In schools where people know each other well and focus on supporting academic and personal growth, meaningful relationships blossom in offices, in the library, on the basketball court, or in the lunchroom, wherever adults pay close, caring attention to students. Gary Heyder, custodian at Hilliard Weaver Middle School in Hilliard, Ohio, one of thousands who support CES school communities nationwide
by Jacqueline Ancess (Teachers College Press, 192 pages, $19.95) reviewed by Kathy Simon It is hard for most of us who attended and began teaching in standard-issue schools in this country to visualize how schooling could be truly different We can stretch our imaginations to picture a particularly exciting project, a spectacular field trip, or maybe smaller class sizes. But
by Courtney B. Cazden (Heinemann Press, 216 pages, $24.00) reviewed by Zaretta Hammond Courtney Cazden examines two questions fundamental to successful CES practice: How do patterns of talk in classrooms affect the equality of students’ educational opportunities and outcomes? How is discourse a support for deeper student learning? Cazden focuses on a variety of different types of discourse that occur
by Kathleen Cushman and the Students of What Kids Can Do, Inc. (The New Press, 240 pages, $24.95) reviewed by Jill Davidson “Getting adolescents to talk honestly takes only genuine interest in what they have to say,” writes Kathleen Cushman in Fires in the Bathroom, a book of advice to teachers coauthored with forty high school students from New York
When you’re a single mother, you work here, you work there — even if you want to sit down and talk with your kids, you can’t,” lamented Raysa Vidal. Balancing her responsibilities as mother of three and as Home-School Community Liaison at Paterson, New Jersey’s School 14, Vidal knew that her family couldn’t Wt another thing into their days and
he continuity of family involvement at home appears to have a protective effect on children as they progress through our complex educational system. The more families support their children’s learning and educational progress, the more their children tend to do well in school and continue their education. ”A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections
by Joseph P. McDonald, Nancy Mohr, Alan Dichter, and Elizabeth C. McDonald (Teachers College Press, 144 pages, $15.95) reviewed by Mary Hastings Many CES schools have been using protocols over the past ten years for looking at student and teacher work, as part of Critical Friends Groups, or in the context of common planning time. With many combined years of
National Network Of Partnership Schools The National Network of Partnership Schools is a group of 900 schools working to promote, evaluate, and improve their family and community partnership programs. In exchange for agreeing to a set of standards and practices for developing, implementing, and assessing their partnerships, schools gain access to training materials, workshops, and a newsletter, along with participating