Eric Plutzer's Books

Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America's Classrooms

By: Michael Berkman,Eric Plutzer

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America's Classrooms

By: Michael Berkman,Eric Plutzer

Who should decide what children are taught in school? This question lies at the heart of the evolution-creation wars that have become a regular feature of the U.S. political landscape. Ever since the 1925 Scopes "monkey trial" many have argued that the people should decide by majority rule and through political institutions; others variously point to the federal courts, educational experts, or scientists as the ideal arbiter. Michael Berkman and Eric Plutzer illuminate who really controls the nation's classrooms. Based on their innovative survey of 926 high school biology teachers they show that the real power lies with individual educators who make critical decisions in their own classrooms. Broad teacher discretion sometimes leads to excellent instruction in evolution. But the authors also find evidence of strong creationist tendencies in America's public high schools. More generally, they find evidence of a systematic undermining of science and the scientific method in many classrooms.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

304

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521148863

ISBN 13

9780521148863

Ten Thousand Democracies

Politics and Public Opinion in America's School Districts

By: Michael B. Berkman,Eric Plutzer

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Ten Thousand Democracies

Politics and Public Opinion in America's School Districts

By: Michael B. Berkman,Eric Plutzer

This book provides the most extensive examination of democratic control of American public schools. Beginning with a look at educational reforms from the Progressive era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the civil rights movement and ending with Pennsylvania's 2004 tax relief measure, Berkman and Plutzer explore what factors determine education spending levels in school districts, including the effects of public opinion, the nature of local political institutions, and the roles played by special interests. The authors show how board members are selected, how well the boards represent minorities, whether the public can bypass the board through referenda, and how the schools are financed. By providing an innovative statistical portrait of the nations' 10,000 school districts, they answer questions central to democtratic control of our schools: how responsive are school boards to their public and when? How powerful are such special interests such as teachers' unions and senior citizens? Among their findings are the correlation of race, age, and home owner status with support for increased funding, that African Americans are more supportive than other races of educational spending, and that senior citizens with longstanding ties to their communities support school budgets. Their statistical method combining public opinion data with Census data is important and innovative, but the hard-core statistics are presented in appendices to make the text accessible to a wider audience.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

236

Publisher

Georgetown University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1589010760

ISBN 13

9781589010765

People and Their Opinions

By: Eric B. Shiraev,Richard Sobel

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

People and Their Opinions

By: Eric B. Shiraev,Richard Sobel

Utilizing both a critical thinking approach and a comparative perspective throughout the text, Sobel and Shiraev provide comprehensive coverage of public opinion while also teaching students the basic skills necessary for measurement, understanding, and interpreting. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, this text provides a unique and practical introduction to the field of public opinion. The book begins by “schooling” the reader in how to think critically and then helps students apply those techniques as they encounter the concepts of public opinion. The text also employs a comparative perspective, demonstrating the effect and nature of public opinion in other countries while also placing American public opinion in context.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

537

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317345851

ISBN 13

9781317345855

Politics in the Pews

The Political Mobilization of Black Churches

By: Eric McDaniel

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Politics in the Pews

The Political Mobilization of Black Churches

By: Eric McDaniel

Politics in the Pews probes the internal dynamics of political decision making within the Black church." ---William E. Nelson, Jr., Research Professor, Department of African American and African Studies, Ohio State University As Eric McDaniel demonstrates in his study of Black congregations in the U.S., a church's activism results from complex negotiations between the pastor and the congregation. The church's traditions, its institutional organization, and its cultural traditions influence the choice to make politics part of the church's mission. The needs of the local community and opportunities to vote, lobby, campaign, or protest are also significant factors. By probing the dynamics of churches as social groups, McDaniel opens new perspectives on civil rights history and the evangelical politics of the twenty-first century. Politics in the Pews contributes to a clearer understanding of the forces that motivate any organization, religious or otherwise, to engage in politics. Eric L. McDaniel is Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

225

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0472021958

ISBN 13

9780472021956

Beginning ASP.NET Databases Using VB.NET

By: John Kauffman,Fabio Claudio Ferracchiati,Brian Matsik,Eric N. Mintz,Jan D. Narkiewicz,Kent Tegels,Donald Xie,John West,Jesudas Chinnathampi,James Greenwood

