In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization

by Deborah Meier

Book Overview

We are in an era of radical distrust of public education. Increasingly, we turn to standardized tests and standardized curricula-now adopted by all fifty states-as our national surrogates for trust.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807031518
• ISBN13: 9780807031513
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and S tandardization

This book is extremely helpful in thinking about the various relationships that support good education. It candidly addresses the complexities of the distributions of power in an educational organization, including making these challenges visible to all constituencies so that others can learn from observing the process. It explores the impact of what individuals bring to the table on success for that child, family and/or staff member. Whether it be race, socio-economic background, or personal history, each "history" plays a role in the evaluation of his/her work. The field of Education needs more like Deborah Meier.

Modeling Adulthood

David Blackburn Director of the Educational Reform Group www.educationalreformgroup.com I just taught my daughter to ride her bike this week. I just taught my son to swim. Interesting lessons were gleaned from these familial experiences. Both events were preceded by literally years of work. The events happened in a minute, a fraction of the time invested. Yet, there was one crucial element that pervaded the entire process. That element was trust. Trust is the facet of education that is critical to set children free to explore the possibilities. The fascinating results from my children arrived after the event of learning. When my daughter finally learned to trust me to catch her then she was able to focus on balancing her moving bike. Within a minute she fully committed to her task, my hands came off the bike, and she was off. She learned; then she left me behind and figured out how to self-start, stop, and turn. My son finally trusted I would be there beside him and wouldn't let him drown. He then swam a pool length. He then left me behind and jumped off the diving board, then began to flip and to dive. If we are seeking an educational system that empowers and equips students to independently explore their possibilities, then we must pursue a school culture of trust. Deborah Meier's book, In Schools We Trust, delves into this critical issue as paramount to doing what is best for kids. Her book is arranged in three sections. The first section tackles how trust must be nurtured between all stakeholders. The second section dismantles the idea that standardized tests can achieve what we hope they will. The third section returns to the larger picture of how we can and must develop a culture that allows the messiness of humanity within accountability and trust. The middle section is crucial to reference for anyone researching standardized testing on learning. Yet, no school teacher needs convincing that such tests fail to help students achieve their best. So, we will not focus upon Meier's excellent historical analysis. Instead it is the larger picture of what real trust requires and what real accountability must account for that is worthy of frontline teachers' time. If you have time to read only a portion of this book, then read what Meier describes as "Learning in the company of Adults." Meier correctly criticizes our failure as a society to raise democratic citizens by reducing their time with adults. "We are--in short--perhaps the only civilization in history that organizes its youth so that the nearer they get to being adults the less and less likely they are to know any adults" (p.23). She uses the analogy of learning to drive a car. "Think how efficiently virtually all young people learn to drive a car if they have lived for years in a family of drivers, have ridden in the front seat, have imitated (both in their head and in their bodies) the motions of a driver, have gotten a feel for where the sides of th

Common sense, common sense, common sense

As an educator (high school guidance counselor), union activist and progressive skeptic, I strongly urge folks far and wide to read Meier's book "In Schools We Trust." Not only is she easy to read but she makes sense out of difficult material.Meier uses examples from her own experiences and links them to the weighty issues we face in public education. She uses humor as well as lofty research to back up her claims. In an early passage she challenges us to bring adults and children closer together ( a theme she returns to at the end), so that children can learn what it means to be an adult. In doing so she has us ponder our own adult culture. For instance, why don't we let children copy? since that's exactly what we urge adults to do (i.e. through best practices) and what would that mean if we did allow it? All in all a good read, a refreshing look at schooling.

Must read for all teachers, parents, and voting citizens!

As a veteran Boston public school teacher, I found Deborah Meier's new book refreshing and especially timely given the grave threats thoughtful schools and schoolteachers face in this era of testing. The absurd importance we give to testing puts intense pressure on teachers and schools to standardize the curriculum. But Meier, with her decades of innovative school-building experience, accompanied by considerable research, gives us what the media and politicians refuse--a peak into the making of tests and their history in schools. Meier also takes us into small schools that have a much higher standard of achievement. They're personalized schools organized around how we know kids learn, and they allow teachers to have a larger role in schools and kids' academic lives---in making decisions and frequently rethinking their practice, in its details, in community, in public. This is a challenging and fascinating book. Afraid I might miss a nugget of wisdom, I couldn't wait to read the book again!

A must read for anyone interested in children's learning

Written in plain, but no less elegant and eloquent language, In Schools We Trust should be read by anyone interested in children and schools, and especially, in the conditions needed to foster the kind of learning we value. It contains the kind of wisdom, based on decades of experience, that we have come to expect from author Deborah Meier. The first chapter alone is worth the price of the book, and more!