Customer Reviews

Smart Schools, Smart Kids: Why Do Some Schools Work?

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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 I would highly recommend the book for anyone interested in working toward change from outdated educational methods to a different approach to teaching and learning which could offer real hope for making our schools a more positive factor in shaping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.

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.