The Children Left Behind: America's Struggle to Improve Its Lowest Performing Schools

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Description

Between 2002 and 2016, the federal government, state governments, and school districts undertook unprecedented measures to improve the lowest-performing schools. This book draws on dozens of actual examples to illustrate the wide range of interventions adopted over this time period. Among the initiatives examined in depth are efforts by states to provide technical assistance to schools and districts, offer students educational choices, engage communities in school improvement, take over low-performing schools and districts, create special state-run school districts, and close failing schools. Also discussed are district-initiated measures, including programs to standardize instruction, innovative approaches to raising student achievement, and restructuring of district operations. The book concludes with an assessment of 15 years of turnaround initiatives and recommendations based on lessons learned over this time period.

Reviews

In The Children Left Behind, Daniel Duke takes readers on a remarkable journey through 15 years of America's unprecedented struggle to improve its lowest-performing schools. With a contextual and nuanced examination of such efforts at the federal, state, and local district levels, Duke identifies what worked and what did not work to change conditions on the ground for underserved students. This is a must-read bookindeed a wise and inspiring gemfor policy-makers, educators, and the public committed to taking the next steps toward achieving educational excellence, with equity, for all children. -- Rhona S. Weinstein, professor, University of California, Berkeley
For the past three decades America has been engaged in an all-out assault to improve schooling for low-income children, mostly in urban schools. By all accounts those efforts have had little to no effect. In The Children Left Behind, Dan Duke provides one of the first, and in my view best, comprehensive assessments of the policies and programs that have been part of the school turnaround agenda. His analysis, informed by a deep understanding of context, history, and assumptions, reveals many of the mistakes made, the reasons for the modest but important successes, and points the way for a path forward -- Robert C. Pianta, Dean, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the complex challenges involved in addressing federal requirements for meeting the needs of students in low performing schools. It examines both what states and school districts have done to respond to federal mandates as well as the consequences of such actions thus far. No book presents a more comprehensive treatment of the school improvement literature than this one. -- Michelle Young, Executive Director, University Council for Educational Administration, Professor, University of Virginia
Dan Duke has masterfully blended the historical context of federal reform with specific examples of local, state and national interventions to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic. This format has yielded a book that is broad in scope yet detailed in providing illustrations of the intricacies of reform movements. -- Jami Royal Berry, Educational Leadership Program Coordinator, Georgia State University
Duke has been in the thick of educational reform for more than a decade and that experience informs every chapter of this thoughtful book. His examination of national, state and local initiatives to help our most vulnerable children suggests that are no simple answers, but his detailed appraisal of what has worked and what has not will inform both practice and policy in the coming years. -- Karen Seashore Louis, Regents Professor, University of Minnesota

Author Bio

Daniel L. Duke, internationally known specialist on school improvement, has written extensively on how to turn around low-performing schools. Besides conducting numerous studies of the turnaround process, Duke has designed training programs for turnaround specialists, conducted trainings, and consulted with states and school systems on ways to improve struggling schools.