Schooling beyond measure and other unorthodox essays about education / Alfie Kohn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kohn, Alfie.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public schools--United States.

Public schools.

United States.

Education--Aims and objectives--United States.

Education.

Education--Aims and objectives.

Physical Description:

vi, 168 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Portsmouth, NH : Heinemann, [2015]

Summary:

In this collection of provocative articles and blog posts originally published between 2010 and 2014, Alfie Kohn challenges the conventional wisdom about topics ranging from how low-income children are taught, to whether American schools have really fallen behind those in other countries. Why, he asks, do we assume learning can be reduced to numerical data? What leads us to believe that "standards-based" grading will eliminate the inherent limitations of marks? Or that training students to show more "grit" makes sense if the real trouble is with the tasks they've been given to do? Kohn's analytical style-incisive yet accessible-is brought to bear on big-picture policy issues as well as small-scale classroom interactions. He looks carefully at research about homework, play, the supposed benefits of practice, parent involvement in education, and summer learning loss-discovering in each case that what we've been led to believe doesn't always match what the studies actually say. Kohn challenges us to reconsider the goals that underlie our methods, to explore the often troubling values that inform talk about everything from the disproportionate enthusiasm for STEM subjects to claims made for more "effective" teaching strategies. During these dark days in which teachers are viewed as expendable test-prep technicians, and "global economic competitiveness" eclipses what children need, Kohn calls for us to summon the courage to act on what we already know makes sense. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 How School Reform Undermines Education 1

1 "We're Number Umpteenth!": The Myth of Lagging U.S. Schools 2

2 Competitiveness vs. Excellence 8

3 What Passes for School Reform: "Value-Added" Teacher Evaluation and Other Absurdities 11

4 STEM Sell: Do Math and Science Matter More Than Other Subjects? 16

5 How to Sell Conservatism: Lesson 1-Pretend You're a Reformer 21

6 Operation Discourage Bright People from Wanting to Teach 26

7 Remember When We Had High Standards? Neither Do I 30

Part 2 Grades, Tests, and "Data" 33

8 The Case Against Grades 34

9 Schooling Beyond Measure 47

10 Turning Children into Data: A Skeptic's Guide to Assessment Programs 51

11 Whoever Said There's No Such Thing as a Stupid Question Never Looked Carefully at a Standardized Test 55

12 Why the Best Teachers Don't Give Tests 58

Part 3 In the Classroom 63

13 A Dozen Essential Guidelines for Educators 64

14 What We Don't Know About Our Students-and Why 66

15 The Trouble with Calls for Universal "High-Quality" Pre-K 68

16 Poor Teaching for Poor Kids ... in the Name of Reform 73

Part 4 What Kids Don't Need 79

17 Grit: A Skeptical Look at the Latest Educational Fad 80

18 What Waiting for a Second Marshmallow Doesn't Prove 87

19 What Do Kids Really Learn from Failure? 91

20 Criticizing (Common Criticisms of) Praise 96

21 Five Not-So-Obvious Propositions About Play 100

Part 5 Misrepresenting the Research 105

22 Homework: An Unnecessary Evil? 106

23 Do Tests Really Help Students Learn or Was a New Study Misreported? 111

24 Studies Support Rewards and Traditional Teaching. Or Do They? 115

25 Lowering the Temperature on Claims of Summer Learning Loss 119

26 Is Parent Involvement in School Really Useful? 123

27 Perfect, It Turns Out, Is What Practice Doesn't Make 127

Part 6 The Ends Behind the Means 133

28 Teaching Strategies That Work! (Just Don't Ask "Work to Do What?") 134

29 "Ready to Learn" Means Easier to Educate 139

30 Just Another Brick in the Wall: How Education Researchers Ignore the Ends to Tweak the Means 143

31 What Parents Aren't Asked in School Surveys-and Why 146

Part 7 Making Change 151

32 Change by Decree 152

33 Encouraging Courage 155.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780325074405

0325074402

OCLC:

900624061