Stop the School Bus: Getting Education Reform Back on Track - Hardcover

Tirozzi, Gerald N.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 111825662X ISBN 13: 9781118256626

Publisher: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub, 2013

Synopsis

How to put school reform initiatives back on track

From one of the largest organizations of public school principals, this book exposes many misguided school reform initiatives that are negatively impacting students and educators across the country, and recommends ways to make them more effective. Veteran educator Gerald Tirozzi addresses all the hottest school reform trends including: charter schools, teacher merit pay, Race to the Top, Common Core State Standards, and more.

While some reform efforts are bringing about positive change, Tirozzi argues, many make egregious promises, lack a research base, fail to address the needs of students and educators, and utilize a "smoke and mirrors" depiction of success.

• From NASSP, the leading association of U.S. public school administrators
• Offers solid, actionable ideas for getting school reform back on track
• Tirozzi is former Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education under President Clinton

This passionate, engaging book is filled with specific recommendations as to how each of the reform initiative presented can be improved upon and can lead to more meaningful school reform.

About this title

Review:

Q&A with Author Gerald N. Tirozzi

Q. In your book you offer a very forceful critique of reform initiatives, such as charter schools, Race to the Top, and efforts to enhance teacher accountability, to name just a few. How can the many legislators and policy makers behind these initiatives be so wrong?

A. It is important to keep in mind that many of those who are leading the way in these reform efforts have little, if any, experience working in a public school. There are also many who have never attended a public school! Consider that No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and the SIG (School Improvement Grant) program were designed by federal officials and legislators who were far removed from understanding the complexities of teaching and learning. The reality is that the input of educators--those who toil daily in the vineyard of public schools--has been conspicuously absent in the school reform debate.

Q. You go so far as to say that many reforms are backfiring, sending us in the wrong direction. Can you give an example?

A. A good example is the effort to improve the quality of teaching. Policymakers rightly point to teacher quality as the major factor in how well students learn. But in an effort to make teachers accountable and to improve teaching, they have created policies that are so punitive and burdensome that they are driving some of the best teachers out of the profession. A few examples that come to mind are pay-for-performance based on the results of a test administered once each year; publicly ranking teachers based on student test scores (with no other information given about the value these teachers contribute to their students' lives); the removal of teacher tenure and seniority in some districts; and the ever-reducing benefits offered to educators. These policies are rapidly taking the soul out of a once proud profession.

Q. Many policy makers justify their initiatives by pointing to U.S. students' ranking in international student achievement comparisons, such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA.) Isn't it true that the U.S. is not as competitive as it should be? Shouldn't we be worried?

A. Such comparisons are fundamentally flawed primarily because of the diverse circumstances and conditions under which the tests are given in each country. For example, the tests are administered at different times and in different languages; the random sampling of students tested in the various countries is highly suspect; and little, if any, consideration is given to the socio-economic status of students taking the test. These tests are only one small piece of the puzzle. The problem is that we are overreacting to them and they are causing us to look to policies and solutions that are not always a good fit. They are also causing the federal government to intrude on state and local control of education and initiate reform mandates that are simply misguided.

Q. What are some of these mandates and how are they misguided?

A. Race to the Top (RTT) and School Improvement Grants (SIG) come to mind. There is no documented research base indicating that such initiatives would have the desired outcomes and, in spite of this, they have diverted significant federal funding from state- and locally-initiated school reform strategies. It is also important to keep in mind that the federal government has no constitutional authority for public education. The "feds" provide only 9-10 percent of all K-12 funding. Such initiatives not only put burdens on school districts and divert funding but they trammel on the time-honored tradition of local control of public education entrusted to 14,500 school boards.

Q. Are there any promising school reform initiatives that we should be focusing on?

A. Definitely! This book provides a series of recommendations that have a great potential of being well received by states, local school boards, parents, and educators in general and, if considered and implemented, of resulting in improved student achievement.

From the Back Cover:

Praise for Stop the School Bus

"Tirozzi offers the voice of wisdom, reason, and experience to the current overheated debate about how to reform our schools."
—Diane Ravitch, author, The Death and Life of the Great American School System

"Tirozzi's heart-wrenching look at today's public schools and the teaching profession should serve as a clarion call for everyone who cares about our nation's future. Educators have no time to waste in demanding the change our schools need and in leading the change we seek."
—Dennis Van Roekel, president, National Education Association

"Gerry Tirozzi knows public education in America from every angle—when he talks about education, everybody should listen. This candid appraisal of current reform efforts pulls no punches in its criticism of recent federal intrusions into local control. This book may well propel Tirozzi into the role of champion for America's public schools."
—Dan Domenech, executive director, American Association of School Administrators

"This book raises the overlooked question: 'Whose school reform movement is it anyway; or whose should it be?' In a powerful way it makes the point that ideology must not trump science, professionalism, and experience. It is a must read."
—James P. Comer, MD, MPH, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center

"At a scary time, when legions of 'reformers' substitute rhetoric for reality, when influential opinion leaders use unsubstantiated ideology to press for misguided and destructive programs, Gerry's words give strength and direction to all those working to improve America's public schools."
—Jamie Vollmer, author, Schools Cannot Do It Alone

"In this timely and powerful indictment of recent misguided school reform efforts, Tirozzi implores everyone to get on board and move the metaphorical bus in the right direction for school improvement."
—Gail Connelly, executive director, National Association of Elementary School Principals

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 111825662X
• ISBN 13: 9781118256626
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 262