قدرت ایده‌های آنها: درس‌هایی برای آمریکا از یک مدرسه کوچک در هارلم

Teaching the lessons of New York's most famous public school, Deborah Meier provides a widely acclaimed vision for the future of public education. With a new preface reflecting on the school's continuing success. Publishers Weekly An educational reformer, teacher and veteran school principal, Meier has led the movement to restructure large high schools into small, vibrant educational enclaves-schools within a school, housed within the same building. In a visionary, hopeful blueprint for revitalizing America's public schools, she first discusses her work as co-principal of Central Park East, an alternative public secondary school in East Harlem, New York, which she founded in 1974. Its students, mostly black and Hispanic, come from low-income families; 90% of them graduate high school, and 90% of those go on to college. Meier advocates small classes that encourage independent, critical thinking by using real-world exercises. Her blueprint for reform calls for enclave schools with autonomy over teaching; parents' right to choose the schools their children will attend; and student participation in socially useful, school-directed work experiences. 40,000 first printing; author tour. (Apr.) Deborah Meier has for twenty years led one of the most remarkable public schools in the country, Central Park East (CPE) in East Harlem, where 90 percent of the students graduate high school and 90 percent of those go on to college, this in a city where the average graduation rate is 50 percent. CPE is a school where inner-city kids and teachers experience and act on the "power of their ideas," and it has been called the best school in New York City. As founder and advocate, Meier has won national acclaim as a leading voice and visionary writer in education. In this long-awaited book, Meier issues an eloquent, timely defense of public education. Taking on pessimists and privatizers, she tells us all why public education is vital to the future of our democracy and our kids. Equally important, she shows why good education is possible for all our children, starting with the remarkable success story of Central Park East. Drawing on her life as a teacher and principal, Meier argues for radical innovation: for breaking up huge schools into small schools; for choice within the public school system; for respect; for teaching that connects learning to real-world activities; for a new ideal of being "well-educated."