We all know it, but we hate to admit it. It can't be true! But it is. We are now middle of the road, beer in a can, when it comes to education. Half of the world scores better than we do on standardized tests. We are falling behind. To be sure, there have been efforts in the past to avert this disaster, and all have failed. Why? Because they have focused on the wrong thing. The answers are simple. If we've learned anything from the past, we know simple is not always easy. This book is an honest, in your face assessment of where we are, and the simple, obvious, and inexpensive ways to get where we want to be.

Confessional and often hilarious, in Normal Sucks a neuro-diverse writer, advocate, and father meditates on his life, offering the radical message that we should stop trying to fix people and start empowering them to succeed Jonathan Mooney blends anecdote, expertise, and memoir to present a new mode of thinking about how we live and learn—individually, uniquely, and with advantages and upshots to every type of brain and body. As a neuro-diverse kid diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD who didn't learn to read until he was twelve, the realization that that he wasn’t the problem—the system and the concept of normal were—saved Mooney’s life and fundamentally changed his outlook. Here he explores the toll that being not normal takes on kids and adults when they’re trapped in environments that label them, shame them, and tell them, even in subtle ways, that they are the problem. But, he argues, if we can reorient the ways in which we think about diversity, abilities, and disabilities, we can start a revolution. A highly sought after public speaker, Mooney has been inspiring audiences with his story and his message for nearly two decades. Now he’s ready to share what he’s learned from parents, educators, researchers, and kids in a book that is as much a survival guide as it is a call to action. Whip-smart, insightful, and utterly inspiring—and movingly framed as a letter to his own young sons, as they work to find their ways in the world—this book will upend what we call normal and empower us all.

Consider school days the worst days. Don't consider school a necessary evil because we don't need school. Break free from school. Unschooling is the way out so these poems hopefully will inspire you to unschool yourself and the world. 42 pages; 40 poems.

One of Canada's funniest and most incisive social critics reveals why in North America, where governments spend so much on schools and colleges, training is valued far more than education and loud-mouth ignoramuses are widely and publicly celebrated. Public education in the United States is in such pitiful shape, the president wants to replace it. Test results from Canadian public schools indicate that Canadian students are at least better at taking tests than their American cousins. On both sides of the border, education is rapidly giving way to job training, and learning how to think for yourself and for the sake of dipping into the vast ocean of human knowledge is going distinctly out of fashion. It gets worse, says Laura Penny, university lecturer and scathingly funny writer. Paradoxically, in the two nations that have among the best universities, libraries, and research institutions in the world, intellectuals are largely distrusted and yelping ignoramuses now clog the arenas of public discourse. A brilliant defence of the humanities and social sciences, More Money Than Brains takes a deadly and extremely funny aim at those who would dumb us down.

Are you one of the millions who know there is something terribly wrong with the politically correct era we are in now? In this restrictive and too often cruel unjust world with its ideologically-driven censorship and merciless 'cancel culture', its increasing dystopian dysfunctionality, its threats to our democratic freedoms and its hostility towards so much of what made Western civilisation so dynamic, innovative, prosperous, tolerant, inclusive and successful, here is an account of a key dimension of this calamity, what went wrong in our high schools. Importantly, the sections of this book clearly explaining political correctness and postmodernism go beyond understanding education to help you to understand these terms and make sense of the world we live in. In regards to education, what is really going on in curricula and classrooms is revealed and explained. Every student, parent and grandparent needs to know this. As a private tutor since 1990, Dr Mark Lopez has been able to observe and reveal what the education bureaucrats don't want you to know but you need to know. The flawed but dominant progressive educational methodologies are explained and their negative impact is powerfully illustrated with the experiences of real students. Written in the spirit of the Enlightenment, in a clear, insightful and engaging style, at times you may find yourself laughing or crying as you discover that all your suspicions are confirmed. This devastating critique of the education system reveals it as characterised by irrationality, timewasting, and a stifling political correctness. The costs and ramifications of this are extensive. This led to Dr Lopez's inevitable conclusion regarding the state of education in the politically correct era: 'School sucks'.

Tired of the nagging? The disappointment? Being labeled an underachiever? Accused of not working to your potential? This is your book! Relying on her own background as a struggling learner and success as a life and academic coach, Dr. Donah provides a wealth of information and tools for improvement. Just in Case . . . School Sucks is a personal conversation with Dr. Donah, who spills her secrets for transforming school sucks into school success. Rarely do professionals write books that explain the brain to teens. Teens thrive when they understand their brain. Just in Case . . . School Sucks does it all, providing brain-based and brain-friendly explanations that make sense and immediately alleviate stress and improve self-esteem. Readers are encouraged to pick and choose the options that work best for their unique situations and personalities. The included Bonus Test-Taking Guide alone has already helped many feel more confident. This book is a win-win for all.

“Unique and thorough, Warner’s handbook could turn any determined reader into a regular Malcolm Gladwell.” —Booklist For anyone aiming to improve their skill as a writer, a revolutionary new approach to establishing robust writing practices inside and outside the classroom, from the author of Why They Can’t Write After a decade of teaching writing using the same methods he’d experienced as a student many years before, writer, editor, and educator John Warner realized he could do better. Drawing on his classroom experience and the most persuasive research in contemporary composition studies, he devised an innovative new framework: a step-by-step method that moves the student through a series of writing problems, an organic, bottom-up writing process that exposes and acculturates them to the ways writers work in the world. The time is right for this new and groundbreaking approach. The most popular books on composition take a formalistic view, utilizing “templates” in order to mimic the sorts of rhetorical moves academics make. While this is a valuable element of a writing education, there is room for something that speaks more broadly. The Writer’s Practice invites students and novice writers into an intellectually engaging, active learning process that prepares them for a wider range of academic and real-world writing and allows them to become invested and engaged in their own work.

An examination of schools in New York City and Los Angeles that remain racially segregated argues that these schools are failing their students, presenting the perspectives of the students themselves through three case studies.

"Just might convince complaining children that their school isn't so bad after all."--Kirkus reviews A hilarious back-to-school story told through journal entries about a boy who finds himself at a new school where the other students are REAL animals. Perfect for fans of Ryan T. Higgins's We Don't Eat Our Classmates and Elise Parsley's If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't! Dear Diary, Today is the first day at my new school and I think there's been a mistake. My desk mate stinks, my locker buddy bites, and my teacher is unbearable! I told Mom my classmates are WILD ANIMALS but she said all little kids are wild animals. I think I'm going to be sick tomorrow. Celebrate back to school (and even calm some back-to-school nerves) with this clever and funny story about a boy who accidentally winds up at a school for animals, but soon realizes friends can come in all shapes, sizes, and species. A great read for kindergarten through second grade! Praise for My School Stinks!: "Along with being a good choice for children anxious about their own upcoming “first day,” this offers a nifty exercise in reading between the lines."--Booklist "An encouraging new-kid narrative told from an entertaining perspective." --Publishers Weekly

This title has been removed from sale by Penguin Group, USA.