Educational Books

FIVE BIG IDEAS: 1. The purpose of schools can be viewed by different models. The tribal model suggests that the purpose of school to teach moral and civil literacy. The factory model suggests that the purpose of school is to separate out and track the educated elite, the semi-skilled and low skilled workers. The hospital model suggests that school is the great equalizer that can diagnose, teach, test and cure the ills of society. Schechty suggests that we need to use the best aspects of these cultural, economic, and nurturing models.

2. Students need to be thought of as knowledge-workers where groupwork, self-discipline, loyalty, respect for others, respect of self, sensitivity to social and ethnic issues are stressed. Students need to go beyond the 3R1s. They need to learn how to think, create and solve meaningful real world problems.

3. Education needs to develop a vision that supports that idea that the purpose of school should be student success at doing knowledge-work. Every student can learn if they are provided with the correct work and mode of interaction. Motivated students will achieve by risking failure. The learning results must be valued by the community.

4. In implementing change, resources such as people, knowledge, time and space need to be developed. Questions such as, who is affected by the change, how do you market that, what are the values of the affected constituents, and who1s support is needed, need to be answered. Defining existing conditions, desired conditions, constraints and next steps are all part of a change system that need to be developed and marketed. 5. Methods of setting expectations, providing feedback and setting courses of corrective feedback need to be established. People know what is expected by what is inspected and respected. A system of rewards and consequences need to be put into place at all educational levels. If a person does well his or her only reward cannot be that that he or she does not get punished.

THREE IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE

1. Models of participatory leadership need to be implemented. Employees must be involved and valued as important contributors. Vision tied to purpose must be results oriented. Teachers need to be viewed as leaders and leaders need to be viewed as teachers. Leaders must teach others to make decisions not make the decisions themselves. The district office should support not direct the individual sites.

2. Existing policies, procedures, rules, and regulations need to be reviewed to identify constraints and develop new strategies. A human resource department would need to be established in order to provide the needed support and training to assure that the vision remains aligned with the purpose that every student will be successful at doing knowledge-work.

3. At all levels of the school system, goals and objectives need to be established to increase the rate and frequency of student success in the employees area of responsibility. Evaluation systems to be ongoing and tied to rewards and consequences. If goals are not achieved, then plans need to be put in place to help that employee or student increase their chance for success.

Five big ideas: 1. A need to redesign our schools: Our society has moved from a simple agrarian society, to an information-based society. Schools began in this country promoting Protestant morality. They later changed, and began promoting the American culture to the immigrant masses. Today, education must change again. Schlechty claims that the educational reform movement cannot further proceed without a clear purpose for schooling in the 21st century. The entire structure on which schools are based must change in order to fit the cultural, economic, and social aspects of the next century.

2. Manual work to knowledge work: In our information-based society, the means of production is based on knowledge and the ability to use it to create and solve problems. Working conditions of the 21st century will require that people be able to work well in groups, exercise self-discipline, and exhibit loyalty while maintaining critical faculties. The workplace needs people who know how to learn. Therefore, curriculum must be treated as material to be processed and worked on by students.

3. Clear purpose = student success: Within a knowledge-based school, the purpose of school is to create knowledge work at which the students will be successful, and that the students learn the skills that society values.

4. Participatory leadership for compelling vision: Ideas are formed by people. It is of little consequence whether the ideas go bottom-up or top-down. The important factor is that the leadership process involves individuals at all levels. People who lend their support wish to feel a part of the change. Everyone must be involved. Everyone must feel connected.

5. Changes can occur if...: a) the nature of the change is conceptualized b) the people who are called on for support who were not part of the conceptualization process must be made aware of it c) feedback is solicited from those not involved and it must be incorporated into the change process d) people are motivated to act in the direction of the! change e) a system of support and training are provided to those involved.

Implications for education: 1. Teachers are the leaders. Site-based management must increase. Participants must feel they are valuable contributors to the system. Teachers will teach each other to make decisions. They must become risk-takers and trouble-makers.

2. All stakeholders must become more conscious of education. Business' success and the success of society as a whole depends upon the people that emerge from the schools. We all have a stake in education.

3. A change of attitude: Schools need to redirect their thinking. What is our current purpose for schools?....student success. We must rethink the way we teach, the way we think about the learners, and the way we view ourselves. Our roles must change. A vision must be created in order to guide those changes.

"Can our schools prepare children for the next century?" This is what Phillip Schlechty asks of all educators, parents, and the community. His book exposes what schools need to do to keep current in the new and upcoming age. He advocates an educational renaissance for administrators, community, parents, teachers, and even the government. He states that leaders who are in current positions capable of producing change are usually the ones who are hesitant to generate said change. Therefore, leaders are needed who are actively participating in the visionary process of schools, rallying support to current educators, sharing innovative ideas, and actually initiating the process of change. These leaders need to be at all levels of the educational process. Schlechty also states that leaders need to be proactive in thinking and future planning. Ideas abound in his book for individuals and groups seeking to reform education.

