Louie F. Rodriguez - Böcker

"Finally, educators leading the movement to smaller high schools have a resource they can draw upon for guidance and direction. This book offers clear, practical advice on how to create small schools that are effective in meeting student needs."—Pedro Noguera, Professor New York University

"Relevant, individualized, and an insightful read. This book will be useful for any school system working to develop small learning communities."—Nancy Betler, Teacher Mentor Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, NC

Learn about big educational results in smaller schools!

Educators are increasingly turning to small learning communities, which have proven to be highly effective in facilitating academic engagement and achievement, particularly among low-income urban students. This in-depth sociological study reveals the unique aspects of this movement and:

Examines the structural and cultural features of small learning communities and small schools in two major urban citiesHighlights students' perspectives on school culture, personalization, and student involvementOffers timely suggestions to benefit students at all levels and in every educational setting

Based on original research, this text offers school leaders and policy makers a deeper understanding of the broad, positive impact of small school reform.

The fact that 30% of all high school students and 50% of African American, Latina/o, and Native American students fail to graduate from high school is grounds for alarm in the United States. The Time Is Now argues that understanding and responding to the dropout crisis facing the United States has overlooked one major element – school culture. Using the PUEDES approach as an analytical framework, this book highlights how schools matter and, in fact, hold many of the solutions that contribute to student engagement and disengagement in school, particularly among low-income students of color. Drawing on more than 10 years of school-based research in Boston, Miami, and Southern California, a 10-Point Plan is proposed. The book provides a practical theory of action aimed at challenging the ways schools and communities work together to transform education practice, policy, and, ultimately, student engagement and achievement, particularly among African American and Latina/o students across the United States.

The fact that 30% of all high school students and 50% of African American, Latina/o, and Native American students fail to graduate from high school is grounds for alarm in the United States. The Time Is Now argues that understanding and responding to the dropout crisis facing the United States has overlooked one major element – school culture. Using the PUEDES approach as an analytical framework, this book highlights how schools matter and, in fact, hold many of the solutions that contribute to student engagement and disengagement in school, particularly among low-income students of color. Drawing on more than 10 years of school-based research in Boston, Miami, and Southern California, a 10-Point Plan is proposed. The book provides a practical theory of action aimed at challenging the ways schools and communities work together to transform education practice, policy, and, ultimately, student engagement and achievement, particularly among African American and Latina/o students across the United States.

Are we bold enough to recognize our own excellence in our schools and communities? This question drives Intentional Excellence, an audacious attempt at developing a Pedagogy of Excellence in Latina/o schools and communities as a result of observations, insights, and lessons learned from work with schools and communities across the United States. Louie F. Rodríguez argues that while there is no shortage of excellence in some of the schools and communities that struggle the most, there is a pedagogical void, or an Excellence Paradox, that has disallowed excellence from being used as a potential tool to transform the culture of education. This book offers an additive framework for committed stakeholders and outlines six key observations including the contagious nature of excellence, excellence as a responsibility, the political viability of excellence, the additive possibilities of excellence, the role of excellence as a curricular and pedagogical tool, and the role of excellence in working toward equity and social justice in education. Rodríguez discusses a series of case studies that have used Excellence Campaigns to organize, define, and recognize their own excellence. The book also discusses the possibilities of excellence beyond education and proposes a new role in education to make excellence happen: Excellence Engineers. The book concludes with a theory of action that is necessary for excellence to thrive in the twenty-first century. Our children and communities deserve to see themselves as «models of excellence» and this book proposes a pedagogy to help get us there.

PAR EntreMundos: A Pedagogy of the Américas challenges the standard narratives of "achievement" to think about how Latinx students can experience an education that forges new possibilities of liberation and justice. Growing Latinx student populations have led to concerns about "assimilating" them into mainstream academic frameworks. This book offers an alternative, decolonizing approach that embraces complex Latinx identities and clears a path toward resisting systems of oppression. Educating Latinx students should involve more than just helping them achieve in school but rather having them recognize their agency to transform the larger structure of education to promote justice-oriented practices. The authors offer a framework for such transformation by honoring their theoretical lineages, proposing a set of guiding principles, and sharing stories about collective social action within and outside Latinx communities. PAR EntreMundos: A Pedagogy of the Américas is a practice of liberation and freedom.