Sociocultural, Political, and Historical Studies in Education – serie

The third edition of this groundbreaking text offers a powerful model for cultural ecological analysis and a pedagogy of responsibility. Authors Martusewicz, Edmundson, and Lupinacci provide teachers, teacher educators, and educational scholars with the theory and classroom practices they need to help develop citizens who are prepared to support and achieve diverse, democratic, and sustainable societies in an increasingly globalized world. Readers are asked to consider curricular strategies to bring these issues to life in their own classrooms across disciplines. Designed for introductory educational foundations and multicultural education courses, EcoJustice Education is written in a narrative, conversational style grounded in place and experience, but also pushes students to examine the larger ideological, social, historical, and political contexts of the crises humans and the planet we inhabit are facing.Fully updated with cutting-edge research, statistics, and current events throughout, the third edition addresses important topics such as Indigenous learning, Black Lives Matter, the Flint Water Crisis, Standing Rock, the rise of fascism, and climate change, and develops EcoJustice approaches to confronting these issues. An accompanying online resource includes a conceptual toolbox, links to related resources, and more.

The third edition of this groundbreaking text offers a powerful model for cultural ecological analysis and a pedagogy of responsibility. Authors Martusewicz, Edmundson, and Lupinacci provide teachers, teacher educators, and educational scholars with the theory and classroom practices they need to help develop citizens who are prepared to support and achieve diverse, democratic, and sustainable societies in an increasingly globalized world. Readers are asked to consider curricular strategies to bring these issues to life in their own classrooms across disciplines. Designed for introductory educational foundations and multicultural education courses, EcoJustice Education is written in a narrative, conversational style grounded in place and experience, but also pushes students to examine the larger ideological, social, historical, and political contexts of the crises humans and the planet we inhabit are facing.Fully updated with cutting-edge research, statistics, and current events throughout, the third edition addresses important topics such as Indigenous learning, Black Lives Matter, the Flint Water Crisis, Standing Rock, the rise of fascism, and climate change, and develops EcoJustice approaches to confronting these issues. An accompanying online resource includes a conceptual toolbox, links to related resources, and more.

The Great American Education-Industrial Complex examines the structure and nature of national networks and enterprises that seek to influence public education policy in accord with their own goals and objectives. In the past twenty years, significant changes have taken place in the way various interest groups seek to influence policies and practices in public education in the United States. No longer left to the experience and knowledge of educators, American education has become as much the domain of private organizations, corporate entities, and political agents who see it as a market for their ideas, technologies, and ultimately profits. Piccciano and Spring posit that educational technology is the vehicle whereby these separate movements, organizations, and individuals have become integrated in a powerful common entity, and detail how the educational-industrial complex has grown and strengthened its position of influence. This timely, carefully documented, well argued book brings together Picciano’s perspective and expertise in the field of technology and policy issues and Spring’s in the history and politics of education in a unique critical analysis of the education-industrial complex and its implications for the future.

The Great American Education-Industrial Complex examines the structure and nature of national networks and enterprises that seek to influence public education policy in accord with their own goals and objectives. In the past twenty years, significant changes have taken place in the way various interest groups seek to influence policies and practices in public education in the United States. No longer left to the experience and knowledge of educators, American education has become as much the domain of private organizations, corporate entities, and political agents who see it as a market for their ideas, technologies, and ultimately profits. Piccciano and Spring posit that educational technology is the vehicle whereby these separate movements, organizations, and individuals have become integrated in a powerful common entity, and detail how the educational-industrial complex has grown and strengthened its position of influence. This timely, carefully documented, well argued book brings together Picciano’s perspective and expertise in the field of technology and policy issues and Spring’s in the history and politics of education in a unique critical analysis of the education-industrial complex and its implications for the future.

