Ben Wildavsky, Sourcebooks, Inc.September 2004
Ben Wildavsky's The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Teacher is what it claims to be: an essential resource for anyone who wants to teach, but doesn't know quite where to begin. Like most U.S. News guides, it contains much useful information about where to find the money to pay for an education degree (for those who choose that dubious route), a state-by-state listing of teacher salaries, as well as a directory of teacher preparation programs. Its best parts, though, are its opening chapters - "The trouble with teaching and how to fix it" and "Alternative routes to the classroom" - which include frank discussion of the need for reform in teacher training, pay, and certification, as well as alternatives for folks who want to get into the classroom without jumping all of the traditional hurdles. Those intimately familiar with education reform in this area won't find anything stunning, but Wildavsky's profiles of such reform programs as the Milken Foundation's Teacher Advancement Program, and organizations such as Teach for America, the New Teacher Project, and the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, provide needed information to people who might not even have known that such alternatives exist. The ISBN is 1402202911, Sourcebooks, Inc. is the publisher, and you can find out more here.
