Fwd: Book reading and signing, David Hursh

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dan Drmacich <dandrmacich@yahoo.com>
> Date: Tue Jan 8, 2008  11:09:55 AM US/Pacific
> Subject: Book reading and signing
> Dear friends:
>
> I've attached and pasted below information on my forthcoming book. For 
> those
> of you in the Rochester area, I will be doing a book reading and 
> signing at
> the Pittsford Plaza Barnes and Noble at 7 pm on March 1st. I hope to 
> see
> some of you there!
>
> I am also scheduled from 12-1 on the Bob Smith program WXXI 1370 AM on 
> Feb
> 18th. The program is accessible through the internet at www.wxii.org.
>
> Thanks,
>
> David
>
> High stakes testing and the decline of teaching and learning: The real
> crisis in education
>
> David Hursh
>
> Forthcoming in early February from
> Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
>
> Over the last several decades, power over curricula and pedagogical
> decisions has become increasingly centralized at the state and federal
> levels. This book examines the changing nature of education from 
> several
> perspectives: autobiographical, historical, political, and 
> philosophical.
> The first chapters describe the author¹s efforts to create democratic
> classrooms that contrasts with the century long emphasis on 
> vocationalism in
> education. The book then turns to examining the rise and consequences 
> of
> high-stakes testing in New York, Texas, and in No Child Left Behind. A
> chapter, co-authored with Pauline Lipman, focuses on how Chicago¹s
> Renaissance 2010 aims to create a dual school system and city, with one
> system preparing children from the professional and managerial class 
> for
> leadership positions, and the other group preparing children from the
> working class for low-wage jobs. The last chapter describes how recent
> educational reforms are part of a larger effort to implement policies
> promoting privatization and markets not only in education but also in 
> all
> social services. In response, educators need to expose how teaching and
> learning have been undermined by recent educational policies and 
> develop
> policies in which educators and communities deliberate over the 
> purpose and
> process of schooling, and work for economic and social justice.
>
> "David Hursh has given us the most compelling reason to challenge 
> today's
> high stakes testing mania - to get back to the central 
> responsibilities of
> teaching and learning. By moving from his own personal story of 
> exploring
> the real meaning of schooling in a democracy, Hursh explores the 
> impact of
> high stakes testing and draconian accountability measures in the 
> widening
> circles of local, state, and international schooling. You must read 
> this to
> understand the contours of this important debate."‹Gloria 
> Ladson-Billings,
> Professor and Kellner Family Chair in Urban Education, University of
> Wisconsin-Madison
>
> "In this unusual book, David Hursh combines rich recollections of 
> classroom
> teaching with trenchant analysis of the "real crisis" in education 
> today-the
> neoliberal package of high stakes testing, accountability, markets and
> privatization. The result is a deeply disturbing but compelling and 
> original
> book that puts democratic education back where it should be--at the 
> center
> of discussions about schools and schooling."‹Marilyn Cochran-Smith, 
> John E.
> Cawthorne Professor, Lynch School of Education, Boston College
>
> David Hursh is an Associate Professor at the Warner Graduate School of
> Education, the University of Rochester. His articles on education 
> policy,
> curriculum, and teaching have appeared in numerous journals, including
> American Education Research Journal, Educational Researcher, British
> Educational Research Journal, Policy Futures in Education, and Journal 
> for
> Critical Education Policy Studies. He also co-founded The Coalition for
> Common Sense in Education, a group advocating for alternatives to
> high-stakes testing.
>
>
> --
> David Hursh, PhD
> Associate Professor
> Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development
> Dewey Hall
> P.O. Box 270425
> University of Rochester
> Rochester, NY 14627-0425
> Phone: 585.275.3947
> Fax: 585.473.7598