Essential 55 An Award Winning Educators Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child

When Ron Clark walked into his fifth grade class in rural North Carolina, he was confronted with a tremendous challenge. The children had little interest in learning and were sorely lacking in guidance. How would he transform a group of apathetic kids into disciplined, thoughtful, and curious students? He quickly realized that they needed to learn some basic rules. Clark compiled a list of 55 lessons and soon, his fifth grade students — who once struggled to read at the third grade level — were reading at the sixth grade level...and loving it. What's more, they were gaining something crucial — self-respect.

Those 55 lessons evolved into what Clark calls The Essential 55 — guidelines for living and interacting with others. The Essential 55 will prepare parents and educators to teach students the rules of life — everything from knowing how to say thank you, to acing an interview

If there were a code you could learn that would lead you to become a great teacher — of students, of your children, or of any young person in your life — wouldn't you want to learn it? The Essential 55 is a collection of the amazingly effective rules that Ron Clark used to become an extraordinary teacher. Through trial and error, this teacher has distilled fifty-five ideas that have helped him take apathetic students in some of the country's most challenging areas and transform them into award-winning scholars.

Covering all aspects of life, from the classroom to the world, from human interactions to the most frightening of all — cafeteria and bathroom manners — Ron Clark shows that with determination, discipline, and regular rewards, the children you stick by will be the children you eventually admire.

"Clark's book is a handy blueprint for parents who want to equip their elementary- and middle-school children with the ABCs of mature behavior." Time magazine

By helping students turn themselves into scholars, 2001 Disney Teacher of the Year Ron Clark found that his Essential 55 can apply to anyone who considers life to be a learning experience

Now in paperback, Ron Clark's New York Times bestseller that's changing America one child at a time!
The runaway bestseller that's a must-have for every parent and teacher. How many authors would travel coast to coast on a bus to get their book into as many hands as possible? Not many. But that's just what Ron Clark, author of The Essential 55, did to keep his book and message in the public eye. And it worked. After his Oprah appearance, sales skyrocketed: we've sold more than 850,000 copies in six months! The book sat tenaciously on the New York Times bestseller list for 11 weeks. Ron Clark was featured on the Today show, and in the Chicago Tribune, Good Housekeeping, and the New York Daily News--not to mention the calls we've received from teachers and parents who want to get their hands on Ron's guidelines for teaching children.

Now in paperback, The Essential 55 will be the perfect book for parents and teachers to slip into their own backpacks, to read on the train or at lunch, and to highlight the sections that resonate for them. And with an author who is truly a partner in getting his message to the masses, we just can't lose.

Ron Clark has been a teacher since 1995. Originally from North Carolina, he has taught in some of the most difficult schools in the country, most recently in Harlem, NY. Since winning the 2001 Disney Teacher of the Year Award, he has spoken to teachers, PTAS, and school boards across the country. He lives in Atlanta.