Best Practice; New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools

xviii, 308, [2] pages. Suggested Readings. Works Cited. Index. Substantial marks to text noted. Steve Zemelman has worked to promote the sustainability of innovative schools in Chicago. He directed the Center for City Schools at National-Louis University, and he is a founding director of the Illinois Writing Project. He has spearheaded the start of innovative small high schools in the city. His experiences and research in these areas led to his book 13 Steps to Teacher Empowerment, coauthored with Harry Ross. Harvey Daniels has been a city and suburban classroom teacher and a college professor, and now works as a national consultant and author on literacy education. Harvey is known for his pioneering work on student book clubs, as recounted in Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups, and Minilessons for Literature Circles. Arthur Hyde is the author or coauthor of Understanding Middle School Mathematics; Comprehending Math; Best Practice, and Mathwise. A professor of mathematics education at National-Louis University, he received its Excellence in Teaching award. While teaching high school mathematics in Philadelphia, he developed a variety of creative methods for teaching math. He also obtained a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Pennsylvania , where he later was Associate Director of Teacher Preparation. He continues to work frequently in elementary and middle school classrooms and conducts extensive professional development programs on mathematics and problem solving in Chicago and its surrounding school districts. In this extensively revised and expanded second edition, we find updated descriptions of progressive teaching in six subject areas: reading, writing, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts. Best Practice was the first book to summarize the emerging standards of state-of-the-art teaching, offering practical descriptions of instructional excellence across the curriculum. Now, in this extensively revised and expanded second edition, we find updated descriptions of progressive teaching in six subject areas: reading, writing, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts. While the second edition draws upon official standards documents from a disparate array of leading professional groups, it nonetheless reveals a surprising and encouraging level of agreement: The consensus is that students learn best in schools that are student centered, experiential, democratic, and collaborative - yet rigorously challenging. Following Best Practice, we may yet attain this goal.…