Winner of the 1998 American Educational Studies Association Critics' Choice Titles This book challenges common assumptions about the efficacy of teacher collaboration, empowerment, and professional development to improve the educational experiences of low-achieving African American students without engaging the political and ideological contexts in which reforms take place. Written in a clear, engaging style, the book tells the story of two restructuring junior high schools in a single district, and how teachers' ideologies and race, class, and power contradictions in the schools, school district, and city shaped outcomes. Although the book is a critique of restructuring, powerful portraits of teachers who create culturally responsive and empowering educational experiences demonstrate the potential to reform educational practices and policies for African American students and suggest a direction for transforming schools.

Explores the intersection of two central issues in American education today: school reform through restructuring and alienation from school of many children of color. A tough look at the impact of teachers' and administrators' beliefs and practices.

On Class, Race, and Educational Reform provokes new dialogue between Marxists, critical race theory scholars, and other race-inspired educational theorists with the aim of countering racism and class inequalities. The book opens with a lead chapter by Howard Ryan, a doctoral student with a background in teaching and labor organizing, that substantively engages questions of class, race, and educational reform. In response to the opening chapter, educational theorists from Germany, South Africa, the UK, and the USA, provide insightful and penetrating responses highlighting the differences and similarities in perspectives. The responses show how educators can overcome theoretical differences to create international collaborations and educational campaigns of solidarity that counter the treacherous impact of racism and class inequalities in the classroom and beyond. The book includes a Foreword by Stephen Brookfield (University of St Thomas, USA) and an Afterword by Cheryl Matias (University of Kentucky, USA).

In Education Reform in Florida, sociologists and historians evaluate Governor Jeb Bush's nation-leading school reform policies since 1999. They examine the startlingly broad range of education policy changes enacted in Florida during Bush's first term, including moves toward privatization with a voucher system, more government control of public education institutions with centralized accountability mechanisms, and a "superboard" for all public education. The contributors arrive at a mixed conclusion regarding Bush's first-term education policies: while he deserves credit for holding students to higher standards, his policies have, unfortunately, pushed for equality in a very narrow way. The contributors remain skeptical about seeing significant and sweeping improvement in how well Florida schools work for all students.

In Those Kids, Our Schools, Shayla Reese Griffin examines patterns of racial interaction in a large, integrated high school and makes a powerful case for the frank conversations that educators could and should be having about race in schools. Over three years, Griffin observed students, teachers, and administrators in a “post-racial” exurban high school in the Midwest. In its hallways, classrooms, lunchrooms, and staff meetings, she uncovered the disturbing ways in which racial tensions and prejudices persist and are reinforced. Students engaged in patterns of behavior that underscored racial hierarchies. Teachers—no matter how intellectually committed to equity and diversity—often lacked the skills, resources, or authority to address racial issues, while administrators failed to acknowledge racial tensions or recognize how school practices and policies perpetuated racial inequality. This astute and thoughtful book offers a revealing glimpse into the world of young people struggling with the legacy of racism. More important, it highlights the disservice being done to all students in our schools when educators fail to critically interrogate issues of race. Griffin’s perceptive analysis illuminates the persistent influence of race in our education system and shows how—with appropriate support—teachers and students can develop the capacity to address racial issues and dynamics in schools in a frank and constructive way.

The first International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration (Leithwood et al.) was published in 1996 and quickly became something of a best seller for reference works within education. Such success, we suggest, was at least partly due to the unprecedented global waves of concern for improving schools launched in the mid 1980's, combined with a widespread belief in leadership as the single most powerful contribution to such improvement. The roots of this belief can be found in evidence produced by the early "effective schools" research, although there is a "romance" with leadership! as an explanation for success in many non-school enterprises, as well. During the two-year period during which this current handbook was being written, activity in the realms of school leadership, school improvement, and leadership development gained further momentum. The English government created its new National College of School Leadership, and several Asian nations announced new initiatives in leadership selection, preparation, and development.

Covering the key points of dispute and areas of controversy within the field, this outstanding collection includes papers from the leading writers, and presents a sophisticated and versatile toolbox of ideas for theory-building and research.