Schools for the 21st Century or... the ABC's of SCHOOL RESTRUCTURING Phil Schlectly What is Restructuring-Schlectly says it this way, If you do what you1ve always done, you get what you always got. Schlectly says that altering the existing rules, roles and relationships must change from the classroom to the superintendent of schools. Change what you do. We could never have gotten to the moon if we spent time refining the combustion engine. We expect 95% of Kids to do what 5% used to do. How to restructure? 1. Develop a shared understanding of the problem 2. Create a shared vision 3. Focused school activity on students. ASK THIS QUESTION EVERYDAY Is there anything here we did today that will harm kids? ALSO ASK THIS QUESTION EVERYDAY Is there anything here we did today that helped kids? 4.Create a results oriented management system. What results do we want is the answer to all questions.Typical statement is we must reduce class size...What's better is results orientated. The results we are after is more personal attention from adults to children. 5.Ensuring a pattern of participatory leadership - It1s easier to make decisions by myself than to give decisions to staff. Why should we adopt this participatory model? Schlechty's analogy! SHEEP Must have dog barking and bitting- sheep move only in big flock, follow the one making most noise-very dumb-will find a green field and stay for life-Very unionized-week leadership-move from behind ! CHICKENS Can1t be herded- only way to get them to move is by being the one they are familiar with-the one who feeds them-Very independent-don1t move from behind-only way to move chickens? Be the one who feeds them, walks by and they follow! Schlechty also gives this analogy "CANARYs in the mine are like AT RISK students in the schools. They1re just die a little earlier. Our schools were built and structured around the game of monopoly, read rules, get the advantage- The problem is kids are playing nintendo-You learn rules by playing the game. You quickly share information -Networking answers to new level of problems will benefit the player. Schlechty defines the different models of schools out there. A School can be a Tribal Center, a Factory or a Hospitals. Schlechty defines knowledge work and that it is what should be the core curriculum of schools. Performance Evaluations =People know what is expected by what is inspected and what is respected. The key steps to moving forward on reform is defined through the superintendents role. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT CHAPTER!

Five Big Ideas and Three ways Schools for the 21st Century: Leadership Imperatives for Educational Reform will help create a vision of a future educational system:

Big Ideas:

1. The purpose of schools must be defined by educational leaders with support from the community. The purpose will reflect the values and commitment of the stakeholders, and shape the goals that schools will pursue.

2. To foster Educational Reform is to foster change. Change in our educational system can be embraced, if there is an understanding of the history of schools evolutionary process. School structure can be reshaped when purpose and vision of schooling are understood.

3. Unless there is a rationale for change, reform will not occur. There are some who believe that "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." Educators must constantly look to reformulate the purpose of schools and create new visions and goals.

4. New visions and goals will be created. Restructuring efforts will consider participatory leadership and followership, accountability and assessment of schools.

5. The creation of a new framework for schooling will address the needs of children and society. Components of the framework include staffing, the distribution of knowledge, and the utilization of time and space, physically and virtually.

Three Implications for the creation a vision of a future educational system:

1. Addressing the five big ideas will raise the collective consciousness of all the educational stakeholders for the need to reform. The process listed above will open our minds to a common vision that can be clearly stated and shared by all the stakeholders.

2. Technology is changing the global workplace. Therefore, technology will be a catalyst for rethinking how we do and redefine school. Becoming digital implies leaving behind an analog and linear approach to an anywhere, anytime, multidimensional approach to learning.

3. Education and schools in the twenty first century must be reinvented and supported by the glo! bal village and must be designed for the betterment of the students, at all age levels.

John M. Marion, Educational Technology Doctoral Student, Pepperdine University

I don't know anybody who having read Sharing Words doesn't believe that social transformation by education can be a reality. Sharing Words explains the possibility for adult illiterates to partake of literacy to the extent of reading classical literature. In addition, it outlines how it is possible to overcome the main obstacles like gender, race, age, and ethnicity that curtail literacy experiences and social participation. The reader appreciates how the literary circles and their organization become a democratic educative practice which produce a transformation in the learners, as well as in their daily and societal context. The experiences depicted in this book do away with stereotypes that relate to the low expectations of our society from people who lack a university degree. I identified the two elements that are propagated by Freire, the theoretical base of the educative experience and the dreams evoked by it. From deep understanding of theory and practice, Flecha deals with both in a very accurate way.

Before reading this book, I didn't believe that one person coming from illiteracy could read James Joyce. Going through Sharing Words, I have realized that to believe that this is possible is the only way to make it. Definitely: Sharing Words is a revolutionary book, it do to believe that the people make dreams possible by education.

What most impressed me about this book is how Flecha successfully overcomes the common gap between educational practice and theory. "Sharing words" is about an efficient educational practice which is taking place every week in different places around the world. The secret for the educational practice efficiency is dialogic learning. This innovative way to approach education is convincingly argued for by the author by introducing the powerful intellectual basis - Freire, Habermas, Giddens - which supports it. Flecha not only presents the seven principles of dialogic learning as a theory or as possible outcomes when the theory is applied; he also includes the voices of those who are actually taking part in the practice. This combination of theory and practice is insightful, especially since it is not easily found in the literature. As a result Flecha gives the reader the opportunity to be immersed in the successful learning experience of literacy students reading Kafka, Joyce, Garcia Lorca... an amazing real utopia! The seven principles of dialogic learning are the most exhaustive set of principles to be used to completely overcome all kinds of discrimination and problems that are at the center of the educational debate. All possible bias are taken into account: ageism, sexism, racism, classism... For all these reasons, I strongly feel that "Sharing Words" will be of great interest and of greater reward for all who care about education, believe in social justice and work everyday to make such ideals a reality for all.

