Educational Renaissance : Our Schools at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

A study of the condition of the American educational system acknowledges existing crises and includes ideas to cure the current educational malaise

Countering the negativism that today envelops the nation's public schools, this analysis of major trends and programs is upbeat, with Citron, coauthor of American Renaissance , and Gayle, a North Carolina-based educational consultant, finding much that is encouraging. The successes of 300 named school systems--among them, Fairfax County, Va., described as "at the forefront of the school-reform movement"--and the effectiveness of individual teachers and coalitions between business firms and local schools are seen as positive indicators in this examination of curriculum reforms that work and others that do not. The introduction by Honig, California superintendent of public instruction, rightly underscores the importance of this research as a resource for educators, parents and students.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Cetron, futurist and president of Forecasting International ( Encounter with the Future , LJ 7/82; Jobs of the Future , LJ 6/1/84; Future of American Business , LJ 10/1/85) and Gayle, an educational consultant, have produced a thought-provoking and essential school reform book. Other reform books point out the problems; this one optimistically provides forecasts and ideas for reshaping U.S. education in the 1990s and beyond by employing a multitude of reforms already in place. Among the strategies explored are grouping children together regardless of ability, and remediation within the classroom; also, some of the new curriculum paradigms (Adler's Paidela Program, the Coalition of Essential Schools, and the Key School Project, which call for a return to a core curriculum ) are given due prominence. The authors present a roster of 75 trends in education, short biographies of 12 educators they feel are making a difference, and an appendix of vital educational statistics for comparing state initiatives. Perhaps the best school reform book to date, this belongs in libraries of all types. -- Scott Johnson, Meridian Community Coll. Lib., Miss.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.