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Beginning ASP.NET Databases Using VB.NET

By: John Kauffman,Fabio Claudio Ferracchiati,Brian Matsik,Eric N. Mintz,Jan D. Narkiewicz,Kent Tegels,Donald Xie,John West,Jesudas Chinnathampi,James Greenwood

What is this book about? For a web site to offer its users an experience that improves on that of newspapers or textbooks, it needs a way to change the information it contains dynamically - and that means it needs access to a data source. Through the combination of ASP.NET and ADO.NET, Microsoft provides everything necessary to access, read from, and write to a database, and then allow web users to view and manipulate that data from a web browser. In this book, we'll show you how it's done. What does this book cover? Packed with clear explanations and hands-on examples, Beginning ASP.NET Databases contains everything you'll need on your journey to becoming a confident, successful programmer of data-driven web sites. In particular, we'll look at: Connecting to common data sources, including SQL Server and MS Access Reading data with data reader and dataset objects Creating and deleting records, and editing data Displaying data with ASP.NET's web server controls Writing and using stored procedures from VB.NET code Placing your data access code in reusable class libraries The book closes with a real-world case study that consolidates the tutorials throughout the book into a practical result. Who is this book for? To use this book, you need a computer running either Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional Edition. The examples it contains will not run on Windows XP Home Edition. This book is for people who have some experience of programming ASP.NET with Visual Basic .NET, are familiar with the operation of the .NET Framework, and want to learn how to use ASP.NET to make data-centric web applications. No prior knowledge of database programming is necessary.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

477

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Published Date

ISBN 10

0764558811

ISBN 13

9780764558818

The Hidden Curriculum in Higher Education

By: Eric Margolis

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Hidden Curriculum in Higher Education

By: Eric Margolis

The Hidden Curriculum in Higher Education is a daring look at the way colleges and universities produce race, class, and gender hierarchies and reproduce conservative ideology. These original and provocative essays shed light on all that remains hidden in higher education.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

370

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1135958033

ISBN 13

9781135958039

Ten Thousand Democracies

Politics and Public Opinion in America's School Districts

By: Michael B. Berkman,Eric Plutzer

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Ten Thousand Democracies

Politics and Public Opinion in America's School Districts

By: Michael B. Berkman,Eric Plutzer

The essence of democracy is popular sovereignty. The people rule. In the United States, citizens exercise this right through elected officials who they believe will best represent their own values and interests. But are those interests and values always being followed? Authors Michael B. Berkman and Eric Plutzer provide the first systematic examination of the extent to which the governments closest to the American public -- its 10,000-plus local school boards -- respond to the wishes of the majority. "Ten Thousand Democracies" begins with a look at educational reforms from the Progressive era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the civil rights movement and ending with Pennsylvania's 2004 tax relief measure. Berkman and Plutzer explore what factors determine education spending levels in school districts, including the effects of public opinion, the nature of local political institutions, and the roles played by special interests. The authors show how board members are selected, how well the boards represent minorities, whether the public can bypass the board through referenda, and how the schools are financed. By providing an innovative statistical portrait that combines public opinion data with Census data for these school districts, the authors answer questions central to democratic control of our schools: how responsive are school boards to their public and when? How powerful are such special interests such as teachers' unions and senior citizens? By using the lens of America's public school districts to examine the workings of democracy, "Ten Thousand Democracies" offers new insight not only into the forces shaping local education policy but also how democratic institutions may function throughout all levels of government.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

206

Published Date

ISBN 10

1435631919

ISBN 13

9781435631915

Book's by Eric Plutzer

Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America's Classrooms

Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America's Classrooms

Ten Thousand Democracies

Ten Thousand Democracies

People and Their Opinions

People and Their Opinions

Politics in the Pews

Politics in the Pews

Beginning ASP.NET Databases Using VB.NET

Beginning ASP.NET Databases Using VB.NET

The Hidden Curriculum in Higher Education

The Hidden Curriculum in Higher Education

Ten Thousand Democracies

Ten Thousand Democracies

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email