Professional Issues
Educational Private Practice: Your Opportunities in the Changing Education Marketplace, by Dennis C. Zuelke (Technomic Publishing Co. Inc., 851 New Holland Ave., Lancaster, Pa. 17604; 223 pp., $39 paper). If doctors, lawyers, and accountants can go into private practice, asks the author of this book, then why can’t educators do the same, contracting to provide their services to schools? While arguing that indeed they should, the book provides practical advice on launching and maintaining such a business venture.
A Partnership in Literacy: Teacher Education in an Urban School, by Camille A. Allen (Heinemann, 361 Hanover St., Portsmouth, N.H. 03801-3912; 114 pp., $18 paper). Advocating partnerships between universities and inner-city schools, this book describes the experiences of one group of education students in a Newport, R.I., elementary school. In order to successfully educate at-risk youths, the author argues, teachers must be prepared through experiences that give them the skills necessary in and unique to an urban environment.
Producing a School Newsletter Parents Will Read!, by Rhonda Jones (Image Control, P.O. Box 231302, Sacramento, Calif. 95823; 152 pp., $17.95 paper). This practical guide provides suggestions for the production of an effective school newsletter. Though encumbered by writing that is less than exemplary, the pointers presented here are well-taken by anyone faced with such an assignment.
Teacher Evaluation Policy: From Accountability to Professional Development, ed. by Daniel L. Duke (State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246; 203 pp., $18.95 paper). In a broad look at teacher evaluation, the authors in this volume argue the value of the practice to the school-reform agenda. Case studies presented highlight the successful development and implementation of new evaluation policies across the country.
Social Issues
The New Second Generation, ed. by Alejandro Portes (Russell Sage Foundation, 112 East 64th St., New York, N.Y. 10021; 246 pp., $45 cloth). Through an examination of young immigrants in Miami, New York City, New Orleans, and Southern California, this book chronicles the plight of these children as they face cultural and ethnic conflict in their schools and communities. The contributors to this compilation blend policy analysis and personal anecdote in an insightful look at the stresses that affect America’s “surrogate children.”
Schools, Violence, and Society, ed. by Allan M. Hoffman (Greenwood Publishing Group Inc., 88 Post Rd. West, Westport, Conn. 06881-5007; 376 pp., $65 paper). This collection of essays sums up the influence of violence on American schools, not just in the inner cities but in more affluent communities as well. Past and present trends are discussed, as are potential solutions to the problem.
Curriculum and Methods
Beyond the Textbook: Teaching History Using Documents and Primary Sources, by David Kobrin (Heinemann, 361 Hanover St., Portsmouth, N.H. 03801-3912; 97 pp., $18.50 paper). This book centers around a program in the Rhode Island public schools that provided middle and high school students with primary historical sources in social-sciences classes and then let them draw their own conclusions from the materials. Terming this approach the “student-historian theory,” the book describes the classroom techniques used to teach through primary documents and, ultimately, questions the role of the textbook in involving students in their schoolwork.
Designing Alternative Assessments for Interdisciplinary Curriculum in Middle and Secondary Schools, by Richard E. Maurer (Allyn and Bacon, 160 Gould St., Needham Heights, Mass. 02194-2310; 248 pp., $35.95 paper). Although interdisciplinary curricula are nothing new, this book claims to be the first to suggest assessment guidelines aimed specifically at such a program. The practical advice given is accompanied by checklists, tables, and worksheets that are meant to help the teacher tailor an assessment program to his or her own classroom.
Every Child, Every School: Success for All, by Robert E. Slavin et al. (Corwin Press Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, Calif. 91320-2218; 246 pp., $27.95 paper). The Success for All program at Johns Hopkins University was created some 10 years ago out of the belief that “all children can learn.” The originators of the initiative have here recorded the research and outcomes from their experience in order to make the program applicable across the country.
Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science, ed. by the National Science Resources Center, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Smithsonian Institution (National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418; 289 pp., $17.95 paper). Designed to provide elementary teachers with tools for effective inquiry-based science instruction, this information-packed guide lists over a thousand curriculum packages, books, museums, and other resources. Each listing is grouped by scientific area and suggests appropriate grade levels.
Teaching Mathematics: Toward a Sound Alternative, by Brent Davis (Garland Publishing Inc., 717 Fifth Ave., Suite 2500, New York, N.Y. 10022-8101; 360 pp., $21.95 paper). This is no simple guidebook, designed to aid the teacher with constructive new ideas: The author’s aim is to set the world of mathematics on its ear. Half math and half philosophy, the volume advocates a revolutionary instructional approach that embraces more than just numbers and equations.
Educational History
Teachers and Mentors: Profiles of Distinguished 20th Century Professors of Education, ed. by Craig Kridel et al. (Garland Publishing Inc., 717 Fifth Ave., Suite 2500, New York, N.Y. 10022-8101; 294pp., $40 cloth). Written by professors of education from across the country about their own influential teachers, these essays examine the role of the professor as it has changed over time. Pointing to their subjects as examples, the authors highlight the growth and learning possible under such astute tutelage.
Their Highest Potential: An African-American School Community in the Segregated South, by Vanessa Siddle Walker (University of North Carolina Press, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27515-2288; 259 pp., $14.95 paper). This engaging history tells the story of a segregated school in rural North Carolina that succeeded in its mission to educate African-American students despite the prevailing social climate in the pre-civil-rights-era South. The author, herself a product of the school, points to the dedication and sacrifice of both teachers and parents as a key element in this success--and suggests that the same may be vital to African-American education today.
-DAVID FIELD
