Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 268
•
Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼
978-1-4758-1316-6 • Hardback • December 2014 • $77.00 • (£59.00)
978-1-4758-1317-3 • Paperback • December 2014 • $48.00 • (£37.00)
978-1-4758-1318-0 • eBook • December 2014 • $45.50 • (£35.00)
Jim Dueck’s experience in education spans more than 35 years. Beginning as a teacher at West Dover Elementary School in Calgary in 1970, Jim soon stepped into the role of principal and then served for 13 years in district administration in British Columbia eventually becoming superintendent of Abbotsford, and later Nanaimo Ladysmith School Divisions. While working, Jim continued his post secondary studies, obtaining Baccalaureate and Masters degrees in education from the University of Calgary and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Brigham Young University.
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction- A Blissful Past Disrupted
- “Holster” Your Anger
- Accountability: Investment or Expense?
- Class Size: Working or Learning Condition?
- Paying Teachers for the Wrong Things
- Students Are More Accountable Than Educators
- Trust or Accountability
- Teacher Gender and Fairness to Boys
- Why is Tenure Such a Villain?
- “Continuous Pass” and “All Pass” are Unwelcome Twins
- Democratizing Education
- Striking is Wrongheaded
- School Boards Misplaced Priorities
- Coaches Should Not Evaluate
- What Gets Measured Gets Taught
- The Unfairness of Prolonged Summer Vacations
- The Pain of the Twelve Month Window
- Measuring Leadership
- Going from Upside-down to Right-way Up
The new measurement of today's educational system is focused on student outcomes. This book by Dueck, longtime educator, school administrator, and assistant deputy minister in Alberta, Canada, incorporates his decades of personal experience as well as current empirical research to conclusively enlighten policy makers, professors, school administrators, educational scholars and researchers, and graduate students of school administration on the number of ways the educational system is adversely impacted and prevented from meeting students' needs. The book successfully describes many flashpoints that are current in the world of education where students' best interests are hampered by teachers' self-interests. The author argues that unions and politicians are the key contributors to the problem. Topics discussed include the accountability movement, teacher tenure, prolonged summer vacations, class size, teacher pay, and many more. Each chapter ends with a review and conclusion of key points, and the book ends with 11 recommendations and initiatives for systemwide improvement to the educational system. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; general readers.
— Choice Reviews