Math Education for America? analyzes math education policy through the social network of individuals and private and public organizations that influence it in the United States. The effort to standardize a national mathematics curriculum for public schools in the U.S. culminated in 2010 when over 40 states adopted the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Rather than looking at the text of specific policy documents, this book complements existing critical reviews of the national math education curriculum by employing a unique social network analysis. Breaking new ground in detailing and theorizing the politics of math education, Wolfmeyer argues that the private interests of this network are closely tied to a web of interrelated developments: human capital education policy, debates over traditional and reform pedagogy, the assumed content knowledge deficit of math teachers, and the proliferation of profit-driven educational businesses. By establishing the interconnectedness of these interests with the national math education curriculum, he shows how the purported goals of math education reform are aligned with the prevailing political agendas of this social network rather than the national interest.

With the American dream progressively elusive for and exclusive of Latinos, there is an urgent need for empirically and conceptually based macro-level policy solutions for Latino education. Going beyond just exposing educational inequalities, this volume provides intelligent and pragmatic research-based policy directions and tools for change for U.S. Latino Education and other multicultural contexts. U.S. Latinos and Education Policy is organized round three themes: education as both product and process of social and historical events and practices; the experiences of young immigrants in schools in both U.S. and international settings and policy approaches to address their needs; and situated perspectives on learning among immigrant students across school, home, and community.With contributions from leading scholars, including Luis Moll, Eugene E. Garcia, Richard P. Durán, Sonia Nieto , Angela Valenzuela, Alejandro Portes and Barbara Flores, this volume enhances existing discussions by showcasing how researchers working both within and in collaboration with Latino communities have employed multiple analytic frameworks; illustrating how current scholarship and culturally oriented theory can serve equity-oriented practice; and, focusing attention on ethnicity in context and in relation to the interaction of developmental and cultural factors. The theoretical and methodological perspectives integrate praxis research from multiple disciplines and apply this research directly to policy.

With the American dream progressively elusive for and exclusive of Latinos, there is an urgent need for empirically and conceptually based macro-level policy solutions for Latino education. Going beyond just exposing educational inequalities, this volume provides intelligent and pragmatic research-based policy directions and tools for change for U.S. Latino Education and other multicultural contexts. U.S. Latinos and Education Policy is organized round three themes: education as both product and process of social and historical events and practices; the experiences of young immigrants in schools in both U.S. and international settings and policy approaches to address their needs; and situated perspectives on learning among immigrant students across school, home, and community.With contributions from leading scholars, including Luis Moll, Eugene E. Garcia, Richard P. Durán, Sonia Nieto , Angela Valenzuela, Alejandro Portes and Barbara Flores, this volume enhances existing discussions by showcasing how researchers working both within and in collaboration with Latino communities have employed multiple analytic frameworks; illustrating how current scholarship and culturally oriented theory can serve equity-oriented practice; and, focusing attention on ethnicity in context and in relation to the interaction of developmental and cultural factors. The theoretical and methodological perspectives integrate praxis research from multiple disciplines and apply this research directly to policy.

Continuing Joel Spring’s reportage and analysis of the intersection of global forces and education, this text offers a comprehensive overview and synthesis of current research, theories, and models related to the topic. Written in his signature clear, narrative style, Spring introduces the processes, institutions, and forces by which schooling has been globalized and examines the impact of these forces on schooling in local contexts. Significant conceptual frameworks are added to this Second Edition, specifically the “economization of education,” “corporatization of education” and the “audit state.” These concepts are embedded in the global educational plans of major organizations such as the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), World Economic Forum, and multinational corporations. Globalization of Education, Second Edition features new and updated information on • The World Bank• OECD and the United Nations• The World Trade Organization and the Global Culture of Higher Education• Corporatization of Global Education• Religious and Indigenous Education Models• The Global Workforce: Migration and the Talent Auction• Globalization and Complex Thought