What most impressed me about this book is how Flecha successfully overcomes the common gap between educational practice and theory. "Sharing words" is about an efficient educational practice which is taking place every week in different places around the world. The secret for the educational practice efficiency is dialogic learning. This innovative way to approach education is convincingly argued for by the author by introducing the powerful intellectual basis - Freire, Habermas, Giddens - which supports it. Flecha not only presents the seven principles of dialogic learning as a theory or as possible outcomes when the theory is applied; he also includes the voices of those who are actually taking part in the practice. This combination of theory and practice is insightful, especially since it is not easily found in the literature. As a result Flecha gives the reader the opportunity to be immersed in the successful learning experience of literacy students reading Kafka, Joyce, Garcia Lorca... an amazing real utopia! The seven principles of dialogic learning are the most exhaustive set of principles to be used to completely overcome all kinds of discrimination and problems that are at the center of the educational debate. All possible bias are taken into account: ageism, sexism, racism, classism... For all these reasons, I strongly feel that "Sharing Words" will be of great interest and of greater reward for all who care about education, believe in social justice and work everyday to make such ideals a reality for all.

"Sharing Words" is a book to be read if you want to know about an alternative educational method that listens to the voices of those people who are usually descounted. This book demonstrates how any person is able to analyze culture and society on the basis of his/her experience. Knowledge, as it is understood in "Sharing Words", is not only something abstrct with an academic degree; knowledges also comes from life experience and has not a concrete age, gender, colour of skin or preferences, this is, all the people are able to learn from their own capabilities and necessities and have the right to decide what and how they want to learn.

I had read this book's review in the Harvard Educational Review and I had very much anticipated its release, because it seemed to offer a unique look at education, its beneficiaries, and its methods. I must admit the book has measured up to all that deal of anticipation.

In "Sharing Words" Ramón Flecha raises critical issues. The book is both provocative and thought-provoking, and it challenges, in particular, mainstream ways of dealing with the world of literature.

The book offers ways of crossing cultural borders by focusing on the use and enjoyment of literature by ordinary people, and on their views, rather than on those of the elite, which is a somewhat rare approach in our so-called advanced democratic societies. However, these critical approaches are fortunately becoming less and less of an oddity these days, and books such as this one bear witness to that.

By way of a conclusion, I cannot but reproduce the H.E.R. reviewer's literal words: «'Sharing Words' crosses many borders. It highlights both theory and practice; it is both expository and narrative; and it refers as much to educational and social science works as to classical literature. In this way, 'Sharing Words' may be an example of a new way of writing about educational theory and practice, one that results in a captivating and enjoyable experience that invites the reader to share and comment with colleagues, students, and friends.»

My daugther is the one that uses this and she finds it very helpful to understanding the lessons.

Every time I have to do a lab report, I use this book. No exceptions. Although I cannot comment on the other aspects of the book in (check out the "Look Inside!" Table of Contents), its guidance for writing lab reports is helpful to the utmost. Before this book, I made in the high 80s on my lab reports; now it is rare that I go below a 95. The book is full of what to do and, more importantly, what not to do. For example, never give purpose to evolution (I am paraphrasing, of course). Birds did not evolve flight to escape predators or to travel long distance; they evolved flight because a series of random DNA mutations turned forelimbs into wings, and that increased their survival rate. That is just one of numerous examples, and, best of all, all of the examples given are extremely relevant to college students because the material comes from college-level lab reports. Still, all of my biology professors have this book, in one edition or anther, on their shelves. This review refers to the 5th edition.

I've used this book since I was a freshman biology major. I'm now a Ph.D. student and I still reference this book. I've read other writing manuals designed for students in the sciences, but I've found that nothing is as clear and useful to students in the life sciences as this book.

Every biology undergraduate should read this book. I wish I'd known about it when I was an undergraduate; it contains most of the information I had to learn the hard way.

As a university professor teaching budding biologists, I've found this book to be excellent. As the other reviewer said, I wished I had this book when I was a student. I, too, had to learn things the long and hard way. Pechinik has done a great service to science students. Let's hope we see more good writing out of this next generation of young scientists.

Lave's book provdes an excellent overview of the concept of situated learning. If you are looking for a theoretical background, than this is the book for you. Lave provdes several useful case studies to illustrate legitimate peripheral particiation. However, if you are looking for a more practical view of situated learning or are interested in learning how to encourage such participation to occur, you might want to consider another book.

In this academic book, the authors argue that most literature on learning ignores the social character of learning. The initial intention of this book was to "rescue the idea of apprenticeship." The authors studied the apprenticeships of midwives, tailors, butchers, and others. They found that learning, to a large extent, was taking place between peers, instead of coming directly from the master.

This book was written for academics, but has serious implications for practitioners.

Michael Beitler, Ph.D.
Author of "Strategic Organizational Learning"

I wonder if two people have ever had so much fun writing a book together as Jean Lave and Etiene Wenger. Lave's choice of a cover illustration supports my point: she found the artwork at a beer-fest while visiting friends and studying in Europe. Lave and Wenger are world reknowned scholars who would rather spend the afternoon in a butcher's kitchen than hobb-knobbing at the faculty lounge. With "Situated Learning," the reader is invited to follow Lave and Wenger as they ponder the consequences of doors, tables, timeclocks, work schedules, and union contracts on human development and potential.
After reading "Situated Learning," it is difficult to imagine the constellation of concepts that make up our modern thinking of what learning is without Lave and Wenger's contributions. Like the artwork on the book's cover, and the story of its origins, Lave and Wenger's analysis restoke the fires fueling the learning sciences. It is not an overstatement to say that this short, sometimes difficult to follow book, is responsible for a whole new generation of thinking and research on learning and its sociocultural consequences.
Their analytical objective was simple: dethrone the dominant conceptions of learning in the social sciences and everyday life. In their place, Lave and Wenger offer and illustrate a handful of concepts that students of learning across the social and applied sciences are now usings to inspire new insights on the origins of social ascension and strife.
I recommend that the reader, too, pick up this book with the intent of having some fun: let your inhibitions, and intellectual reservations, down for a couple of hours and enjoy the show as Lave and Wenger take off the Emporer's (modern psychology's, that is) clothes. Readers need to approach this book with a light-heart, as its simplicity and substance leave one feeling as if the dominant, 20th century schools of thought on learning have placed a blacksmith's anvil on the center of one's chest. Thank goodness Lave and Wenger have brought our attention to this matter.
Needless to say, I highly recommend the book.

