Dr. Alice E. Ginsberg researches and writes about urban education, critical pedagogy, educational equity and public policy. She is the author or editor of Gender in Urban Education (Heinemann, 2003), Gender and Educational Philanthropy (Palgrave, 2007), The Evolution of American Women’s Studies (Palgrave, 2008), And Finally We Meet: Feminist Activists, Academics and Students (ITROW, 2011), and Difficult Dialogues about 21st Century Girls.

Public schools in the US have long operated as sorting machines channeling students to serve the needs of capital and so-called national interests. Ginsberg deconstructs the rhetoric of contemporary test-driven school reform, with a specific emphasis on the concept of 'at risk.' The premise is statistics that identify entire cultures as 'at risk' are powerful stories not simply of low expectations, cultural deprivations, and individual laziness, but of political capital, misused power, and unjustly distributed resources. Ginsberg provides a powerful analysis of how the policies that supposedly promote meritocracy, personal responsibility, and individual achievement also contain strong components of separating, sorting, marginalizing, and punishing students, particularly those from communities considered "at risk" and who refuse to conform to the status quo. Unlike many ideologically similar critics of public schools, Ginsberg presents a hopeful message through case studies of four urban schools that illustrate more meaningful and sustainable ways for students to learn. These schools embrace risk in that they are unafraid of challenging the status quo of teaching and learning by cultivating spaces where students can question how and why certain knowledge is validated, marginalized, or dismissed. Summing Up: Essential.

• Preface: When RISK is a Four Letter WordIntroduction: Why Embrace Risk in Education? Chapter One: The New Three R’s in Public Education: Relay Race Reform Unpacking the Language of 21st Century School Reform Chapter Two: A Mission to Question: CriticalInquiry, Creativity and Risk The Science Leadership Academy (SLA)Chapter Three: Courageous Conversations: Teaching, Cultural Identity and Risk The Folk Arts Cultural Treasures School (FACTS)Chapter Four: When Superman is Delayed: Social Justice, Student Activism, and Risk Parkway NW School for Peace and Social JusticeChapter Five: Unlocking the Schoolyard Gate: Geography, Community and Risk The Wissahickon Charter SchoolConclusionAppendix A: Contemporary Educators Respond: “How would you define embracing risk in urban education?”BibliographyIndex

Dr. Alice E. Ginsberg researches and writes about urban education, critical pedagogy, educational equity and public policy. She is the author or editor of Gender in Urban Education (Heinemann, 2003), Gender and Educational Philanthropy (Palgrave, 2007), The Evolution of American Women’s Studies (Palgrave, 2008), And Finally We Meet: Feminist Activists, Academics and Students (ITROW, 2011), and Difficult Dialogues about 21st Century Girls.

Public schools in the US have long operated as sorting machines channeling students to serve the needs of capital and so-called national interests. Ginsberg deconstructs the rhetoric of contemporary test-driven school reform, with a specific emphasis on the concept of 'at risk.' The premise is statistics that identify entire cultures as 'at risk' are powerful stories not simply of low expectations, cultural deprivations, and individual laziness, but of political capital, misused power, and unjustly distributed resources. Ginsberg provides a powerful analysis of how the policies that supposedly promote meritocracy, personal responsibility, and individual achievement also contain strong components of separating, sorting, marginalizing, and punishing students, particularly those from communities considered "at risk" and who refuse to conform to the status quo. Unlike many ideologically similar critics of public schools, Ginsberg presents a hopeful message through case studies of four urban schools that illustrate more meaningful and sustainable ways for students to learn. These schools embrace risk in that they are unafraid of challenging the status quo of teaching and learning by cultivating spaces where students can question how and why certain knowledge is validated, marginalized, or dismissed. Summing Up: Essential.

• Preface: When RISK is a Four Letter WordIntroduction: Why Embrace Risk in Education? Chapter One: The New Three R’s in Public Education: Relay Race Reform Unpacking the Language of 21st Century School Reform Chapter Two: A Mission to Question: CriticalInquiry, Creativity and Risk The Science Leadership Academy (SLA)Chapter Three: Courageous Conversations: Teaching, Cultural Identity and Risk The Folk Arts Cultural Treasures School (FACTS)Chapter Four: When Superman is Delayed: Social Justice, Student Activism, and Risk Parkway NW School for Peace and Social JusticeChapter Five: Unlocking the Schoolyard Gate: Geography, Community and Risk The Wissahickon Charter SchoolConclusionAppendix A: Contemporary Educators Respond: “How would you define embracing risk in urban education?”BibliographyIndex

Dr. Alice E. Ginsberg researches and writes about urban education, critical pedagogy, educational equity and public policy. She is the author or editor of Gender in Urban Education (Heinemann, 2003), Gender and Educational Philanthropy (Palgrave, 2007), The Evolution of American Women’s Studies (Palgrave, 2008), And Finally We Meet: Feminist Activists, Academics and Students (ITROW, 2011), and Difficult Dialogues about 21st Century Girls.

Public schools in the US have long operated as sorting machines channeling students to serve the needs of capital and so-called national interests. Ginsberg deconstructs the rhetoric of contemporary test-driven school reform, with a specific emphasis on the concept of 'at risk.' The premise is statistics that identify entire cultures as 'at risk' are powerful stories not simply of low expectations, cultural deprivations, and individual laziness, but of political capital, misused power, and unjustly distributed resources. Ginsberg provides a powerful analysis of how the policies that supposedly promote meritocracy, personal responsibility, and individual achievement also contain strong components of separating, sorting, marginalizing, and punishing students, particularly those from communities considered "at risk" and who refuse to conform to the status quo. Unlike many ideologically similar critics of public schools, Ginsberg presents a hopeful message through case studies of four urban schools that illustrate more meaningful and sustainable ways for students to learn. These schools embrace risk in that they are unafraid of challenging the status quo of teaching and learning by cultivating spaces where students can question how and why certain knowledge is validated, marginalized, or dismissed. Summing Up: Essential.

• Preface: When RISK is a Four Letter WordIntroduction: Why Embrace Risk in Education? Chapter One: The New Three R’s in Public Education: Relay Race Reform Unpacking the Language of 21st Century School Reform Chapter Two: A Mission to Question: CriticalInquiry, Creativity and Risk The Science Leadership Academy (SLA)Chapter Three: Courageous Conversations: Teaching, Cultural Identity and Risk The Folk Arts Cultural Treasures School (FACTS)Chapter Four: When Superman is Delayed: Social Justice, Student Activism, and Risk Parkway NW School for Peace and Social JusticeChapter Five: Unlocking the Schoolyard Gate: Geography, Community and Risk The Wissahickon Charter SchoolConclusionAppendix A: Contemporary Educators Respond: “How would you define embracing risk in urban education?”BibliographyIndex