{"product_id":"improbable-scholars-the-rebirth-of-a-great-american-school-system-and-a-strategy-for-americas-schools-paperback","title":"Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDavid L. Kirp\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo school district can be all charismatic leaders and super-teachers. It can't start from scratch, and it can't fire all its teachers and principals when students do poorly. Great charter schools can only serve a tiny minority of students. Whether we like it or not, most of our youngsters will continue to be educated in mainstream public schools. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe good news, as David L. Kirp reveals in \u003cem\u003eImprobable Scholars, \u003c\/em\u003e is that there's a sensible way to rebuild public education and close the achievement gap for \u003cem\u003eall\u003c\/em\u003e students. Indeed, this is precisely what's happening in a most unlikely place: Union City, New Jersey, a poor, crowded Latino community just across the Hudson from Manhattan. The school district--once one of the worst in the state--has ignored trendy reforms in favor of proven game-changers like quality early education, a word-soaked curriculum, and hands-on help for teachers. When beneficial new strategies have emerged, like using sophisticated data-crunching to generate pinpoint assessments to help individual students, they have been folded into the mix. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe results demand that we take notice--from third grade through high school, Union City scores on the high-stakes state tests approximate the statewide average. In other words, these inner-city kids are achieving just as much as their suburban cousins in reading, writing, and math. What's even more impressive, nearly ninety percent of high school students are earning their diplomas and sixty percent of them are going to college. Top students are winning national science awards and full rides at Ivy League universities. These schools are not just good places for poor kids. They are good places for kids, period. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003eImprobable Scholars\u003c\/em\u003e offers a playbook--not a prayer book--for reform that will dramatically change our approach to reviving public education.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDavid L. Kirp\u003c\/strong\u003e, a nationally-known education expert, is James D. Marver Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. In seventeen books and scores of articles in newspapers and magazines, including the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Nation, American Prospect\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003ethe Atlantic\u003c\/em\u003e, as well as in leading academic journals, he has covered the education waterfront from cradle to college. After the 2008 election, he served on President Obama's Transition Team.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 272\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 15, 2015\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51765406400800,"sku":"9780199391097","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/eecb0a31585273b996e135c809c79e94.webp?v=1780268592","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/improbable-scholars-the-rebirth-of-a-great-american-school-system-and-a-strategy-for-americas-schools-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}