing student learning rather than standardized tests; training teachers to become learning coaches rather than mere dispensers of facts, etc. Smart schools, as such, do not yet exist. However, Fiske outlines several working prototypes (e.g., Hollibrook Elementary near Houston, Myrtle Grove Elementary in Miami, Fairdale High in Louisville, Key School in Indianapolis). His last chapter discusses the political imperatives and problems involved in creating smart schools. Other recent reform books (e.g., John Godar's Teachers Talk , LJ 1/91; Page Smith's Killing the Spirit , LJ 1/90) focus on describing the problem, while this study proposes feasible solutions. Highly recommended.
- Scott Johnson, Meridian Community Coll. Lib., Miss.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (September 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671792121
• ISBN-13: 978-0671792121
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,322,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edward B. Fiske served for 17 years as education editor of the New York Times, where he realized that college-bound students and their families needed better information on which to base their educational choices. He is also the author of the Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking information on why schools work, or do not, May 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Smart Schools, Smart Kids: Why Do Some Schools Work? (Paperback)

Edward Fiske has distilled some of the information about a movement in education which could make the public school system a viable institution for all children. Without change in our schools, there is a serious question of whether they will provide the needed training to make our children readily employable in the global economy, and the changes discussed in this book might well be a beginning for a new type of school that will allow children to succeed in life, rather than just put in time until "graduation" from high school. I would highly recommend the book for anyone interested in working toward change from outdated educational methods to a different approach to teaching and learning which could offer real hope for making our schools a more positive factor in shaping children's lives.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Drowning in constructivist fads? This author wants MORE!, July 27, 2007

By 

Kevin Killion (Illinois, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Smart Schools, Smart Kids: Why Do Some Schools Work? (Paperback)

The description quoted by Amazon is an apt summary of what this author proposes:

"Fiske recommends adopting 'smart school' concepts: decentralizing decision-making; requiring students to take responsibility for their own learning; using portfolios for assessing student learning rather than standardized tests; training teachers to become learning coaches rather than mere dispensers of facts, etc."

Good heavens, that kind of touchie-feelie junk is exactly what is KILLING American education! Sheesh, does anyone actually believe these pie-in-the-sky theorists any more when they say stuff like teachers should be "learning coaches" and avoid "dispensing" discredited things like (gasp!) "facts"?

The above quote is followed by this bizarre line:
"[these] schools, as such, do not yet exist."

They don't exist? WHAT??? They're pervasive! Where the heck is a parent supposed to go to find a school that still believes in real teaching (not "coaching"), real assessment (not art-heavy portfolios), and learning of factual content? Is any mainstream public school like that left?

It's no wonder that parents are battering down the exit doors to find charter schools or to petition for full school choice.