It’s Never Too Late is a research chronicle that offers not only proven methods but also inspiration. Anyone working with at risk studentsthose for whom school has not been a place of successwill find here a reflection of their own experiences, plus thoughtful and creative strategies for making those experiences positive ones.
When Janet Allen, a respected lecturer, researcher, and award-winning teacher, began teaching in 1972, she was wholly unprepared for the challenges she encountered: motivating the unmotivated, developing a curriculum with no models to draw from, building an environment that supported strategic learning, finding creative resources with limited means, and dealing with reluctant, even rebellious students. More daunting, perhaps, was the challenge of constantly rekindling her own fervor for teaching. But she persevered and found ways to break through those obstacles.

It’s Never Too Late is at once a story and a how to book. Readers will find absorbing case studies, photographs, quotes from educators, surveys, activities, and step by-step strategies for teaching reading and writing to the most reluctant middle and secondary school students. Most important, they will find affirmation for the powerful role they play as teachers.