The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids The Education They Deserve (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
A short summation of the take-aways: There is no such thing as a perfect school. But that doesn't mean you should be content, accepting the negatives with the positives, about wherever your child ends up. There are no "perfect schools", but there are "good schools". Good teachers are one of the most important ingredients of good schools. But there are good teachers in bad schools and bad teachers in good schools. Paying money to make sure your child attends a "good school" isn't a sure-fire way to ensure your child gets a good education. You have to ask the hard questions of their teachers, principals and administrators, even if that means tremendous frustration when nothing happens. You, as a parent, have to take the initiative to understand the latest research in education and don't assume that the people paid to educate your child take any interest in the "latest" findings. Get involved, and team up with other involved parents. Eventually, change can happen within the most petrified of school administrations. Before reading this, I was dismissive, even derisive, of those parents who actively lobbied to get their child into this class or that, this school or that. After reading this book, I understand exactly why that is necessary. This book takes an assumption as to what makes a good school and cites research that support that definition of a good school. It is, of course, a persuasive book, but I wonder about the danger of not debating the definition of "good school". I could imagine someone writing the same book with the same assumption as to what makes a good school, but arguing totally different points by citing totally different research. I am left with a lot of doubts. I am also left with wanting to know more as a teacher, but,a s the book was written to parents instead of to teachers, it remains unclear as to how to find professional development opportunities that would address many of the issues that the author argues makes good teachers and good schools.
What do You think about The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids The Education They Deserve (2011)?
Lori loved this. Read it before you send your kids to school
—blacknight656
Lots of things to think about in this book.
—etolmie
