The New American High School

The reform movement is, more often than not, viewed as chaotic. What is meant by fundamental change in one school or district is seen as superficial somewhere else. Even to would-be advocates, what passes for reform is too frequently a fluidly changing river of differing goals, curricula, pedagogy, and organization. With everyone pushing their own vision of educational reform, no one has stopped to look at the common ground. This new book pulls together the common themes of the many attempts at reform. It looks particularly at today’s American high school, where reform seems less tenacious compared to elementary and middle schools, and its scope is both broad and deep. The authors link the big ideas to concrete school examples, and thus the book will be helpful to practitioners on site. This book is designed for the leadership of reform at the high school, district, and state levels; for policymakers instrumental in these reforms; and to university faculty and graduate students in education. It will be a valuable resource in courses on leadership, administration, policy, curriculum and instruction, and change facilitation.