The book is easy to read, extremely interesting and gives a new perspective on learning. In this type of learning the learner models behavior of the teacher. Questions are not asked, behavior is not explained and all of the learning takes place as a result of observation and immitation of observed behavior.

If you are interested in the study of situated learning and social practice theory, this is the place to start - the origin of the terms `legitimate peripheral participation' (LPP) and `communities of practice' employed ubiquitously by researchers developing sociocultural critiques of Enlightenment thinking. The book is meant to open the mind, and one established notion that readers are asked to give up is a literal view of apprenticeship based on a single master and apprentice. The Lave & Wenger framework has received some criticism due to the explicit power structure associated with such a relationship and the uniform learning trajectory that is entailed, but this criticism is no doubt levied by writers who have not read the book, as Lave & Wenger are careful to note that in their quest to find a metaphor for learning that exists outside formal educational contexts and is based on social participation rather than the internal mental processing of the computer metaphor they aim to replace, they needed to take some artistic license. Their aim is to characterize a specific form of learning, LPP, and through their detailed examples, they illustrate types of relationships and forms of participation within which it emerges -- a broader and respecified notion of apprenticeship.

This book is programmatic - a specific metaphor for learning is described, it is elaborated through several examples, and major issues are discussed, but for details, you will need to look elsewhere. Wenger's (1998) Communities of Practice is an analytical treatment that is the antithesis of the light and vibrant Situated Learning, but that is the go-to place to understand LPP from every angle and in all its detail.

For those who hope to capture this genie in a bottle that is LPP, Wenger's (2002) Cultivating Communities of Practice explains how institutions can `plan for' LPP (it cannot be planned or managed, but it can be `planned for' by putting in place the conditions so that it is likely to emerge). But beware, as Wenger warns that few institutional leaders have the wherewithal to maintain the `hands off' policy required for LPP to be sustained over the long term (and the need for facilitative structures is also the basis for Lave's long-held skepticism about this form of learning appearing - at least in a positive form as educators intend it - in formal schooling).

Readers who are interested less in application than in the genesis and epistemological basis of a sociocultural, practice-based theory of learning will find Lave (1988) Cognition in Practice and Rogoff & Lave (1985) Everyday Cognition useful. They lay the groundwork for Situated Learning.

I am a School Psychologist and I use this program with Middle School students. The lessons are age-appropriate and easy to implement. The teacher checklist in the back is also very helpful in planning which lessons to use. I also use, and love, the early childhood and elementary skillstreaming programs.

I came across this book while working with a group of middle school students who were lacking social skills. This book provides step by step social skills information directed at the specific deficiencies. I am looking forward to continuing to work with the information I have gathered from reading this book.

This book is primarily directed at teachers and professionals trying to manage and socially 'skill' aggressive and delinquent adolescents. The book consists of short exercises sandwiched between buffers of explanatory material. The exercises are fairly much standard prosocial activities involving discussions and role-plays. As an overview, or outline, of what to do, these are good. However, the instructional sequences are short, and occassionally vague. My overall reaction to the book is that it needs a companion manual to realise its usefulness. There is also a deal of repetition of points that may or may not be useful depending on the audience. The amount of explanatory text is high for a book that is not theoretically laden down, and this weakened its appeal to me. In my own opinion, it is hard to beat (pardon the pun) for detail Teaching Social Skills from the Boystown Press for this youth segment.

I was introduced to this book by the co-ordinator of out patient services as a book that she thought highly of in working with adolescents. A chronically mentally ill client from my program was seeing her outpatient for counseling and she thought the book may work well in assisting the client with social skills. On an individual basis it worked very well with the client. We decided to start a group within our program to see how it would work with other chronically mentally ill clients and it has worked extremely well.

A super book for working with socially challenged youth. High risk kids often get into trouble because they don't possess appropriate social skills, and they are not motivated to practice positive skills. They simply don't see the value. All to often their innappropriate skills have been rewarded in life. This book prepares teachers and adolescent group leaders to develop missing social skills in a step by step well thought out and research proven manner. The book also prepares the leader with great stratagies for recognizing and dealing with trainee/client resistance. Of course in your group you will not experience this. If you really want results and not just feel good discussions with kids this material is state of the art. Highly recommended!

This book is a comprehensive survey of all topics related to becoming a lawyer in Canada. It provides information that will assist you from your first thoughts of wanting to attend law school up to the day you are finally called to the bar, as well as web links and names of other books that may be of assistance. It is honest and thorough and I would recommend it for anyone who is considering law school, on the path to law school or already in law school. This book is a fresh account of everything law school related that does not deceive, patronize or beat around the bush. The author uses his own experiences and that of his colleagues to provide helpful examples and problem solving techniques. It is evident to me, in reading this book, that the author is selflessly committed to providing the most accurate, up-to-date and constructive advise to Canada's future law community. Mr. Letourneau's out-of-the-box thinking and open personality wonderfully complement this books unique style. [...]

