American Schools: The Art of Creating a Democratic Learning Community

In American Schools, Sam Chaltain interweaves the leading ideas from the education, business, and scientific communities to outline a framework for leadership that helps educators and organizational leaders create the optimal conditions for transformational change. By pairing a rich theoretical framework with the stories of communities that have, over several years, tried to create more democratic learning communities, Chaltain does what any reader of this book will have to do - provide enough structure to empower people to do their best work, and enough freedom so that each person's inherent creativity can be unleashed.

Sam Chaltain is the National Director of the Forum for Education and Democracy and the founding director of the Five Freedoms Project. He also provides professional development for public school districts, and consults with schools on issues ranging from First Amendment law to whole-school change. Mr. Chaltain currently lives with his wife (Sarah), son (Leo), and bulldog (Rufus) in Washington, DC. He can be reached at schaltain@gmail.com.