The Queen of Education: Rules for Making Schools Work (The Jossey-Bass Education Series) (Hardcover)

by LouAnne Johnson (Author) "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful country where the children couldn't read..." (more)
Key Phrases: medicating children, scotopic sensitivity, colored overlays, Peer Council, Student Safety, Cool Kids (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Johnson, an ex–Marine Corps officer turned high-school teacher whose 1992 memoir, My Posse Don't Do Homework inspired the movie Dangerous Minds, crowns herself the titular queen and hands down royal edicts in this straightforward, valuable book. Her "rules for making schools work" are grounded in the worthy premise that schools should be designed for student learning, health and development—not for administrative efficiency or corporate profit—and should be places where students actually want to be. Johnson is a keen, empathetic observer of students, especially "at-risk" kids (she prefers the term "disenchanted"), and she's quick to point out what harms them: labeling ("big business—and a dangerous business"), detention ("creates more problems than it solves"), junk food ("[f]at and failure in school may be linked") and standardized tests ("wrong and pointless"). But she offers more than critiques. In addition to inspiring stories of her own classroom successes, she offers an outline for her dream school, where good funding would allow a gorgeous, high-tech closed campus, a big library and low student-to-teacher ratio, and a shift in thinking would proscribe age-based classes, standardized curricula and competitive interschool athletics. Teachers, administrators, parents and policy makers should take note of Johnson's simple but compelling ideas. Maybe having a "queen of education" is something to consider.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Johnson, author of Dangerous Minds (1992), says the question reporters most frequently put to her concerns what is needed to fix public schools. Her answer: make her the queen of education with the authority to cut red tape and dismantle bureaucracies. In this book, Johnson offers a blueprint for improving public schools: hold classroom size to a maximum of 20 students, compel elected officials to teach public school for two weeks while living on teachers' salaries, use common sense in addressing education issues, stop "the testing frenzy." From her prologue, which parodies the evolution of public education from an ideal to a system that addresses corporate needs more than children's needs, through recollections from her own experiences as a teacher, Johnson offers passion and a fresh perspective on where we've gone wrong in public education and what to do about it. Public school educators and parents will enjoy Johnson's humor and candor, as well as her insightful suggestions for improvement. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (September 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787974706
• ISBN-13: 978-0787974701
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #759,876 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Royal Read!, September 21, 2004

By	Another teacher with a heart (Thomasville, NC) - See all my reviews

Louanne Johnson has my vote for Queen! The ideas in this book are logical, intelligent and humane. Why can't we create student-centered schools, as she suggests, instead of designing everything to make life easier for adults? I have read Dangerous Minds and The Girls in the Back of the Class, so I knew I would find interesting anecdotes and practical advice. But this book has much more-- information on scotopic sensitivity, essential fatty acids, and why detention programs don't work. But I like Johnson's humor as much as her serious writing. I especially enjoyed the fable in this book, and the quirky drawings. But because I am a teacher, the last chapter, An Open Letter to Teachers really hit home for me. It made me cry. It made me proud to be a teacher. I think every politician and school administrator in this country should have to read this book and spend ten minutes talking to the Queen.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Satire is satire, June 19, 2005

By	Louanne Johnson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Just a quick note to readers: The Queen of Education essay in this book is a satire. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously. It's purpose was to provoke thought. The edicts are far-fetched because our school systems are in a ridiculous state of disarray and many things could be addressed with common sense - but that isn't being done. If you remember Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal, he suggested that rich people eat the children of the poor. Surely he wasn't serious. Neither is the Queen. But I am serous about fixing our schools. This country throws billions of dollars at so many other things from foreign aid to space exploration. We need to spend some money, wisely, on our own education system.
Thanks for reading this disclaimer. I hope you find something in the book that speaks to you.
LouAnne

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Hail the Queen!, September 28, 2004

By	Smart Cookie (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

I love the Queen's royal edicts, especially the part about making the U.S. Congressmen and women enroll their own children in the poorest public schools in their districts, and making all the public officials teach in the school system with the curriculum available and living on a teacher's salary. They made me laugh out loud when I read them, but after I thought about them for a while I realized they were good ideas. Johnson's fable is a winner, too. I enjoyed reading the letters from students because it gave me some insight into the kids I deal with every day. The Open Letter to Teachers brought a tear to my eye. I skipped ahead to the end and read that letter first. Read this book!