Katherine K Merseth, Kristy Cooper, John Roberts, Mara Casey Tieken, Jon Valant, Chris Wynne

Inside Urban Charter Schools

Promising Practices and Strategies in Five High-Performing Schools

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

This book offers an unprecedentedly intimate glimpse into the world of charter schools by profiling five high-performing urban charter schools serving predominantly low-income, minority youth in Massachusetts. Interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations conducted over the course of two years flesh out rich and colorful portraits of daily life in these schools. Using an analytic framework grounded in the research literature on nonprofit management and effective schools, the authors show that these schools excel along the organizational dimensions of structure, systems, human-resource strategies, culture, and clarity of mission--functions executed with remarkable coherence. By raising provocative questions for parents, educators, policymakers, and scholars, the book makes a powerful contribution to important conversations about the purpose of K-12 schooling in the twenty-first century and what it will take to enable all schools--whether charter or traditional--to successfully educate all students. "What makes a great school? Kay Merseth and her colleagues have looked inside some of the nation's best public charter schools and unlocked their secrets. Through engrossing case studies and thoughtful scholarship, this book shows how these schools use their freedom to realize the high expectations they hold for all students. This is a book with plenty of 'lessons learned' for charter schools--and for other urban public schools as well." -- Nelson Smith, President and CEO, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools "Teachers, principals, and anyone else who is serious about closing the achievement gap should read this book. Merseth and her colleagues take you into the classrooms and corridors of five of the best schools in the country and paint a detailed picture of the very specific strategies, beliefs, systems, and cultures that make these schools really work for kids. It is an inspirational and practical how-to guide for school reformers." -- Dacia Toll, co-CEO and President, Achievement First "Kay Merseth and her colleagues take readers on an insightful tour of some of the nation's most innovative and inspiring schools." -- Thomas Toch, Codirector, Education Sector "In this marvelously readable account, Kay Merseth and her team provide eye-opening portraits of five top-flight charter schools at work. Detailing just what these schools are doing when it comes to culture, staffing, organization, and instruction, the authors explore how and why these schools are succeeding. The result is a series of invaluable lessons for educators, policymakers, and reformers." -- Frederick M. Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute Dr. Katherine K. Merseth, the principal investigator of this study, has over forty years of experience in instruction, administration, and research in public education in the United States and internationally. She taught math in traditional public middle and high schools for ten years, has provided instruction in math pedagogy, and is the director of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) Teacher Education Program, which she founded in 1984.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Harvard Education PR
• Seitenzahl: 280
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Januar 2009
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 231mm x 152mm x 15mm
• Gewicht: 408g
• ISBN-13: 9781934742105
• ISBN-10: 1934742104
• Artikelnr.: 35012776

Autorenporträt

Dr. Katherine K. Merseth, the principal investigator of this study, has over forty years of experience in instruction, administration, and research in public education in the United States and internationally. She taught math in traditional public middle and high schools for ten years, has provided instruction in math pedagogy, and is the director of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) Teacher Education Program, which she founded in 1984. Merseth holds a master's degree in mathematics from Boston College, and both a master of arts in teaching and a doctorate in education administration, planning, and social policy from HGSE. Kristy Cooper is a National Board Certified teacher who taught elementary school for six years in traditional public schools. She is an editorial board member of the Harvard Educational Review, holds a master's degree in education from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master's degree in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Cooper is in her fourth year of doctoral studies in education policy, leadership, and instructional practice at HGSE. John Roberts worked as a teacher in a traditional public high school for four years and as principal of a charter school for three years. He holds a master's degree in administration, planning, and social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and works as a consultant for a charter school in Lowell, Massachusetts. He is in his third year of the doctoral degree program in education policy, leadership, and instructional practice at HGSE. Mara Casey Tieken has three years of experience teaching in a traditional public elementary school and one year teaching preschool as a Harris Fellow at the Yale Child Study Center. She is the cochair of the Harvard Educational Review editorial board, holds a master's degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is entering her fourth year as a doctoral student in the culture, communities, and education concentration at HGSE. Jon Valant has four years of experience working at charter schools, one year as a tutor and afterschool coordinator and three years as a data analyst and curriculum developer. He holds a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Valant currently consults with various charter management organizations and is a first-year doctoral student in administration and policy analysis at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. Chris Wynne's teaching experience includes three years in a traditional public middle school and four years in a charter middle and high school. He is an editorial board member of the Harvard Educational Review and holds a master's degree in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Wynne is currently a fourth-year doctoral student in the education policy, leadership, and instructional practice concentration at HGSE.