Continuing Joel Spring’s reportage and analysis of the intersection of global forces and education, this text offers a comprehensive overview and synthesis of current research, theories, and models related to the topic. Written in his signature clear, narrative style, Spring introduces the processes, institutions, and forces by which schooling has been globalized and examines the impact of these forces on schooling in local contexts. Significant conceptual frameworks are added to this Second Edition, specifically the “economization of education,” “corporatization of education” and the “audit state.” These concepts are embedded in the global educational plans of major organizations such as the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), World Economic Forum, and multinational corporations. Globalization of Education, Second Edition features new and updated information on • The World Bank• OECD and the United Nations• The World Trade Organization and the Global Culture of Higher Education• Corporatization of Global Education• Religious and Indigenous Education Models• The Global Workforce: Migration and the Talent Auction• Globalization and Complex Thought

Place- and community-based education – an approach to teaching and learning that starts with the local – addresses two critical gaps in the experience of many children now growing up in the United States: contact with the natural world and contact with community. It offers a way to extend young people’s attention beyond the classroom to the world as it actually is, and to engage them in the process of devising solutions to the social and environmental problems they will confront as adults. This approach can increase students’ engagement with learning and enhance their academic achievement.Envisioned as a primer and guide for educators and members of the public interested in incorporating the local into schools in their own communities, this book explains the purpose and nature of place- and community-based education and provides multiple examples of its practice. The detailed descriptions of learning experiences set both within and beyond the classroom will help readers begin the process of advocating for or incorporating local content and experiences into their schools.

Place- and community-based education – an approach to teaching and learning that starts with the local – addresses two critical gaps in the experience of many children now growing up in the United States: contact with the natural world and contact with community. It offers a way to extend young people’s attention beyond the classroom to the world as it actually is, and to engage them in the process of devising solutions to the social and environmental problems they will confront as adults. This approach can increase students’ engagement with learning and enhance their academic achievement.Envisioned as a primer and guide for educators and members of the public interested in incorporating the local into schools in their own communities, this book explains the purpose and nature of place- and community-based education and provides multiple examples of its practice. The detailed descriptions of learning experiences set both within and beyond the classroom will help readers begin the process of advocating for or incorporating local content and experiences into their schools.

This multidisciplinary overview introduces readers to the historical, sociological, anthropological, and political foundations of urban public secondary schooling and to possibilities for reform. Focused on critical and problematic elements, the text provides a comprehensive description and analyses of urban public high schooling through different yet intertwined disciplinary lenses. Students and researchers seeking to inform their work with urban high schools from social, cultural, and political perspectives will find the theoretical frameworks and practical applications useful in their own studies of, or initiatives related to, urban public high schools. Each chapter includes concept boxes with synopses of key ideas, summations, and discussion questions.

This multidisciplinary overview introduces readers to the historical, sociological, anthropological, and political foundations of urban public secondary schooling and to possibilities for reform. Focused on critical and problematic elements, the text provides a comprehensive description and analyses of urban public high schooling through different yet intertwined disciplinary lenses. Students and researchers seeking to inform their work with urban high schools from social, cultural, and political perspectives will find the theoretical frameworks and practical applications useful in their own studies of, or initiatives related to, urban public high schools. Each chapter includes concept boxes with synopses of key ideas, summations, and discussion questions.

Turning his distinctive analytical lens to the politics of American education, Joel Spring looks at contemporary educational policy issues from theoretical, practical, and historical perspectives. This comprehensive overview documents and explains who influences educational policy and how, bringing to life the realities of schooling in the 21st century and revealing the ongoing ideological struggles at play. Coverage includes the influence of global organizations on American school policies and the impact of emerging open source and other forms of electronic textbooks.Thought-provoking, lucid, original in its conceptual framework and rich with engaging examples from the real world, this text is timely and useful for understanding the big picture and the micro-level intricacies of the multiple forces at work in controlling U.S. public schools . It is the text of choice for any course that covers or addresses the politics of American education.Companion Website: The interactive Companion Website accompanying this text includes relevant data, public domain documents, YouTube links, and links to websites representing political organizations and interest groups involved in education.

