"A convincing portrait of teachers actively engaged in educational reform...offering a hopeful yet realistic vision of revitalized democracy inspired by a passion for the public good. This book is an eloquent defense of civic virtue."--Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace and Savage Inequalities

"Rich, realistic, invigorating, and scary. Any middle school educator who has been part of an effort to reform the educational process will see himself or herself in this book--as the brave risk taker, the naive visionary, the frightened frontline trooper, and the touched individual who can make a difference."--Judy Cunningham, principal, South Lake Middle School, Irvine, California

This book tells the stories of sixteen schools in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and Vermont that sought to alter their structures and practices and become places fostering innovative ideas, caring people, principles of social justice, and democratic processes. Based on longitudinal, comparative case-study research, these accounts attest to the power of committing to public virtue and the struggle of educators to transform that commitment into changed school practice. The authors argue that better schools will come only when policy makers, educators, and citizens move beyond technical and bureaucratic reforms to engage in the same educative, socially just, caring, and participatory processes they want for schoolchildren. Those processes constitute betterment--both the means and the ends of school reform. Becoming Good American Schools is for administrators, policy makers, practitioners, and citizens who are prepared to blend inspiration and caution, idealism and skepticism in their own pursuit of good schools.

Drawing on longitudinal, comparative case-study research carried out during most of the 1990s, four education scholars recount how 16 schools in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and Vermont sought to alter their structures and practices and become places fostering innovative ideas, caring people, principles of social justice, and democratic processes.
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Drawing on longitudinal, comparative case-study research carried out during most of the 1990s, four education scholars recount how 16 schools in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and Vermont sought to alter their structures and practices and become places fostering innovative ideas, caring people, principles of social justice, and democratic processes.

This book brings to life an ambitious American education reform agenda: transforming schools into places that foster meaningful engagement with ideas, caring people, principles of social justice, and democratic processes. It draws on longitudinal, comparative case-study research to tell the stories of sixteen schools in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and Vermont that sought to alter their deep structures and daily practices. Their stories illuminate contradictions deeply rooted in American culture—incongruities that not only threatened their efforts, but also revealed the limits of technical and rational approaches to school reform.

The accounts in this book attest to the power of committing to public virtue and the struggle of educators to transform that commitment into changed school practice. The authors argue that better schools will come only when policy makers, educators, and citizens move beyond technical and bureaucratic reforms to engage in the same educative, socially just, caring, and participatory processes they want for schoolchildren. Those processes constitute betterment—both the means and the ends of school reform. Becoming Good American Schools is for administrators, policy makers, practitioners, and citizens who are prepared to blend inspiration and caution, idealism and skepticism in their own pursuit of good schools.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 345-361) and index.

JEANNIE OAKES is professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles. A prominent authority on school reform, she is author or coauthor of several books, including Keeping Track and Teaching to Change the World. KAREN HUNTER QUARTZ is a research scientist at the Center for Research in Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence (CREATE) at the University of California, San Diego. She is coeditor of Creating New Educational Communities. STEVE RYAN is assistant professor of secondary education in the School of Education at the University of Louisville. MARTIN LIPTON is a research associate in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the coauthor of Making the Best of Schools and Teaching to Change the World.

SITUATING THE STRUGGLE.

The Struggle to Become Good Schools.

Cultural Contradictions.

FOUR CULTURAL STRUGGLES.

Becoming Educative.

Becoming Socially Just.

Becoming Caring.

Becoming Participatory.

BECOMING BETTER.

Struggling to Scale Up.

Struggling in the Reform Mill.

A Passion for the Public Good.

Appendix: Studying the Technical, Normative, and Political Dimensions of School Reform.