David A. Goslin, The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
2003
"How is it," a Polish education leader asked the late Albert Shanker during a Warsaw conference on education reform in 1995, "that the United States is the world's preeminent democracy and economic power when your education system has all the problems and inequities you and your American colleagues have described over the past two days?" "Because," Shanker replied, "our top 20 percent are as good as any in the world, and that's all we have ever needed." Reading Engaging Minds triggered this memory because its underlying theme is that most American young people never live up to their full academic potential. According to veteran analyst Goslin, "only a small proportion of the nation's students--perhaps as few as 20 or 25 percent--are engaged in learning most of the time." To close the achievement gap and sustain measurable increases in academic performance, Goslin says, get students engaged, and keep them engaged in their own learning. Success in school is largely the result of "hard-work, perseverance, self-discipline, and respect for authority." Yet far too many children think that if something is hard, they simply don't have the ability to learn it, so it's OK to give up. Regrettably, many parents and teachers also buy into this mindset. What can be done? Goslin thinks the standards-based reform movement is a good start for it says that all children can and should meet high academic standards in school. This is a good first step, Goslin writes, but even more important is triggering a societal shift in thinking about education. In short, we all need to get off the couch, douse the TV and spend time helping our children learn. The ISBN is 0810847132 and you can get the book at http://www.scarecroweducation.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0810847132.
