Improbable Scholars

Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line

The Marketing of Higher Education

David L. Kirp

How can you turn an English department into a revenue center? How do you grade students if they are "customers" you must please? How do you keep industry from dictating a university's research agenda? What happens when the life of the mind meets the bottom line? Wry and insightful, Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line takes us on a cross-country tour of the most powerful trend in academic life today--the rise of business values and the belief that efficiency, immediate practical usefulness, and marketplace triumph are the best measures of a university's success. With a shrewd eye for the telling example, David Kirp relates stories of marketing incursions into places as diverse as New York University's philosophy department and the University of Virginia's business school, the high-minded University of Chicago and for-profit DeVry University. He describes how universities "brand" themselves for greater appeal in the competition for top students; how academic super-stars are wooed at outsized salaries to boost an institution's visibility and prestige; how taxpayer-supported academic research gets turned into profitable patents and ideas get sold to the highest bidder; and how the liberal arts shrink under the pressure to be self-supporting. Far from doctrinaire, Kirp believes there's a place for the market--but the market must be kept in its place. While skewering Philistinism, he admires the entrepreneurial energy that has invigorated academe's dreary precincts. And finally, he issues a challenge to those who decry the ascent of market values: given the plight of higher education, what is the alternative?

Almost Home - America's Love-Hate Relationship with Community

David L. Kirp

For David Kirp, a gifted storyteller and journalist, the concept of community stretches beyond a cliched figure of speech to describe what happens when people make decisions that reshape one another's lives. He has collected a fascinating variety of such stories from across America to re-create the immediate experience of community--tales that signify in their particulars, giving meaning to the much bandied-about idea of civic virtue. They paint a rich picture of how, for better and for worse, Americans live together. We meet two San Francisco families, one Nicaraguan and the other black, trying to live peacefully with each other; residents in the fire ravaged Berkeley hills, whose greed and architectural ambitions thwart attempts to build the new Eden of their dreams; parents and teachers fighting against long odds to improve the East Harlem public schools; residents of a small southern town caring for a parentless teenager with AIDS; residents of the New Jersey suburb of Mount Laurel deciding whether poor families will be allowed to live in "our town;" and neighbors choosing sides when a black teenager kills his gay white neighbor. While there are real heroes--Ethel Lawrence, the Rosa Parks of the affordable housing movement; and Deborah Meier, tireless advocate for better schools--the stories are mainly about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. These beautifully written tales reveal individuals in the process of forming new alliances or falling back on familiar ones, "bowling alone" or promoting the common good. They show us, past all self-delusion, who we really are.

The College Dropout Scandal

David L. Kirp

Each year, hundreds of thousands of students leave college without a degree, saddled with debt, and little to show for it. In The College Dropout Scandal, David Kirp outlines the scale of the problem and illustrates a range of reforms proven to boost undergraduate learning and raise graduation rates.

The Sandbox Investment

The Preschool Movement and Kids-First Politics

David L. Kirp

Listen to a short interview with David L. KirpHost: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane The rich have always valued early education, and for the past forty years, millions of poor kids have had Head Start. Now, more and more middle class parents have realized that a good preschool is the smartest investment they can make in their children's future in a competitive world. As The Sandbox Investment shows, their needs are key to the growing call for universal preschool. Writing with the verve of a magazine journalist and the authority of a scholar, David L. Kirp makes the ideal guide to this quiet movement. He crouches in classrooms where committed teachers engage lively four-year-olds, and reveals the findings of an extraordinary longitudinal study that shows the life-changing impact of preschool. He talks with cutting-edge researchers from neuroscience and genetics to economics, whose findings increasingly show how powerfully early childhood shapes the arc of children's lives. Kids-first politics is smart economics: paying for preschool now can help save us from paying for unemployment, crime, and emergency rooms later. As Kirp reports from the inside, activists and political leaders have turned this potent idea into campaigns and policies in red and blue states alike. The Sandbox Investment is the first full story of a campaign that asks Americans to endorse a vision of society that does well by doing good. For anyone who is interested in politics or the social uses of research--for anyone who's interested in the children's futures--it's a compelling read.

Metropolitanization and Public Services

Charles M. Haar, John G. Wofford, David L. Kirp, David K. Cohen, Leonard J. Duhl, Allen V. Haefele

Metropolitanization and Public Services is third in a series on the governance of metropolitan regions which aims to explore the welfare and development of Metropolitan America. Originally published in 1972, this study discusses who decides which essential public services need to be provided within a metropolitan area by looking at political reform as well as presenting ideas on functional efficiency, costs and benefits and the effectiveness of the political process. This title will be of interest to students of environmental studies.

Just Schools

The Idea of Racial Equality in American Education

David L. Kirp

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

Bowling Alone

The Collapse and Revival of American Community

Robert D. Putnam

Packed with provocative information about the social and political habits of twentieth-century Americans.