Turning his distinctive analytical lens to the politics of American education, Joel Spring looks at contemporary educational policy issues from theoretical, practical, and historical perspectives. This comprehensive overview documents and explains who influences educational policy and how, bringing to life the realities of schooling in the 21st century and revealing the ongoing ideological struggles at play. Coverage includes the influence of global organizations on American school policies and the impact of emerging open source and other forms of electronic textbooks.Thought-provoking, lucid, original in its conceptual framework and rich with engaging examples from the real world, this text is timely and useful for understanding the big picture and the micro-level intricacies of the multiple forces at work in controlling U.S. public schools . It is the text of choice for any course that covers or addresses the politics of American education.Companion Website: The interactive Companion Website accompanying this text includes relevant data, public domain documents, YouTube links, and links to websites representing political organizations and interest groups involved in education.

Education Networks is a critical analysis of the emerging intersection among the global power elite, information and communication technology, and schools. Joel Spring documents and examines the economic and political interests and forces —including elite networks, the for-profit education industry, data managers, and professional educators — that are pushing the use of ICT for online instruction, test preparation and tutoring, data management, instructional software packages, and more , and looks closely at the impact this is having on schools, students, and learning. Making a distinction between "mind" (as socially constructed) and "brain" (as a physiological entity), Spring draws on recent findings from comparative psychology on the possible effects of ICT on the social construction of the minds of students and school managers, and from neuroscience regarding its effect on students’ brains. Throughout, the influence of elite networks and powerful interest groups is linked to what is happening to children in classrooms. In conclusion Spring offers bold suggestions to change the course of the looming technological triumph of ICT in the "brave new world" of schooling.

Education Networks is a critical analysis of the emerging intersection among the global power elite, information and communication technology, and schools. Joel Spring documents and examines the economic and political interests and forces —including elite networks, the for-profit education industry, data managers, and professional educators — that are pushing the use of ICT for online instruction, test preparation and tutoring, data management, instructional software packages, and more , and looks closely at the impact this is having on schools, students, and learning. Making a distinction between "mind" (as socially constructed) and "brain" (as a physiological entity), Spring draws on recent findings from comparative psychology on the possible effects of ICT on the social construction of the minds of students and school managers, and from neuroscience regarding its effect on students’ brains. Throughout, the influence of elite networks and powerful interest groups is linked to what is happening to children in classrooms. In conclusion Spring offers bold suggestions to change the course of the looming technological triumph of ICT in the "brave new world" of schooling.

In Rethinking Language Arts: Passion and Practice, SecondEdition, author Nina Zaragoza uses the form of letters to her students to engage pre-service teachers in reevaluating teaching practices, thus bringing to life a vision of an alternative classroom environment in which the teacher is the prime mover and creative leader. Zaragoza discusses and explains the need for teachers to be decision makers, reflective thinkers, political beings, and agents of social change in order to create a positive and inclusive classroom setting. This book is both a critical text that deconstructs the way language arts are traditionally taught in our schools as well as a visionary text with clear, no-nonsense directions on how to provide much needed change in our schools.

In Rethinking Language Arts: Passion and Practice, SecondEdition, author Nina Zaragoza uses the form of letters to her students to engage pre-service teachers in reevaluating teaching practices, thus bringing to life a vision of an alternative classroom environment in which the teacher is the prime mover and creative leader. Zaragoza discusses and explains the need for teachers to be decision makers, reflective thinkers, political beings, and agents of social change in order to create a positive and inclusive classroom setting. This book is both a critical text that deconstructs the way language arts are traditionally taught in our schools as well as a visionary text with clear, no-nonsense directions on how to provide much needed change in our schools.

