Essays in this volume identify key failures in modern American education and then show how parents, policymakers, and teachers can make changes that will raise the level of student performance. This book makes the case for content-rich education and explicit teaching.

Pressured by a society searching for a simple solution to a complex problem, educators are constantly subjected to a double standard and their work and role marginalized as insignificant despite compelling evidence to the contrary. This enlightening discussion of the misperceptions about the profession offers a thoughtful perspective on the real work done by educators and examines some of the harm done by efforts to "fix" what is wrong. There is not a group of professionals in the work world who must bear as many demands, yet who are so often undervalued as educators. Norris calls attention to the sociological and physical factors that often influence the work of educators, discussing the general perception of the teaching profession, as well as more specific issues such as reform, research, and political agendas. In a scholarly format, he reports on the double standards, demands, and high expectations that teachers are forced to overcome in order to be successful. This is must reading for anyone concerned about the status of teachers and teaching today.

Yong Zhao shines a light on the long-ignored phenomenon of side effects of education policies and practices, bringing a fresh and perhaps surprising perspective to evidence-based practices and policies. Identifying the adverse effects of some of the “best” educational interventions with examples from classrooms to boardrooms, the author investigates causes and offers clear recommendations. “A highly readable and important book about the side effects of education reforms. Every educator and researcher should take its lessons to heart.” —Diane Ravitch, New York University “A stunning analysis of the problems encountered in our efforts to improve education. If Yong Zhao has not delivered the death blow to naive empiricism, he has at least severely wounded it.” —Gene V. Glass, San José State University “This book is a brilliantly written analysis of well-known educational change efforts followed by a concrete call for action that no policymaker, researcher, teacher, or education reform advocate should leave unread.” —Pasi Sahlberg, University of New South Wales, Sydney “Nothing less than the future of the republic is dealt with in this wonderful and crucial book about the field of educational research and policy.” —David C. Berliner, Arizona State University

This book on evidence-based practice with children and adolescents focuses on best evidence regarding assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of children and adolescents with a range of emotional problems including ADHD; Bi-Polar Disorder; anxiety and depression; eating disorders; Autism; Asperger's Syndrome; substance abuse; loneliness and social isolation; school related problems including underachievement; sexual acting out; Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorders; Childhood Schizophrenia; gender issues; prolonged grief; school violence; cyber bullying; gang involvement, and a number of other problems experienced by children and adolescents. The psychosocial interventions discussed in the book provide practitioners and educators with a range of effective treatments that serve as an alternative to the use of unproven medications with unknown but potentially harmful side effects. Interesting case studies demonstrating the use of evidence-based practice with a number of common childhood disorders and integrative questions at the end of each chapter make this book uniquely helpful to graduate and undergraduate courses in social work, counseling, psychology, guidance, behavioral classroom teaching, and psychiatric nursing. - Fully covers assessment, diagnosis & treatment of children and adolescents, focusing on evidence-based practices - Offers detailed how-to explanation of practical evidence-based treatment techniques - Cites numerous case studies and provides integrative questions at the end of each chapter - Material related to diversity (including race, ethnicity, gender and social class) integrated into each chapter

Do you feel prepared to initiate and facilitate meaningful, productive dialogues about race in your classroom? Are you looking for practical strategies to engage with your students? Inspired by Frederick Douglass's abolitionist call to action, "it is not light that is needed, but fire" Matthew Kay has spent his career learning how to lead students through the most difficult race conversations. Kay not only makes the case that high school classrooms are one of the best places to have those conversations, but he also offers a method for getting them right, providing candid guidance on: How to recognize the difference between meaningful and inconsequential race conversations. How to build conversational "safe spaces," not merely declare them. How to infuse race conversations with urgency and purpose. How to thrive in the face of unexpected challenges. How administrators might equip teachers to thoughtfully engage in these conversations. With the right blend of reflection and humility, Kay asserts, teachers can make school one of the best venues for young people to discuss race.