Applying to and attending law school in Canada can be a challenging process. Unlike the many books that focus on the experience in the US, this book specifically looks at the Canadian system. 'So, You Want to Be a Lawyer, Eh?' outlines the process and offers tips to improve your results in the application process, at law school and in finding an articling position. I will be attending law school next year and I am confident that this book will help me succeed.

I highly recommend anyone considering a career in law in Canada to read this book!

As a future Canadian law student, I was frustrated with the lack of guide material available to Canadian law students. All of the material I was able to find was aimed toward American students. Since there are some differences between the way the two countries educate their lawyers, it was important to find a book like this that addresses the particular elements of Canadian Law School.

I highly recommend this to anyone contemplating law school in Canada.

The book is an absolute must-read for those considering pursuing a career in the law. A number of books address the topic in the U.S. context; however, this is the first book I have encountered that thoroughly addresses: (1) Canadian law school life, (2) tips that will help one land the articling position of their choice; and (3) work as an articling student and junior lawyer in Canada.

The book is very comprehensive, well-written, and well-researched.

This book proved to be a good reference material that is written in laymen terms and formatted in an easy to follow chronological order taking you from the application process to the law school experience to seeking out law firms for articling.

The author, an articling law student, has taken the time to explain what potential law students should consider when seeking a career in this field.

This book also provides reference to several websites that will be useful in preparing one for the LSAT to selecting a law school to financing your education.

I definitely recommend this book as a planning tool for highschool/university students and mature adults considering a career in this field.

Too often, the high-stakes testing debate wanders into the realm smoke and mirrors. If you follow this debate, you'll find the same arguments presented here that have been presented all along: standardized tests are biased, they do not measure intelligence or knowledge, etc. What you don't normally get are the facts that back up this argument, and that is what Sacks provides. This book concretizes what has become (wrongly) a very abstract, political issue, and should be regularly referenced by all who oppose the mediocrity such testing rewards. These tests may sound good in theory, but in practice, Sacks shows with convincing success, they just don't do the job.

I was in the middle of reading Standardized Minds when I heard a panel of "Experts" talk about the future of LA Unified School District on Which Way LA, a local radio show. Specifically they were discussing the notion of linking teacher bonus pay to the performance of their students on standardized tests. I wish Peter Sacks had been on the program as he successfully demolishes the continued folly of our reliance on standardized tests as a way to judge our schools, our teachers and our students. I wholeheartedly endorse the opinions of the previous two reviewers. Speaking as a parent, I can only say that the more people who read this book, engage in a discussion about the issues so eloquently raised within it and help push the national dialogue on education forward in the directions the author suggests, the better off our kids and we as a society will be.

Mr. Sacks in his new publication, Standardized Minds, has done an outstanding job of placing norm-refrenced standardized tests, along with their associated multiple-choice item formats, in proper perspective. These tests have set standards for academic assessment for many years, and, as Mr. Sacks points out, are being questioned by many in the testing profession as being inapporpriate and insensitive as single and simplisthic guages of educational progress. He has documented extensive research on this subject, presented some impressive "case studies" of those who have been penalized in their career and life chioces based on "low" test scroes when all other extracurricular or in-school performances predicted otherwise. In addition to the many problems associated with mulitple-choice item types, a main focus is on the misunderstanding and misuse of the scores by all levels of society. As he so eloquently states, many educators are not properly taught how to interpret and use these data, legislative or government policy-makers have little or any idea of the substance or meaning of these scores, the media are at the mercy of the lack of knowledge (or political direction) fed them, and parents and children are left confused with numbers that do not give them specific constructive instructional information. The end result is that these test results are forced into a political and unethical framework which has greatly weakened their usefulness. If the desire is to help children learn and teachers teach, some interesting and effective alternatives are provided. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in improving educational assessment.

I am a high school senior so I am currently getting a lot of pressure from my parents to get that silly 1600 on my SAT which will take place in October and December this year. Then there's also the ACTs and the 3 SAT IIs! I was always suspicious of test prep companies, the ETS, and the SATs themselves. Living in Los Angeles, these test prep companies have grown like weeds in the community, sucking up money from middle and upper class students. Though I am fortunate, my parents have also forcefully enrolled me at one of these. My SAT school is doing a nice job with its profits and have managed to get a new paint job, redecorate the "classrooms", and to get more students and more teachers, to just get it bigger and bigger. While my "teachers" explain the concepts of the SAT, I can't help but wish I was in the library reading more books such as this or practicing the piano. It is so unfair that only the rich people can afford these classes and they are the ones who get the good scores on the SATs. After getting a mediocre score on the SAT in June, my parents have now considered me a total idiot, even though my report cards and comments from teachers say otherwise. This book is so chock-full of information that deserves wide reading. The author has done the most extensive research imaginable. The controversy of the standardized tests is something that should have been addressed and Peter Sacks is the best one to do it. He has full of statistics and information to back up everything he says, yet he never just blows them off to you, but explains them. In addition to statistics, are the personal recollections of the people he interviewed-the teachers, educators, college admissions people, and even students. The tale of one student who had 7 tries to take a silly test and not being able to graduate and forced to stay in high school was frightening to the say the least. I am also glad that the author also included a section about the infamous incident in 1998 in Massachusetts when everyone condemned the teachers that they failed "a basic reading and writing test", which had become a punch-line for many of Jay Leno's jokes that year. It was rather strange that the media did not go into detail about the exact questions or the more specifics of that exam, but everyone just wanted to call these teachers "idiots".