"Progressive educators have always been better at critique than at possibility. This book promises not to ignore critique, but to favor possibility. It is most rare and greatly welcomed."Richard Quantz, Miami University"The editor argues that in a material world, depicted by consumerism, spiritual nihilism and conspicuous consumption, there is need to offer a new vision and direction in education that would promote a more harmonious, holistic values-oriented schooling that transforms persons into moral beings, who care for others…. In terms of innovative ideas and approaches to pedagogy and theorizing about schooling, this volume is at the top of pedagogical discourses and thinking."Joseph Zajda, Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus)Education and Hope in Troubled Times brings together a group of the best and most creative educational thinkers to reflect on the purpose and future of public education. These original essays by leading social and educational commentators in North America attempt to articulate a new vision for education, especially public education, and begin to set an alternative direction. This is a time of crisis, but also of renewed possibility—one that offers the opportunity to radically reconsider what is the meaning of education for a generation that will bear the brunt of grappling with the extraordinary dangers and challenges we confront today. At its core this volume questions what will it mean to be an educated human being in the 21st century compelled to confront and address so much that threatens the very basis of a decent and hopeful human existence. Carrying forward a project of redefining and reshaping public discourse on education in the U.S., it is a critical catalyst and focus for re-thinking public policy on education.

"Progressive educators have always been better at critique than at possibility. This book promises not to ignore critique, but to favor possibility. It is most rare and greatly welcomed."Richard Quantz, Miami University"The editor argues that in a material world, depicted by consumerism, spiritual nihilism and conspicuous consumption, there is need to offer a new vision and direction in education that would promote a more harmonious, holistic values-oriented schooling that transforms persons into moral beings, who care for others…. In terms of innovative ideas and approaches to pedagogy and theorizing about schooling, this volume is at the top of pedagogical discourses and thinking."Joseph Zajda, Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus)Education and Hope in Troubled Times brings together a group of the best and most creative educational thinkers to reflect on the purpose and future of public education. These original essays by leading social and educational commentators in North America attempt to articulate a new vision for education, especially public education, and begin to set an alternative direction. This is a time of crisis, but also of renewed possibility—one that offers the opportunity to radically reconsider what is the meaning of education for a generation that will bear the brunt of grappling with the extraordinary dangers and challenges we confront today. At its core this volume questions what will it mean to be an educated human being in the 21st century compelled to confront and address so much that threatens the very basis of a decent and hopeful human existence. Carrying forward a project of redefining and reshaping public discourse on education in the U.S., it is a critical catalyst and focus for re-thinking public policy on education.

"Utopian in theme and implication, this book shows how the practices of critical, interpretive inquiry can help change the world in positive ways…. This is the promise, the hope, and the agenda that is offered."--Norman K. Denzin, From the Foreword "Its focus on learning, education and pedagogy gives this book a particular relevance and significance in contemporary cultural studies. Its impressive authors, thoughtful structuring, wide range of perspectives, attention to matters of educational policy and practice, and suggestions for transformative pedagogy all provide for a compelling and significant volume."--H. Svi Shapiro, University of North Carolina–Greensboro Distinguished international scholars from a wide range of disciplines (including curriculum studies, foundations of education, adult education, higher education, and consumer education) come together in this book to explore consumption and its relation to learning, identity development, and education. Readers will learn about a variety of ways in which learning and education intersect with consumption. This volume is unique within the literature of education in its examination of educational sites – both formal and informal – where learners and teachers are resisting consumerism and enacting a critical pedagogy of consumption.

"Utopian in theme and implication, this book shows how the practices of critical, interpretive inquiry can help change the world in positive ways…. This is the promise, the hope, and the agenda that is offered."--Norman K. Denzin, From the Foreword "Its focus on learning, education and pedagogy gives this book a particular relevance and significance in contemporary cultural studies. Its impressive authors, thoughtful structuring, wide range of perspectives, attention to matters of educational policy and practice, and suggestions for transformative pedagogy all provide for a compelling and significant volume."--H. Svi Shapiro, University of North Carolina–Greensboro Distinguished international scholars from a wide range of disciplines (including curriculum studies, foundations of education, adult education, higher education, and consumer education) come together in this book to explore consumption and its relation to learning, identity development, and education. Readers will learn about a variety of ways in which learning and education intersect with consumption. This volume is unique within the literature of education in its examination of educational sites – both formal and informal – where learners and teachers are resisting consumerism and enacting a critical pedagogy of consumption.