One of the largest and most complex human services systems in Western nations has evolved to address the needs of people with developmental disabilities. In the U.S., for example, school budgets are stretched thin by legally mandated special education, and billions of Medicaid dollars annually are consumed by residential and professional services to this population. The temptation of a quick fix is strong. Many parents desperately seek the latest ideas and place pressure on program administrators, who often are not trained to think critically about the evidence base for intervention efforts. The problems of people with developmental disabilities have historically been targeted by a wide range of professionals who rely on clinical experience and intuition and do not submit their claims to the tests of scientific research. Professional entrepreneurs have energetically promoted their treatments to a public perhaps too trustful of those with credentials. Thus, families and their children are buffeted by reforms founded on belief and ideologically driven management. Services fluctuate with the currents of social movements and rapidly shifting philosophies of care as policymakers and providers strive for increased responsiveness and individualization. These forces affect not only where and how, but how well people are served. Too often, services are less effective than they could be, or worse, damaging to personal growth and quality of life. Many treatments are based on poorly understood or even disproven approaches. What approaches to early intervention, education, therapy, and remediation really help those with mental retardation and developmental disabilities improve their functioning and adaptation? And what approaches represent wastes of time, effort, and resources? This book brings together leading behavioral scientists and practitioners to focus light on the major controversies surrounding these questions. The authors review the origins, perpetuation, and resistance to scrutiny of questionable practices, and offer a clear rationale for appraising the quality of services. In an era of increasing accountability, no one with a professional stake in services to individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities can afford not to read this book.

Foundational and accessible, this book equips pre-service and practicing teachers with the knowledge, understanding, tools, and resources they need to help students in grades 4–12 develop reading proficiencies in four core academic subjects—literature, history, science, and mathematics. Applying a disciplinary literacy approach, Fang describes the verbal and visual resources, expert strategies, inquiry skills, and habits of mind that students must learn in order to read carefully, critically, purposefully, and with an informed skepticism across genres and content areas. He also shows how teachers can promote language learning and reading/literacy development at the same time that they engage students in content area learning. With informative synthesis and research-based recommendations in every chapter, this text prepares teachers to help students develop discipline-specific, as well as discipline-relevant, discursive insights, literacy strategies, and ways of thinking, reasoning, and inquiring that are essential to productive learning across academic subjects. It also provides teacher educators with approaches and strategies for helping teacher candidates develop expertise in academic reading instruction. In so doing, the book demystifies academic reading, revealing what it takes for students to read increasingly complex academic texts with confidence and understanding and for teachers to develop expertise that promotes disciplinary literacy. This state-of-the-art text is ideal for courses on reading/literacy methods and academic literacy and eminently relevant to all educators who want their students to become thoughtful readers and powerful learners

"A superb resource, Succeeding With Struggling Students brings innovative ideas and a sense of urgency. Richardson shows what is possible when educators fully commit to high levels of learning for all students and take bold, innovative actions to make success a reality." —Dennis Sparks, Executive Director, National Staff Development Council The ideal framework to promote successful achievement for underachieving students! Schools today are working harder than ever to help ensure that all children can learn and achieve high standards. Marti Richardson, a recognized leader in professional and curriculum development, delivers an innovative, classroom-tested program with planning tools to customize it for any school or district′s data-based needs. Designed around a "Learn-It-Teach-It" cycle, the program combines research-based interventions and immediate classroom practice for teachers. Strategies for "preview" instead of "review" instruction move struggling students beyond cycles of repetition, and scaffold learning to help them learn alongside their peers. With an easy-to-understand framework, the program′s flexibility makes it adaptable not only for reading but also for other content area instruction. This highly motivational guide provides: Essential questions and templates for administrators Scaffolding for a successful school or district blueprint Tools and strategies for planning and implementation Research-based interventions Links for professional development With a unique approach that can be adopted or adapted, Succeeding With Struggling Students helps underachievers hold on to the previous school year′s learning as well as gain ground to put them ahead and prepare them for new learning. This book gives educators the tools needed to implement the process from print to plan!

In this volume the eleven members of the Koret Task Force on K&–12 Education provide a broad overview of the American education system—pulling together basic facts about its structure and operation, identifying key problems that hinder its performance, and offering perspectives on the requirements of genuine reform.