In her new book, bestselling author Mercedes Schneider provides little-known details about the history of the Common Core State Standards. She lifts the veil on how the Common Core was developed, who was present in the back room, the push to copyright it so that test-makers could profit, and the urgency for governors to sign commitments before the standards were even completed. CCSS is publicized as being a state-led, teacher-developed approach guaranteed to ensure that all students are college- and career-ready. By the end of this eye-opening book, readers will come to understand the CCSS and its attendant assessments as something very different—an education-restricting, profit-garnering opportunity packaged as an education-sounding sales pitch. Common Core Dilemma will appeal to readers across the political spectrum who want to better understand the role of corporations, nonprofits, big donors with strings attached, and the federal government in exercising control in our schools. “Mercedes Schneider is the right person to take a close look at the controversies around the Common Core. She is not only a high school teacher, but also holds a Ph.D. in research methods and statistics. No one digs deeper than she to understand the politics, money, and personalities behind big issues.” —Diane Ravitch, professor of education at New York University, historian of education and bestselling author, author of Reign of Error “The Common Core 'state' standards swept the nation in an educational coup d’etat six years ago. The campaign was so swift that most Americans—indeed most educators—had never even heard of the standards when they were adopted. Mercedes Schneider has become the nation's leading detective investigating this 'whodunnit' mystery, and here she tells the tale, from the beginning.” —Anthony Cody, educator, writer, and public speaker
In "A Practical Guide to Digital Research", Schneider draws on her years of experience as an educational researcher to offer an easy-to-read, easy-to-digest, concise tutorial for equipping both novice and more experienced researchers in navigating numerous research sources. These include nonprofit tax form search engines, newspaper archives, social media sites, internet archives, campaign filings/ethics disclosures, teaching credential search engines, and legal filings. Also covered are tips on conducting both email and in-person interviews, filing public records requests, and conducting pointed, fruitful Google searches.This powerful, practical text is built upon a foundation of actual examples from Schneider's own research in education-examples that she dissects and explains as a means of teaching her readers how to effectively make these valuable lessons their own. Though Schneider's own research is chiefly in the education reform arena, the resources, skills and techniques offered in "A Practical Guide to Digital Research" transcend any single research field and are indispensable for confronting a variety of research queries. Useful as a classroom text or for independent research study, the book provides foundational learning for those new to research investigation as well as surprising, valuable lessons for more experienced researchers challenging themselves to learn even more.
Corporate reform" is not reform at all. Instead, it is the systematic destruction of the foundational American institution of public education. The primary motivation behind this destruction is greed. Public education in America is worth almost a trillion dollars a year. Whereas American public education is a democratic institution, its destruction is being choreographed by a few wealthy, well-positioned individuals and organizations. This book investigates and exposes the handful of people and institutions that are often working together to become the driving force behind destroying the community public school.
Proponents of market-driven education reform view vouchers and charters as superior to local-board-run, community-based public schools. However, the author of this timely volume argues that there is no clear research supporting this view. In fact, she claims there is increasing evidence of charter mismanagement—with public funding all-too-often being squandered while public schools are being closed or consolidated. Tracing the origins of vouchers and charters in the United States, this book examines the push to “globally compete” with education systems in countries such as China and Finland. It documents issues important to the school choice debate, including the impoverishment of public schools to support privatized schools, the abandonment of long-held principles of public education, questionable disciplinary practices, and community disruption. School Choice: The End of Public Education? is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the past and future of public education in America. Book Features: Provides a comprehensive historical account of the origins of vouchers and charters. Includes accounts of intriguing historical experiences. Examines the defunding of neighborhood public schools in favor of often underregulated charters. Reveals charter school “churn” that often follows the closing of a mismanaged charter. Provides a cogent counternarrative to the claim that charters are necessary for America to compete globally. “How fortunate that we have another soon-to-be classic from Mercedes Schneider that informs and empowers us all for the fight back!” —Joyce E. King, Georgia State University “Schneider provides a must-read for anyone, especially educators, interested in the future of public education.” —Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell, Louisiana State University “Outstanding! Powerful! This is the most interesting and best-researched book on school choice I've ever read.” —Julian Vasquez Heilig, California State University
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