The academic achievement challenge : what really works in the classroom? / Jeanne S. Chall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chall, Jeanne S. (Jeanne Sternlicht), 1921-1999.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

School improvement programs.

Academic achievement.

Teaching.

Physical Description:

xii, 210 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Guilford Press, [2000]

Summary:

This volume addresses one of the central issues in education: how best to instruct our students. From the late Jeanne S. Chall, Professor of Education at Harvard University and a leading figure in American education, the book reviews and evaluates the many educational reforms and innovations that have been proposed and employed over the past century. Systematically analyzing a vast body of qualitative and quantitative research, Chall compares achievement rates that result from traditional, teacher-centered approaches with those resulting from progressive, student-centered methods. Her findings are striking and clear: that teacher-centered approaches result in higher achievement overall, with particular benefits for children of lower socioeconomic status and those with learning difficulties. Offering cogent recommendations for practice, the book makes a strong case for basing future education reforms and innovations on a solid empirical foundation. In a new foreword to the paperback edition, Marilyn Jager Adams reflects on Chall's deep-rooted commitment to and enduring legacy in educating America's children.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Academic Achievement: An American Dilemma 1

Chapter 2 Traditional, Teacher-Centered Education versus Progressive, Student-Centered Education 15

Chapter 3 Twentieth-Century Trends in Educational Policy: The Shift toward Student-Centered Programs 35

Chapter 4 Trends in Reading, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, 1900 to the 1990s 57

Chapter 5 Research on the Overall Effects of Teacher- and Student-Centered Educational Programs 79

Chapter 6 Descriptive Studies of Early Educational Experiments 101

Chapter 7 Student-Centered Education: From Theory to Practice 113

Chapter 8 Socioeconomic and Learning Difference Effects 135

Chapter 9 Parents, the Media, and Other Nonschool Educators 153

Chapter 10 Where Do We Go from Here?: Conclusions and Recommendations 169

Appendix Key Differences between Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered Instruction 187.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-202) and index.

ISBN:

1572305002

OCLC:

43115031