Are America’s schools broken? Education Hell: Rhetoric vs. Reality seeks to address misconceptions about America’s schools by taking on the credo ‘what can be measured matters.’ To the contrary, Dr. Bracey makes a persuasive case that much of what matters cannot be assessed on a multiple choice test. The challenge for educators is to deal effectively with an incomplete accountability system-while creating a broader understanding of successful schools and teachers. School leaders must work to define, maintain, and increase essential skills that may not be measured in today’s accountability plans. Those who work in America’s schools will find Dr. Bracey’s work uplifting and convincing. Those who seek the truth about our schools will develop a deeper understanding of the multi-faceted reality, rejecting a simplistic view of school success. Education Hell: Rhetoric vs. Reality is an excellent book study for school leaders and educational teams working to increase true student achievement and dispel the misinformation about schools so often disseminated as truth.
Table of Contents
- Pre-Sputnik: Non-Test-Based Criticisms of Schools
- Post-Sputnik: Criticisms and the Descent Into Test Mania
- Tests: Descriptions and Trends—How Do We Measure Up?
- No Child Left Behind: “The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves”
- Science, Engineering, and Economic Competitiveness
- The Real Meaning of Competition
- “Poverty is Poison”
- A Few Words About Learning—Eureka!
- The Goals of Public Education
- The Lost Lessons of the Eight-Year Study
- Democracy and Education