Kids and School Reform

PATRICIA A. WASLEY is the Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Bank Street College in New York City. She has worked as a researcher for the Puget Sound Educational Consortium at the University of Washington, at the Coalition of Essential Schools and at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. She is the author of Stirring the Chalkdust (1994) and Teachers Who Lead (1991) ROBERT L. HAMPEL is a professor of education at the University of Delaware. He is the author of The Last Little Citadel (1986). RICHARD W. CLARK is a senior associate with the Center for Educational Renewal, College of Education, University of Washington and a senior associate of the Institute for Educational Inquiry.

"With its emphasis on the real people involved, this book gets readers thinking about the impact of reform on kids--and offers some excellent advice in the bargain." (Educational Leadership) "The actual voices and stories of the students, when coupled with extended vignettes, make for interesting reading. The authors' inclusion of comments from teachers and administrators provides invaluable insights for readers eager to support educational reform that truly benefits students." (The School Administrator) "Parents, administrators, and teachers whether they are working for school reform or supporting the status quo will find their interests represented by the stories of kids linked to school reform." (Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy) "This is a wonderful book. It takes an unusually honest and penetrating look at educational practice and its effects on students, parents, and faculty." (Carl Glickman, author of Renewing America's Schools) "'It's all for the children' is among the emptiest of the cliches accompanying school reform. Here, at last, are the inside stories of real students engaged with real teachers in five high schools committed to fundamental change. The language of the telling is as fresh as the insights conveyed." (John I. Goodlad, professor emeritus and co-director, Center for Educational Renewal, University of Washington) "This study has the courage to look broadly at the ways and means of school change, with all its twists and turns, enthusiasms and disappointments. Wasley, Hampel and Clark take pains to directly engage the school people and the students who are their dramatis personae, deepening the meanings they elicit and the scope of their work. Their ultimate focus on students is a breath of fresh air in research of this kind. A wonderfully useful, honest, and comprehensive book, one which does not oversimplify the condition and the opportunities of the public schools." (Theodore R. Sizer, chairman, Coalition of Essential Schools) "Wasley, Hampel, and Clark remind us that children's lives must be our conscience for school reform?the metric by which we measure our success. In a book that ranges from quite funny, to intellectually intriguing, to deeply disturbing. These authors bring to light the resilience of children, the courage of good educators and the challenge of creating public education that demands our best. (Michele Fine, professor of social/personality psychology, The Graduate School and University Center, The City University of New York)

• Connecting Kids to School Reform. Routines and Repertioire. Caring and Expectations. Rigor and Innovation. Scale and Discourse. Kids, Connections, and Commitments.