So much reform, so little change : the persistance of failure in urban schools / Charles M. Payne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Payne, Charles M.

Contributor:

James Hosmer Penniman Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban schools--Illinois--Chicago.

Urban schools.

Educational change--Illinois--Chicago.

Educational change.

Education, Urban.

Administration.

Illinois--Chicago.

Education, Urban--Illinois--Chicago--Administration.

Physical Description:

x, 263 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Education Press, [2008]

Summary:

This frank and courageous book explores the persistence of failure in today's urban schools. At its heart is the argument that most education policy discussions are disconnected from the daily realities of urban schools, especially those in poor and beleaguered neighborhoods. Charles M. Payne argues that we have failed to account fully for the weakness of the social infrastructure and the often dysfunctional organizational environments of urban schools and school systems. The result is that liberals and conservatives alike have spent a great deal of time pursuing questions of limited practical value in the effort to improve city schools. Payne carefully delineates these stubborn and intertwined sources of failure in urban school reform efforts of the past two decades. Yet while his book is unsparing in its exploration of the troubled recent history of urban school reform, Payne also describes himself as "guardedly optimistic." He describes how, in the last decade, we have developed real insights into the roots of school failure, and into how some individual schools manage to improve. He also examines recent progress in understanding how particular urban districts have established successful reforms on a larger scale. Drawing on a striking array of sources-from the recent history of various urban school systems, to the growing sophistication of education research, to his own experience as a teacher, scholar, and participant in reform efforts-Payne paints a vivid and unmistakably realistic portrait of urban schools and reforms of the past few decades. So Much Reform, So Little Change will be required reading for everyone interested in the plight-and the future-of urban schools.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-248) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the James Hosmer Penniman Book Fund.

ISBN:

189179289X

9781891792892

9781891792885

1891792881

OCLC:

190395938