The book is comprehensive on all testing, with the exception of secondary school admissions tests such as the ISEE and the SSAT. Going to California private schools, I have become familiar with ERBs and the Stanford 9 tests. In order to get into private high schools, I had to take the ISEE and the SSAT. Now I have the SATs and ACTs to conquer.

This is more than a book analyzing the damaging effects of the testing culture. The author suggest an standing ovation-worthy proposal of evaluating students on what they can do, whether it is projects and more research opportunities such as outside occupational research or conducting a lab or evaluating a student 's portfolio, instead of standardized tests.

Yes, this book should be read by politicians educators, teachers, yet I am here to emphasize STUDENTS should read this book too. Students who are daunted by the SATs need to be educated about our obsessive testing culture and that they are NOT idiots for a silly number.

In today's US it is almost impossible to avoid encountering standardized tests--mass-produced, multiple-choice, fill-in-the-bubble, machine-scored exams of all sorts. Standardized tests are used to assess the performance of public schools, in many systems to determine which students will be held back a grade, to decide who will get into college, and into graduate and professional school, and who will get certain jobs.

In "Standardized Minds," Peter Sacks delivers a devastating critique of the use of such tests. His indictment includes a wide range of particulars, only some of which can be summarized here.

First, standardized tests are not a source of useful information. A widely used reading test given to elementary school students can err by as much as three grade levels in measuring a student's reading level. The SAT, required for admission to most colleges, has no use other than to make predictions, with limited accuracy, of students' freshman year grades. The GRE, required for admission to most Ph.D. programs, actually has a negative correlation with future success as a scholar.

Second, standardized tests are very biased. The best known of these biases is that of the SAT against low-income, minority students. Sacks shows that this bias extends to other tests as well. Another bias identified by Sacks is that standardized tests are biased in favor of superficial thinking--the ability to rapidly recall and repeat facts--and against the deeper thinking necessary to solve complex real-world problems.

Third, and perhaps most harmfully, standardized tests promote "teaching to the test." A number of states have established what Sacks terms "high-stakes accountability" programs, in which standardized test scores determine whether students are promoted to the next grade or are allowed to graduate, and are used to rank the performance of schools. Sacks documents how such "high-stakes" programs cause teachers to spend enormous amounts of time drilling students in preparation for the tests. Such teaching practices promote rote memorization and superficial thinking at the expense of critical thinking skills and genuine understanding--hardly a desireable educational goal.

It is important to note that Sacks is not merely giving his personal opinions. He has studied and mastered a great deal of research. At the same time, his book is far more than a dry academic recital. Unlike the Dinesh D'Souzas of the world, Sacks knows the proper usage of anecdotes--to illustrate a generalzation, not as the basis for it. Of the many illuminating stories he tells, one bears repeating. St. John's University's psych department requires students entering the Ph.D. program to take the GRE, which is useless except to make somewhat accurate predictions of first-year grades. Students seeking a masters degree only, while they take the same first-year courses, are not required to take the GRE. However, if these students wish, on completing a masters degree, to enter the Ph.D. program, they must then take the GRE, even though the only value of the exam is to "predict" their grades in courses they have already taken.

Sacks ends the book by noting some optimistic trends, such as the growing number of colleges and universities which no longer require applicants to take the SAT. However, breaking the tyranny of standardized testing will not be easy--the political pressures for the kind of superficial "standards" and "accountability" such tests provide are enormous. But reading Sacks' book, and freeing your own mind from the spell cast by standardized test scores, would be a good start.

This book provided a good review of Math and English when I had to take a state test for a job..I would recommend it.

I've used the TABE test before some 8 years ago and loved them. That's why I purchased it again. Keep up the good work.

Great info & easy to learn. Only one problem some answer keys are incorrect, so be careful!

It arrived quickly, and in good condition. I never have to wait long for Amazon!

I have taught GED for several years and we constantly use the TABE tests. I like the test because it is easy to administer and easy to grade.
Recently, many professionals need to update their files and continue to show "language proficiency" in reading and comprehension for writing reports. This book will help you to prepare for such a test.
Also, if you work in a more "hand's on" job, then you may need to refresh your skills in reading. Even as people get older, they need to continue to work on vocabulary, writing and reading skills. The TABE test is a great instrument for educators and students.
I recommend this book for someone who does not have time to take a remedial English class. This book is a great tool for study. I do agree it is "the First Step to Lifelong Success" as a student and for any professional.
I believe that adults need a refresher course from time to time no matter what profession they are in. GED students will most likely be familiar to the TABE tests because it is used to help the teacher locate the grade level of the student through the test scores. They help the student by the practice of taking tests. This is a book designed to help the student improve their skills by taking the TABE test.
It is also a great tool for students who are bilingual.
El libro es muy excelente para alumnos para mejorar su inglés. En particular, se puede mejorar la comprensión, el vocabulario, y la lectura.
Como enseño el examen del GED, tengo que usar el TABE test para calificar el nivel del alumno. Por eso, el libro es muy provechoso para mejorarse en los estudios generales.

This book is a great addition to the original Blooms Taxonomy. I found it very informative and the explanations were very clear and helpful.

