David C. Berliner – författare

This book is guaranteed to spark lively debates and critical thinking in any classroom! Two of the most respected voices in education identify 50 myths and lies that threaten America's public schools. Berliner and Glass argue that many citizens’ conception of K–12 public education in the United States is more myth than reality. Warped opinions about our nation’s public schools include: they are inferior to private schools; they are among the worst in the world in math and science; teachers should be fired if their students don’t score at the national average, and on and on. With more than a little humour, Berliner and Glass separate fact from fiction in this comprehensive look at modern education reform. They explain how the mythical failure of public education has been created and perpetuated in large part by political and economic interests who stand to gain from its destruction. They expose a rapidly expanding variety of organisations and media that intentionally misrepresent facts. Where appropriate, they name the promoters of the hoax and point out how their interests are served by encouraging false beliefs. Their method of debunking these falsehoods is to argue against their logic, criticise the data supporting them, and present more credible contradictory data. This dynamic book features short essays on important topics to provide every teacher, administrator, school board member, and concerned parent with reliable knowledge from authoritative sources.

Two of the most respected voices in education and a team of young education scholars identify 50 myths and lies that threaten America's public schools. With hard-hitting information and a touch of comic relief, Berliner, Glass, and their Associates separate fact from fiction in this comprehensive look at modern education reform. They explain how the mythical failure of public education has been created and perpetuated in large part by political and economic interests that stand to gain from its destruction. They also expose a rapidly expanding variety of organizations and media that intentionally misrepresent facts. Many of these organizations suggest that their goal is unbiased service in the public interest when, in fact, they represent narrow political and financial interests. Where appropriate, the authors name the promoters of these deceptions and point out how they are served by encouraging false beliefs. This provocative book features short essays on important topics to provide every elected representative, school administrator, school board member, teacher, parent, and concerned citizen with much food for thought, as well as reliable knowledge from authoritative sources.

In this important collection, eminent education scholars and practitioners remind us that our nation's system of free universal public education is under attack, putting our very democracy in jeopardy. Over and above preparing students for employability, American schools must prepare our youth to be informed citizens and active, constructive participants in the democratic process. These essayists, criticizing as well as lauding our educational system, believe that such a goal is best accomplished through a high-quality, public, free system of schooling designed to serve all our nations' children without regard to race, religion, gender, LGBTQ+ identity, (dis)ability, social class, citizenship status, or language. In the 100th anniversary year of Horace Mann, these thought leaders in education take stock of enduring principles, current dilemmas, and important forward directions. With privateers growing in numbers and seeking to take advantage of systemic breakdowns, this book will serve as a rousing defense of our public schools for our nation's educators, parents, school board members, and politicians.Book Features:Reminds all Americans of the essential roles that schools serve in contemporary society, beyond simply learning the prescribed school curriculum.Presents a counterpoint to those who promote private or charter schooling at the expense of genuine public schools.Paints a complex and multi-faceted portrait of our public education system and provides a set of diverse and provocative remedies for many pressing contemporary problems of public schooling.

In this important collection, eminent education scholars and practitioners remind us that our nation's system of free universal public education is under attack, putting our very democracy in jeopardy. Over and above preparing students for employability, American schools must prepare our youth to be informed citizens and active, constructive participants in the democratic process. These essayists, criticizing as well as lauding our educational system, believe that such a goal is best accomplished through a high-quality, public, free system of schooling designed to serve all our nations' children without regard to race, religion, gender, LGBTQ+ identity, (dis)ability, social class, citizenship status, or language. In the 100th anniversary year of Horace Mann, these thought leaders in education take stock of enduring principles, current dilemmas, and important forward directions. With privateers growing in numbers and seeking to take advantage of systemic breakdowns, this book will serve as a rousing defense of our public schools for our nation's educators, parents, school board members, and politicians.Book Features:Reminds all Americans of the essential roles that schools serve in contemporary society, beyond simply learning the prescribed school curriculum.Presents a counterpoint to those who promote private or charter schooling at the expense of genuine public schools.Paints a complex and multi-faceted portrait of our public education system and provides a set of diverse and provocative remedies for many pressing contemporary problems of public schooling.

David Berliner, one of America's foremost educational researchers, issues an urgent message for all those who care about preserving the future of public education, and the future of democracy.Throughout his extraordinary career, educational psychologist David Berliner visited hundreds of classrooms in multiple countries. After many such visits, he wrote short notes about what he saw, felt, and imagined as he observed teachers, students, and administrators attempting to make education happen.Intended to provoke readers to think and discuss key ideas in K–12 education, Public Education for Our Nation's Democracy brings together 18 essays on the issues that define the United States public school system, including teacher professionalism and autonomy; teacher–student relationships; charter, religious, and private schools; curricular choice; high-stakes testing and equity; COVID-19 learning loss; multicultural education; and parent–teacher relationships. A common theme that runs throughout these essays is appreciation and advocacy for the U.S. public school system—warts and all!Book Features:Commentaries, insights, and recommendations for improving teaching and learning, written by one of the keenest observers of America’s schools.Coverage of important topics in education written in a conversational voice to be accessible to a wide audience.Inspiring and thought-provoking essays about one of America’s greatest inventions—its huge system of public education.

David Berliner, one of America's foremost educational researchers, issues an urgent message for all those who care about preserving the future of public education, and the future of democracy.Throughout his extraordinary career, educational psychologist David Berliner visited hundreds of classrooms in multiple countries. After many such visits, he wrote short notes about what he saw, felt, and imagined as he observed teachers, students, and administrators attempting to make education happen.Intended to provoke readers to think and discuss key ideas in K–12 education, Public Education for Our Nation's Democracy brings together 18 essays on the issues that define the United States public school system, including teacher professionalism and autonomy; teacher–student relationships; charter, religious, and private schools; curricular choice; high-stakes testing and equity; COVID-19 learning loss; multicultural education; and parent–teacher relationships. A common theme that runs throughout these essays is appreciation and advocacy for the U.S. public school system—warts and all!Book Features:Commentaries, insights, and recommendations for improving teaching and learning, written by one of the keenest observers of America’s schools.Coverage of important topics in education written in a conversational voice to be accessible to a wide audience.Inspiring and thought-provoking essays about one of America’s greatest inventions—its huge system of public education.

Drawing on their extensive research, Nichols and Berliner document and categorize the ways that high-stakes testing threatens the purposes and ideals of the American education system. For more than a decade, the debate over high-stakes testing has dominated the field of education. This passionate and provocative book provides a fresh perspective on the issue and powerful ammunition for opponents of high-stakes tests. Their analysis is grounded in the application of Campbell’s Law, which posits that the greater the social consequences associated with a quantitative indicator (such as test scores), the more likely it is that the indicator itself will become corrupted—and the more likely it is that the use of the indicator will corrupt the social processes it was intended to monitor. Nichols and Berliner illustrate both aspects of this “corruption,” showing how the pressures of high-stakes testing erode the validity of test scores and distort the integrity of the education system. Their analysis provides a coherent and comprehensive intellectual framework for the wide-ranging arguments against high-stakes testing, while putting a compelling human face on the data marshalled in support of those arguments.