In Defense of Our Children: When Politics, Profit, and Education Collide
Elaine M. Garan, 2004
“NCLB will eviscerate the public schools and harm many of our children,” Elaine M. Garan bluntly states.
Garan delineates threatening aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act, which she has obviously parsed in depth. She goes further than many critics of NCLB in questioning the motives of the Act's champions. “Is it possible,” she asks, “that the federal government . . . is not interested in reforming public education but wants to eliminate it in the name of reform so private corporations can profit?” She takes the media to task for not investigating many NCLB advocates' connections with corporations profiting from standardized tests and from NCLB-mandated curriculum materials.
The book also compares “bottom-up” and “top-down” methods of literacy instruction and examines the controversy over the National Reading Panel's 2000 report, which Garan sees as a flawed research review that has been misused to force schools to implement packaged reading programs. Although parts of her discussion are illuminating, she sets up a false dichotomy when she argues that all current methods of teaching reading swear allegiance to either sequentially presented phonics or comprehension. She makes no mention of approaches that blend structured phonics, comprehension, and writing.
On the whole, Garan bolsters arguments with sound evidence. Her chapter on assessment, for example, gives useful background on norm-referenced tests and provides examples of both disastrous errors in test scoring and rising dropout rates in test-heavy states. Overall, this book presents a compelling warning about the connections between political agendas and schooling.
Published by Heinemann, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; 800-225-5800;www.heinemann.com. 168 pages. Price: $18 paperback.
—Reviewed by Naomi Thiers, Associate Editor, Educational Leadership
Ms. Moffett's First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America
Abby Goodnough, 2004
During a teacher shortage in July 2000, 45-year-old Donna Moffett quit her job as a legal secretary to join the New York City Teaching Fellows program, a hastily conceived initiative that targeted prospective career changers and placed them in the city's lowest-performing schools. Eager to make a difference, Moffett was enthusiastic about teaching 1st grade at PS 92, a “beleaguered urban school” in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Author Abby Goodnough shadowed Moffett and chronicles her first year on the job. Not surprisingly, Moffett's idealism soon gave way to exhaustion. She struggled to reach her students: defiant Curtis, who showed promise as an artist; disruptive Stefanie, who always seemed hungry; withdrawn Melissa, who often stared at the floor; and attention-seeking Christopher, who lied about his mother getting killed. The challenges that students brought to the classroom were compounded by obstacles within the school system itself: intense bureaucratic supervision of teachers and principals; rigid curriculum; inflexible rules; and lack of teacher autonomy. Moffett had little control over many crucial decisions affecting her students, such as which ones would be recommended for summer school.
Moffett's small teaching triumphs were offset by larger disappointments, including resentment from her colleagues, criticism from her supervisors, and the seeming indifference of her students' parents. Without adequate training or support, she often felt overwhelmed, unable to maintain order in her classroom. Unlike a number of her fellow career changers, however, Moffett persevered; she continues to teach in the same school today.
Goodnough sets her memorable portrait of the resilient Ms. Moffett against the political and economic backdrop of the New York City school system. Although the author does not offer solutions to the issues she raises, her compelling account of a new teacher's experiences should spark discussion and resonate with many teachers.
Published by PublicAffairs, New York, New York; 800-386-5656;www.publicaffairsbooks.com. 258 pages. Price: $25 hardcover.
—Reviewed by Genny Ostertag, ASCD Book Editor