Until the 1950's the educational system within the United States had no consensus or continuity in its approach to learning. "Knowledge" by interpretation meant different things to different people and professional educators had no basis by which to tie together the cornucopia of theories. By definition, taxonomy is in its widest sense, the classification of any group of likened things to include principles and ideas. Benjamin Bloom designed a hierarchical taxonomy of cognitive skills for the educator who is designing curriculum and formatting educational standards and objectives. This cognitive domain is laid out in six areas now quite familiar to teachers: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Knowledge is memorization, the ability of the student to recall information. The concept can be found in lesson plans that require the student to define, recall, or label. Examples of knowledge as a cognitive skill include learning the alphabet or memorizing important dates in history. Once the ability to gather information at the knowledge stage is mastered the student proceeds to comprehension. At this stage the student begins to see word clues such as "estimate", "explain", and "summarize". The student is not generating anything new but is putting learned knowledge into his / her own words. At the application stage the student learns to use the knowledge. Key words appear such as "apply", "compute", or "demonstrate". At the analysis stage the student begins to generalize information to new or different situations. The student has yet to create anything wholly new, however, the cognitive process has sequenced from basic recognition and memory skills to those tools needed for abstract thought and creation. In the next stage, synthesis, the student begins to see key words such as "compose", "create", and "modify". The pre-schooler has gone from recognizing a Lego toy to using the toys to create something new. In the final cognitive stage, evaluation, the student gains the ability to judge or critique. He / she can now compare the creations of others and validly support, explain, or defend the work.
The educator could now function in agreement with his / her fellows in designing curriculum in an environment of consensus. Why then did Drs. Anderson and Krathlwohl feel the need to revise Blooms work? The authors answered this question in the book's Preface by stating that there were two primary reasons: first, to refocus the attention of educators on the original Bloom's Taxonomy as a document not only historical in nature but valid in context of today's standards, and, secondly, to incorporate new knowledge and thought into Bloom's framework. Though it is not so stated in the Preface, much of this new knowledge and thought is in dealing with an ever-growing populace of divergent learners and likewise with an eye toward the population of children in low socio economic situations.
The revised Bloom's Taxonomy incorporates a framework that is no longer simply linear but a grid. In Anderson & Krathwohl's revision the original six components are renamed so that they still relate directly to the original taxonomy but in terms that are both more relevant to today and simplified. "Knowledge" becomes "remember", "comprehension" becomes "understand", "application" is simplified to "apply", "analysis" to "analyze", and "synthesis" becomes somewhat confusingly "evaluate" as "evaluation" changes to the more descriptive "create". This revision allows for the discrimination of higher order thinking even within the lower cognitive levels of Bloom's. For the teacher of special needs or struggling learners, this is especially useful. Simply put, you can go more places on a grid than you can on a straight line.
Anderson and Krathwohl subdivide the x-axis consisting of the renamed Bloom cognitive dimensions into a y-axis of four knowledge dimensions. These four dimensions are, like the cognitive dimensions, hierarchical. At the base is found factual knowledge; knowledge of terms, details, symbols, etc. Conceptual knowledge; classification, categorization, structures, etc follow this. From there the hierarchy advances to application with the dimension of procedural knowledge. At this level the student applies the facts and concepts. Here, for example, the student learns not only to recognize math symbols but also to apply them to an equation. The peak of this hierarchy is meta-cognitive knowledge. At this level the student applies strategies and self-awareness of his or her skills to the lesson.
This revision ranges then from remembering factual knowledge as the lowest cognitive function to creating something new with the application of meta-cognition to truly understand what has been created. The teacher can put this taxonomy to its fullest advantage by dissecting his / her exams and lesson plans to fully realize the potential of the student. It is the opinion of this reviewer that the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy is of particular use when dealing with the two extremes of the learning spectrum, the mentally disabled or struggling student and the student who excels academically. In the case of the student with cognitive deficits, the instructor who recognizes that his / her students may never pass beyond the lower processes of "remember" and "understand" in Bloom may still challenge and properly assess those students in both academic and adaptive areas by progressing from the factual knowledge dimension to procedural and meta-cognitive knowledge. With the latter, the student who is excelling and most likely placed in the school's gifted and talented program, the instructor may use Anderson and Krathwohl's revised taxonomy to insure that the student is not evaluating and creating based on memorization of facts and concepts but on using appropriate procedures and meta-cognitive skills to create something that is unique to that student's abilities.
This text is complete with examples of the taxonomy in practical application with the standards and objectives the teacher is familiar with. I am confident that once the basics of this revision are understood by the educational professional, the book will become a well-used tool in the real world of teaching today's students.

I found it is very easy to understand the two dimensions of revised taxonomy. Basically, this book is a pratical reference while conducting research and seeting instrutional objectives.

In an era of state-mandated standards, this book is an essential tool for teachers. Anderson et. al. show how to cut through the jargon and get down to what your students really need to learn. Finally someone has created a book that connects theory and practice, expectations and reality! This book is definitely worth reading.

Anderson and Kratwohl (eds.) describe a taxonomy of learning and therefore teaching and assessing. Based on the original work of Bloom (1956) they develop further his ideas. Whereas Bloom described a taxonomy of the cognitive process, the new book introduces a 2nd dimension, and classifies the knowledge as such. The concepts are well described, in correct terms. Anyone teaching may easily follow the argumentation. It is shown why and how the two-dimensional taxonomy will be useful in planning, preparing and assessing curricula and lectures or "teaching events". Practical examples illustrate the well presented theory. The clear structure allows one to read the book as a whole as well as to pick out issues of special interest. It was useful for me as a Prof. at a University of Applied Sciences as a framework in order to better and quicker plan and organize a new curriculum. The book is recommended for both, new teachers at any level, as well as for experienced profs revising their lectures.

