Complete Coverage

How Teachers Fail—and Thrive

By Mary Tedrow

In two quick days, I finished Thomas Newkirk’s new book for teachers. Like a long drink of water, it was just what my parched spirit needed. Holding on to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones just might get me through 2010.

This school year has been a tough one all over the teaching map. With our school system facing budget cuts when two teachers left our department, the decision was made not to replace them. Despite the increase in student load, the pressure to achieve AYP has not abated. Each year the achievement bar is raised another notch and the inexorable pressure to do more with less has made the stress palpable every time I step outside my room.

After nearly a decade of high stakes accountability, the meetings, data collection, pre-tests, post-tests, required lesson plans, reports, and more reports have diluted my view of what kids really need to be “well educated.” Newkirk has...