This book describes the impact of U.S. government civilization and education policies on a Native American family and its tribe from 1763 to 1995. While engaged in a personal quest for his family's roots in Choctaw tribal history, the author discovered a direct relationship between educational policies and their impact on his family and tribe. Combining personal narrative with traditional historical methodology, the author details how federal education policies concentrated power in a tribal elite that controlled its own school system in which students were segregated by social class and race. The book begins with the cultural differences that existed between Native Americans and European colonists. The civilization policies discussed begin in the 1790s when both Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson searched for a means of gaining the lands occupied by the southern tribes, including the Choctaws. The story involves a complicated interaction between government policies, the agenda of white educators, and the desires of Native Americans. In a broader context, it is a study of the evolution of an American family from the extended support of the community and clan of the past, to the present world of single parents adrift without community or family safety nets.

This book describes the impact of U.S. government civilization and education policies on a Native American family and its tribe from 1763 to 1995. While engaged in a personal quest for his family's roots in Choctaw tribal history, the author discovered a direct relationship between educational policies and their impact on his family and tribe. Combining personal narrative with traditional historical methodology, the author details how federal education policies concentrated power in a tribal elite that controlled its own school system in which students were segregated by social class and race. The book begins with the cultural differences that existed between Native Americans and European colonists. The civilization policies discussed begin in the 1790s when both Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson searched for a means of gaining the lands occupied by the southern tribes, including the Choctaws. The story involves a complicated interaction between government policies, the agenda of white educators, and the desires of Native Americans. In a broader context, it is a study of the evolution of an American family from the extended support of the community and clan of the past, to the present world of single parents adrift without community or family safety nets.

In 1993, the author set out to try and gain some understanding about school and community in Havens, New Mexico--a place where she had the opportunity to be immersed in border culture, where she could learn how the border figured into everyday life, and where she could pay uninterrupted attention to the issues as they occurred in the personal and professional lives of those who taught in and administered the schools--and in the lives of the students who studied there. This book offers an interpretation that is disciplined by the long hours, days, and months spent in Havens, and by the personal stance the author brings to the study of a place and its people. This book tells the story of Havens from the perspective of what it is, of the present in all of its complexity, and as a window on what might exist in the future in this border community. It begins with a description of Havens and its inevitable interdependence with its Mexican neighbors, followed by an introduction of three "cultural mediators"--two students and one teacher from Havens High School. Focusing on the relationship between the use of Spanish and English, the language landscape in the community and in the schools is laid out. This is followed by a specific description of the development of bilingual education programs in the district, and an introduction of the social structure of the high school, describing the students' interactions across cultural lines. The final chapter presents an alternative metaphor for thinking about the border and identifies markers of opportunity that already exist in Havens as it works toward defining what it means to be a bicultural and binational community.

In 1993, the author set out to try and gain some understanding about school and community in Havens, New Mexico--a place where she had the opportunity to be immersed in border culture, where she could learn how the border figured into everyday life, and where she could pay uninterrupted attention to the issues as they occurred in the personal and professional lives of those who taught in and administered the schools--and in the lives of the students who studied there. This book offers an interpretation that is disciplined by the long hours, days, and months spent in Havens, and by the personal stance the author brings to the study of a place and its people. This book tells the story of Havens from the perspective of what it is, of the present in all of its complexity, and as a window on what might exist in the future in this border community. It begins with a description of Havens and its inevitable interdependence with its Mexican neighbors, followed by an introduction of three "cultural mediators"--two students and one teacher from Havens High School. Focusing on the relationship between the use of Spanish and English, the language landscape in the community and in the schools is laid out. This is followed by a specific description of the development of bilingual education programs in the district, and an introduction of the social structure of the high school, describing the students' interactions across cultural lines. The final chapter presents an alternative metaphor for thinking about the border and identifies markers of opportunity that already exist in Havens as it works toward defining what it means to be a bicultural and binational community.