Aztec Medicine, Health, and Nutrition

Bernard Ortiz de Montellano

Why were a handful of Spaniards able to overthrow the Aztec Empire? The dramatic destruction of the Aztecs has prompted historians, anthropologists, demographers, and epidemiologists to look closely at the health and nutrition of the Valley of Mexico. If the Aztecs were overcrowded, living at the edge of starvation, and incapable of treating disease effectivefly, then their decimation by the Europeans becomes much easier to undestand. Bernard Ortiz de Montellano argues that such hypotheses do not hold up. Rather, at the time of the Conquest, the Aztecs were a thriving, well-nourished, healthy people. The swift, brutal success of the conquistadors cannot be explained by the prior ill-health or medical incompetence of their victims. To support his case, Ortiz de Montellano uses an astonishing array of evidence gained from many disciplines. Ortiz de Montellano presents the most comprehensivve and detailed explanation of Aztec medical beliefs available in English. -- From publisher's description.

Margaret Sanger's Eugenic Legacy

The Control of Female Fertility

Angela Franks

Margaret Sanger, the American birth-control and population-control advocate who founded Planned Parenthood, stands like a giant among her contemporaries. With her dominating yet winning personality, she helped generate shifts of opinion on issues that were not even publicly discussed prior to her activism, while her leadership was arguably the single most important factor in achieving social and legislative victories that set the parameters for today's political discussion of family-planning funding, population-control aid, and even sex education. This work addresses Sanger's ideas concerning birth control, eugenics, population control, and sterilization against the backdrop of the larger eugenic context.

Sixteen Acres

Architecture and the Outrageous Struggle for the Future of Ground Zero

Philip Nobel

A behind-the-scenes look at the redevelopment plans for the World Trade Center site examines the deceptions and betrayals as factions and institutions converge to create a new culture at Ground Zero.

Mother Camp

Female Impersonators in America

Esther Newton

For two years Ester Newton did field research in the world of drag queens—homosexual men who make a living impersonating women. Newton spent time in the noisy bars, the chaotic dressing rooms, and the cheap apartments and hotels that make up the lives of drag queens, interviewing informants whose trust she had earned and compiling a lively, first-hand ethnographic account of the culture of female impersonators. Mother Camp explores the distinctions that drag queens make among themselves as performers, the various kinds of night clubs and acts they depend on for a living, and the social organization of their work. A major part of the book deals with the symbolic geography of male and female styles, as enacted in the homosexual concept of "drag" (sex role transformation) and "camp," an important humor system cultivated by the drag queens themselves. "Newton's fascinating book shows how study of the extraordinary can brilliantly illuminate the ordinary—that social-sexual division of personality, appearance, and activity we usually take for granted."—Jonathan Katz, author of Gay American History "A trenchant statement of the social force and arbitrary nature of gender roles."—Martin S. Weinberg, Contemporary Sociology

The History of the American Indians

A Critical Edition

James Adair

James Adair was an Englishman who lived and traded among the southeastern Indians for more than 30 years, from 1735 to 1768. Adair's written work, first published in England in 1775, is considered one of the finest histories of the Native Americans.

Improbable Scholars

The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools

David L. Kirp

In Improbable Scholars, David L. Kirp challenges the conventional wisdom about public schools and education reform in America through an in-depth look at Union City, New Jersey's high-performing urban school district. In this compelling study, Kirp reveals Union's city's revolutionary secret: running an exemplary school system doesn't demand heroics, just hard and steady work.

Managing the New Tools in K-12 Teaching and Learning

How Technology Can Enable School Improvement

Jerome A. Schulz

Managing the New Tools in K-12 Teaching and Learning: How Technology Can Enable School Improvement is about how to manage technology for learning at the district and school levels. It provides an overview of the components of learning technology; these include student devices, networking, software productivity toolkits, electronic curricula and resources, and data system infrastructure. And, it discusses how we can manage our technology efforts more effectively to help our students attain the benefits of this technology. The book concludes with case studies of how this is being done at pioneering districts. We are now at a tipping point in implementing learning technology on a larger scale. This is happening very quickly! Historically, learning technology was driven by a strategy of “technology integration,” where we called on individual teachers to each determine how to use technology in their classes and make changes in their own ways of working. But to successfully implement technology on the scale we need requires top-down as well as bottom-up efforts. Managing the New Tools in K-12 Teaching and Learning focuses on how districts and schools can now use technology to bring about the big improvements in learning we are all striving for.

