Not too long ago I
vented my frustration about our state's standardized testing and my daughter's middle school's policy on electives based on passing or failing the test.
I am not happy with it at all.
So when I was presented with the opportunity to read about a completely different approach to teaching, I was intrigued.
Let me point out that I am not an educator. I am just a mom of two school-aged kids. A mom, who for quite a while felt alright about the public schools her kids are attending. That is until my daughter started middle school.
This book is about how some passionate educators took it upon themselves to start a public charter school in Harlem, NY, how they did it, how they continue to teach and grow, and what other schools can take from the Success Academies and implement to increase learning across the country.
What I have taken away from this book is that if you change the way teachers teach, and give them tons of professional support and development, kids -- from all socio-economic circumstances -- will respond with out of this world results.
Teaching has long-been a highly respected profession. But it seems that that respect does not translate into the support teachers need to do their jobs well. Many public schools struggle to provide students with quality textbooks, let alone all the tools a teacher could use to help their students learn, and learn well.
Shall I go off right here about why this is? I think it's because our country's priorities are seriously skewed. That our government is spending way too much on things like tanks and bombs and lifetime congressional salaries, than it is on educating our children. The statistics cited in
Mission Possible are scary! Our kids are NOT being educated on par with other countries similar to ours. Considering how we Americans feel about our country, and our children, that seems very UN-American to me.
Unfortunately I must admit that I have been one to complain about the "professional development" time our teachers take because it cuts the school day short. But my goodness, they NEED all the help they can get! Success Academies provides an intensive "T School" (that's school for teachers) during the summer, and this is translating into well-trained and highly motivated teachers and it rubs off on their students.
So all I'm saying is, a long hard look has been taken on so many other issues in recent years and I think it's time for our eyes to turn to improving the state of public education in America. And maybe the approach of the Success Academies is a good place to start.
Connect with author and Success Academies founder Eva Moskowitz:
Buy the book
Win the book
If you are a US resident age 18 or older, you can enter to win 1 (one) of 2 (two) copies of
Mission Possible in the comment section below. Giveaway will run August 2 - August 9, 2012. Winners will be selected via Random.org, announced and contacted on August 10, 2012. Books will be mailed out the following week.
- Mandatory: Leave a comment telling me what worries you most about the state of public education in America.
- Optional extra entry: Tweet Enter to win a copy of Mission Possible, about NYC's charter Success Academies from @JenAnnHall! http://bit.ly/PAa61F #readmissionpossible and leave a separate comment with the tweet URL. You may do this once per day.
*I was compensated for this post. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
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