Fantastic Book! Makes a revolutionary concept seem simple and obvious. As an education student, I plan to take from this book for the rest of my life.

This text was recommended reading and as a teacher myself, I find it confounding that it was not required reading during my teaching education. She certainly was ahead of her time, but Sylvia Ashton-Warner might still be distancing herself from those standard based minds determined to put children into the molds we have decided are necessary for their own good. How do we get children to see the power of language so that writing and reading have personal meaning that piques a lifelong journey into the love of learning--this book has some incredible seeds that a willing and curious mind might take, study, and find itself using to change the world, and at the very least the landscape of education as we see it today. Read this book if you want children to come alive to learning.

I am a teacher of 18 years who had to read this book in 1977 as part of my college teacher training and would like to share this book with all teachers. It is as relevant for me today with our scripted phonics and literature-rich reading programs as it was then. Sylia Ashton-Warner does more than portray a method and philosophy to teach reading to New Zealand's Maori children--she paints a vivid, dramatic picture of any classroom. The reader can see the combination of her daily, organized lesson plan superimposed with the actual unpredictable, spontaneous, and social nature of children. Sylvia writes in such a perceptive, humorous way that our sympathy goes out to the Maori children who are expected to learn reading, but are expertly led, not forced.
One of her main points was that the contemporary "Dick and Jane" method of teaching reading was too imposing, stagnant, and foreign to inspire success and a love of learning for her Maori students. She created a new system to do the job of bridging the old, illiterate civilization of the Maoris to contemporary New Zealand. Her method became famous. It is fairly simple and has been used since in a multitude of kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms. Children were allowed to give Ms. Ashton-Warner, their teacher, a new word every day. The word was traced, written, practiced, shared, and reviewed the next day. If the word was important enough to the child, it was remembered and therefore called an "organic" word since it came from an important part of the individual child. Children had word cards and every day would locate their own personal word cards amidst the class' collection.
As Ms. Ashton-Warner used this method over time, she was able to categorize important words, and thereby came across universal truths regarding words that made reading easier for her students. The two widest categories she called "sex" and "fear" words, and if a word was easily learned then it fit into one of these categories. Although I personally don't like her use of the word "sex," she explains her conception of it as referring to the human needs of love, acceptance, and survival.
As students became proficient with this first introduction to words, they were "graduated" to more advanced classes in reading and writing, using their own personal word banks, until at last the traditional school books could be used successfully. In addition, Ms. Ashton-Warner wrote and illustrated her own version of basal readers for Maoris, using their own interests and lingo, as another part of transitioning them from their own culture to the literate and modern New Zealand. It is tragic that most of her original works are gone.
In actuality, the book "Teacher" is much more than a description of a pedagogical method. It is a work of art, describing the talent needed to teach. It is a work in psychology, showing one how to cope with the enormous diversity and constant problems of the real classroom. It is a work of teaching methodology, inspiring a teacher to value and inspire the inner thoughts and feelings of a child, and to take those raw materials and create real learning experiences for that child.
I actually read this book once a year. It has become a part of me that allows me to take each day as it comes, to see special inspired moments in a child's day as being a huge, poignant step in their education.

In generally straightforward prose, Sylvia Ashton-Warner describes the success of her "organic" teaching method for five-year-old Maoris, a native people of New Zealand. The idea is as brilliant as it is simple: young children will best remember words that are nearest their hearts.

For young Maoris at the time of Ashton-Warner's writing, these words were not always positive, as many of her students were from troubled backgrounds. Words such as "fear" and "kill" were as popular among them as "kiss" and "love." Ms. Ashton-Warner's infant reading texts were hand-crafted by her for each student's particular needs and interests. After developing an "organic" vocabulary, the Maoris were better able to tackle traditional English elementary texts.

I found a sixth edition of this book in my late father's library. It was required reading for my father's Masters in Education program at Hunter College in New York City during the late 1960s and early 1970s. "Teacher" was first published in 1963.

Contemporary readers, especially Americans, may find the style somewhat dated. Towards the end of the book, Ms. Ashton-Warner changes from a conversational format to a diary-like, almost stream-of-consciousness style which is rather confusing. She also uses New Zealand terms such as "pa" and "haka" whose meanings have to be determined with some difficulty from context.

All that said, the message of "Teacher" is as vibrant today as it was when this work was first published. It is as relevant to building cross-cultural bridges as it is to enhancing learning among students of all backgrounds. My father drew upon it in getting reluctant older students to write and read about things that they were truly interested in. "Teacher" provides an important caveat to today's world of standardized testing and rigid pedagogical criteria.

Hard for me to write a short review of this book since I've written a book about Ashton-Warner's contributions to teaching young children.

The point is, Ashton-Warner was a careful observer of the young Maori children she taught. She knew that what she had been trained to do in a college teacher-training program wasn't working, so she really looked to see what the children cared about, and invented ways to teach them based upon their deep interests and respecting their culture, different from her own. She, a left-handed artist, was different from the mainstream, and wanted to be appreciated...and she carried this and other knowledge from her personal life into her teaching. Ashton-Warner wasn't a woman of perfection, but she made a contribution that lasts...This book has changed the lives of many, many teachers -- I know because they have told me.