This study of Edgewood Academy--a private, elite college preparatory high school--examines what moral choices look like when they are made by the participants in an exceptionally wealthy school, and what the very existence of a privileged school indicates about American society. It extends Peshkin's ongoing exploration of U.S. high schools and their communities, each focused in a different sociocultural setting. In this particular inquiry, he began with two central questions: * What is a school like whose students enter with a determined disposition to attend college, and all of whom are selected on the promise they display for college success?* What can be learned from studying Edgewood Academy that transcends the particular case of this school? The volume opens with a description of how moral choices look when they are made by the participants in an exceedingly wealthy school. There is a general picture of the Academy, a discussion of the processes the school uses to insure the quality of its students and educators, and an overview of teachers and students that reveals what is commendable about each group. These chapters clarify what a school of ample financial means and wise leadership can do. Peshkin goes on to reflect briefly on privilege and concludes with a discussion of what the very existence of a privileged school indicates about American society. Schools, he suggests, are about much more than what goes on inside them--they mirror what is and is not at stake for their particular constituents--and function similarly for the nation. Edgewood Academy's host community is not a village, town, church, or tribe, as in Peshkin's previous studies. It is a community created by shared aspirations for high-level academic attainment and its associated benefits. Affluence and towering academic achievement are the two most relevant factors. In this book, advantage occupies center stage. The school's excellence is documented not to extol its success, but, rather, to call attention to what is available for its students that is not available for most American children. The focus, ultimately, is on educational justice as illuminated by the advantage of Academy students--that is, on justice denied, not because anyone or any group or agency consciously, planfully sets out to do injustice to other children, but because injustice happens as the artifact of imagined limitations of resources and means. Peshkin's purpose is not to detail the particulars of how educational justice is denied to the many, but to portray and examine the meaning of a privileged school where educational justice prevails for the few.

This study of Edgewood Academy--a private, elite college preparatory high school--examines what moral choices look like when they are made by the participants in an exceptionally wealthy school, and what the very existence of a privileged school indicates about American society. It extends Peshkin's ongoing exploration of U.S. high schools and their communities, each focused in a different sociocultural setting. In this particular inquiry, he began with two central questions: * What is a school like whose students enter with a determined disposition to attend college, and all of whom are selected on the promise they display for college success?* What can be learned from studying Edgewood Academy that transcends the particular case of this school? The volume opens with a description of how moral choices look when they are made by the participants in an exceedingly wealthy school. There is a general picture of the Academy, a discussion of the processes the school uses to insure the quality of its students and educators, and an overview of teachers and students that reveals what is commendable about each group. These chapters clarify what a school of ample financial means and wise leadership can do. Peshkin goes on to reflect briefly on privilege and concludes with a discussion of what the very existence of a privileged school indicates about American society. Schools, he suggests, are about much more than what goes on inside them--they mirror what is and is not at stake for their particular constituents--and function similarly for the nation. Edgewood Academy's host community is not a village, town, church, or tribe, as in Peshkin's previous studies. It is a community created by shared aspirations for high-level academic attainment and its associated benefits. Affluence and towering academic achievement are the two most relevant factors. In this book, advantage occupies center stage. The school's excellence is documented not to extol its success, but, rather, to call attention to what is available for its students that is not available for most American children. The focus, ultimately, is on educational justice as illuminated by the advantage of Academy students--that is, on justice denied, not because anyone or any group or agency consciously, planfully sets out to do injustice to other children, but because injustice happens as the artifact of imagined limitations of resources and means. Peshkin's purpose is not to detail the particulars of how educational justice is denied to the many, but to portray and examine the meaning of a privileged school where educational justice prevails for the few.