Literacy Essentials

Engagement, Excellence and Equity for All Learners

Regie Routman

In her practical and inspirational book, Literacy Essentials: Engagement, Excellence, and Equity for All Learners, author Regie Routman guides K-12 teachers to create a trusting, intellectual, and equitable classroom culture that allows all learners to thrive as self-directed readers, writers, thinkers, and responsible citizens. Over the course of three sections, Routman provides numerous Take Action ideas for implementing authentic and responsive teaching, assessing, and learning. This book poses a key question: How do we rise to the challenge of providing an engaging, excellent, equitable education for all learners, including those from high poverty and underserved schools? Teaching for Engagement: Many high performing schools are characterized by a a thriving school culture built on a network of authentic communication. Teachers can strengthen classroom engagement by building a trusting and welcoming environment where all students can have a safe and collaborative space to grow and develop. Pursuing Excellence: Routman identifies 10 key factors that describe an excellent teacher, ranging from intellectual curiosity to creativity, and explains how carrying yourself as a role model contributes to an inclusive, caring, empathic, and fair classroom. She also stresses the importance for school leaders to make job-embedded professional development a top priority. Dismantling Unequal Education: The huge gap in the quality of education in high vs low income communities is the civil rights issue of the 21st century, according to Routman. She spells out specific actions educators can take to create more equitable schools and classrooms, such as diversifying texts used in curriculums and ensuring all students have access to opportunities to discuss, reflect, and engage with important ideas. From the author, I wrote Literacy Essentials, because I saw a need to simplify teaching, raise expectations, and make expert teaching possible for all of us. I saw a need to emphasize how a school culture of kindness, trust, respect, and curiosity is essential to any lasting achievement. I saw a need to demonstrate and discuss how and why the beliefs, actions, knowledge we hold determine the potential for many of our students. Equal opportunity to learn depends on a culture of engagement and equity, which under lies a relentless pursuit of excellence.

Leading High-Performance School Systems

Lessons from the World’s Best

Marc Tucker

WITH A FOREWORD BY LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND Did you know that close to half of today's jobs in the U.S. could be done by robots and that proportion is rapidly increasing? It is quite possible that about half of today's high school graduates will not have the knowledge or skills needed to get a decent job when they graduate. Tomorrow's high school graduates will be able to thrive in this environment, but only if school superintendents, central office executives, and principals use the strategies employed by the world's top-performing education systems to build the high-performance education systems today's students will need to succeed tomorrow. In Leading High-Performance School Systems: Lessons from the World's Best, Marc Tucker, a leading expert on top-performing school systems with more than 30 years of experience studying the global economy and education systems worldwide, details how top-performing school systems have met head-on the challenges facing school leaders today. You'll learn why our current system is obsolete, explore the knowledge and skills needed to design and build first-rate education systems, and gain a solid understanding of the key elements of high-performance school systems, including the following: A powerful, coherent instructional system with school-leaving certifications that mean much more than today's high school diploma. Partnerships with first-rate universities to ensure a steady supply of highly capable, well-educated, and well-trained teachers. Schools reorganized around highly qualified professional teachers with a career ladder they can climb. High expectations and personalized support to ensure that children arrive at each grade level ready to learn. An equitable system that closes the gaps in student performance. Vocational education for talented youth seeking an applied, academically rigorous education. Leading High-Performance School Systems is an invaluable resource for school leaders preparing today's students for tomorrow's world. This book is a copublication of ASCD and NCEE.

Badges and Incidents

A Transdisciplinary History of the Right to Education in America

Michael J. Kaufman

Examines the law governing American education and proposes social constructivist pedagogy as a model for reform efforts.

Who Are You Who Are So Wise in the Science of Teaching?

Rex R. Schultze J.D.

Based upon years of reviewing the work product of building principal’s evaluations of their teaching staff, it has been evident to me there is a clear need to improve this critical aspect of school administration. This book is designed to provide building principals (and assistant principals) with guidance on (1) the necessary preparation of the principal to be effective at guiding and coaching their staff; (2) the laying of the foundation for their teachers to know the standard of performance expected by the school district as whole, and the specific building where they serve, guide, and teach their students; (3) the teaching of their instructional staff what constitutes good lesson planning and instruction as defined by the educational model adopted by the school and art of teaching under that model; (4) developing the skills for the writing of effective teacher formative and summative evaluations to assist in the improvement of instruction; and (5) the work required in (1) to (4) above to establish and qualify the principal as an expert witness under the Rules of Evidence if he/she is called upon to participate in the end game of moving an underperforming teacher along. The book is designed as a step-by-step process with reading assignments, and self-instruction tasks at the end of each chapter applying the concepts, teaching, supporting, and assisting teachers in the science of teaching needed to develop, maintain, and excel at their craft. It is shown scientifically that where teachers know the district’s standards of performance, student learning improves, and students learn how to learn—essential in today’s ever-changing society. Being an effective building principal thus requires you to be an expert in your field( i.e., that person who is rhetorically asked, “Who are you who are so wise in the science of teaching?”). About the Author As you will surmise quickly in reading this book, Rex Schultze has had the fortunate circumstance of being immersed in public education for his entire life from 1951 to the present - as a teacher’s and administrator’s kid; as a high school teacher for four years; as the brother of an elementary school teacher and administrator; and, as a lawyer with a 40 year practice focused on public education both K-12 and community college levels. As such, he brings to you in “Who are you who are so wise in the science of teaching” a lifetime of perspective on the value of an education, and particularly public education, the most important equalizer of the citizens of our country and the need to grow, support and nurture the best teachers possible. Rex is a Boomer - as in “Baby Boomer” (“OK Boomer”) – an early version of that generation that grew up in the 50’s and 60’s, so you will find references to the movies and music of those days throughout the book to add perspective and some fun. (Apologies in advance for the succeeding generations; you can “google” the references – a contribution by Rex to your personal history journey).