By Richard Rothstein (Economic Policy Insitute, 210 pp., $17.95) BUY NOW! reviewed by Jill Davidson Many of us in the CES network, accustomed to focusing intently on what schools can do, create educational environments that support all children to learn, grow, and thrive. At the same time, we know that schools nationwide have not been able to close the “achievement
On the final day of a month-long unit on heritage in a Division Two (ninth and tenth grade) English class at North Central Charter Essential School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, I overheard total, wrenching discouragement. “I hate art. I’m so terrible at this! Why can’t we just read and write in English class?” groaned a student struggling to complete a map
All learning communities contain a multidimensional spectrum of strengths and weaknesses. By embracing this truth in their values and practices, Essential schools are well poised to respond effectively to the challenge of inclusion. Students in inclusive educational settings take many paths toward the achievement of meaningful educational and personal goals. Inclusion reorganizes a school’s environment: it opens to all students
Schools Boston Arts Academy Public school serving grades 9-12 174 Ipswich Street Boston, MA 02215 617/635-6470 www.boston-arts-academy.org The Crefeld School Independent school serving grades 7-12 8836 Crefeld Street Philadelphia, PA 19118 215/242-5545 www.crefeld.org Fenway High School Public school serving grades 9-12 174 Ipswich Street Boston, MA 02215 617/635-9911 fenway.boston.k12.ma.us North Center Charter Essential School One Oak Hill Road Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Anne Clark, teacher and administrator at Boston Arts Academy (BAA) offers insight into BAA’s fully inclusive pedagogy, an expression of its commitment to CES’s Ten Common Principles. Describing parallels between BAA’s experience with inclusion and current research findings, Clark suggests important touchstones and discussion points for all CES schools. This synthesis of research and Essential school practice demonstrates how inclusion
In 2004, a group of ninth graders with significant learning challenges entered Fenway High School unconventionally, as Fenway English teacher Rawchayl Sahadeo explains. This gave Fenway— a CES Mentor School community committed to equitable, inclusive education—an opportunity for renewal and growth along with controversial and sometimes frustrating essential questions. Is separation for some students the most equitable and educationally sound
By Deborah Menkart, Alana D. Murray and Jenice L. View (Teaching for Change and Poverty & Race Research Action Council, 576 pages, $29.99) BUY NOW! Reviewed by Jill Davidson A teacher friend recently groused about the soulless way civil rights movement was being taught at her school. “How people can manage to make the most fundamental social battle of the
By Mark Edmundson(Vintage, 288 pp., $13.00) BUY NOW! Reviewed by Eva A. Frank Perhaps I have seen Stand and Deliver and Dead Poets Society too many times. Until Mark Edmundson’s Teacher, I think I believed a teacher’s story only worthy if the outcome is monumental student transformation. Disenfranchised students receiving 5s on the Advanced Placement Statistics test, high school students
Many people with physical disabilities know that ramps and curb cuts are vital to breaking down barriers in order to move freely. At the same time, these adaptations allow many others – stroller pushers, rolling suitcase pullers, bicyclists, and skateboarders – to navigate with greater ease and access. Curb cuts are classic examples of universal design: design that makes places
LD Online LD Online is a big tent, providing deep and broad resources for people with disabilities and their parents, educators, and friends. Its comprehensive offerings, mostly focused on the United States and Canada, include descriptions of a wide range of learning disabilities, expert commentary, an online store, pointers to school, summer, and other programs, an active online community, research