Fatigued by School Reform

(Paperback)

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After a half-a-century of school reform, a majority of Americans consider the public schools as worse today than when they attended school. Those reforms missed the mark because they were not focused on the backgrounds of the students parents--by far the most important indicator of students progress in school. The importance of parents was documented by the Coleman Report more than 50 years ago.

School reform must be continued but re-directed to over-come the power of low parental socio-economic status. The best way to improve the schools is to create a better, fairer economy providing parents with good jobs and decent wages. In the meantime, good pre-school, after-school, and other aids are needed to help students from low income families.

Teacher quality, although not as influential as the parents backgrounds, is the second most significant indicator of student success. Teachers, like parents, have not been the focus of the attention their importance deserves. In particular, teachers should be fairly paid, and their verbal and cognitive skills improved. The Coleman Report again documented the importance of those skills more than half-a-century ago.

Instead, money, time, and effort have been spent on reforms that wont bring about great improvement because they did not address adequately those two important factors.

Reviews

This latest book pertaining to American school reform is one of the most objective volumes on the subject in perhaps the last 30 years. Jennings, an education expert, presents a critical examination of the landmark educational paper known as the Coleman Report, commissioned by Congress in 1966, and its aftermath. The document was meant to be instrumental in determining why US public schools declined during the later portion of the 20th century and what the countrys educational leaders should do to stop that dramatic decline and reverse the trend. If followed, the reports recommendations would ensure that all students had equal educational opportunities, allowing the US to resume its position as a world educational leader. Identifying four major educational reform movementsschool equity, school choice, standards-based education, and school accountabilityJennings illustrates how each innovation failed to address the central outcome of the Coleman Report, which focused on the central role of the family in ensuring that all children were educated to the highest levels of their abilities. Without family economic parity, all the reforms were doomed to fail. This is a must read for all aspiring educational reformers and policy makers. Essential. General readers through faculty; professionals. * Choice Reviews *
This clear-eyed, no-nonsense book contends that the past 50 years of education reform initiatives have managed to miss the most important part of the puzzle: Bringing parents and teachers together to support children's success in school. Parents and teachers have been pushed aside or blamed, instead of receiving resources to build close and effective partnerships. Jack is an experienced hand at developing education policy and we would do well to heed his advice. -- Anne T. Henderson, Senior Consultant, National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement
Fatigued by Reform, Jack Jennings latest book, gives you an intriguing front-row view of how federal policymakers ignored the famous Coleman Report in favor of making schools jump through serial hoops of reform. They promoted equity, choice, standards, and testsanything, in short, that let them ignore poverty and the disintegration of communities around the schools. Written in clear, no-nonsense prose by a legendary insider in the U.S. House of Representatives, Fatigued by Reform is a must read for all interested in school policymaking. -- James Harvey, Founder of National Superintendents Roundtable
In Fatigued by Reform, Jennings brings a refreshing and much needed perspective on how the last half-century of major K-12 education reform efforts have impacted actual results, not just rhetorical claims, with actual evidence to support his conclusions. Based on his decades of experience in the national policy arena, Jennings adds much needed credibility to his analysis. Based on all of this, the underlying question is Where do we go from here. Hopefully, this analysis will force the policy community to return to the key issues of teachers and teaching and how we move forward to close the equity gap. -- Christopher T. Cross, chairman emeritus of FourPoint Education Partners
Jack Jennings does a masterful job in exploring five decades of federal education policy and the impact on our public schools. Using a seminal research study to support his recommendations, Jack Jennings eloquently reminds policy makers of the need to address social and economic policy to support school improvement as well. As someone who has worked in public education for 39 years, I appreciate Mr. Jennings candor and insightful recommendations! I sincerely hope this book generates a much-needed conversation to support public education in the United States! -- Terry Alban, Superintendent, Frederick County Public Schools, Maryland
Fatigued by School Reform is a must read for policymakers, education leaders, and academics. However, it is so well-written and engaging, it would be thoroughly enjoyed by other audiences including classroom teachers and parents. -- William Bushaw, CEO Emeritus, PDK International
Fatigued by School Reform is a thought-provoking read that reflects Jack Jennings career-long commitment to protecting and strengthening Americas public schools for alland especially for our least well-served students. Jacks analysis of some of the major reforms of the last half-century rings all too truetoo much test-based accountability and too little attention to poverty. And while I would place more emphasis on elevating the teaching profession, his conclusion that success in schools is not just an educational issue is fundamental. Today, communities across our country are in epic struggles to secure the supports and services that our children need and deserve. Policymakers would do well to listen to the countless educators and parents who are, indeed, fatigued by school reformand to Jack Jennings history lesson that provides an important perspective on why. -- Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
Jennings observations are very informative and entirely consistent with those I have had since I first entered the trenches in about 1957. The lenses he used to look at this time period have clarified many things I observed and I now have a better understanding of many things that were hazy. This book should be required reading for anyone involved in educational policy to, among other things, avoid being doomed to repeat past mistakes and to engage in more enlightened and productive reforms. -- Charles N. Quigley, executive director, Center for Civic Education
School leaders will benefit from Jennings brisk, insightful description of how national initiatives to set standards evolved into the No Child Left Behind law followed by the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Jennings asserts that NCLB shifted the federal focus to all students without a commensurate level of funding. ESSA created more school-level flexibility but retained the same emphasis that led to a narrowing of the curriculum and pernicious consequences for failing to meet impossible testing requirements.... Jennings thus makes a challenging and important call to action for leaders designing future school reform initiatives. * School Administrator *

Author Bio

Jack Jennings was the foremost education expert in Congress for 27 years. Then, he established and led for 17 years a highly regarded national think tank centered on improving public education.