Unlocking the Schoolhouse Door: Essays on the Misunderstandings of Public Education

You wouldn’t go to your doctor’s office and advise him on running his practice, or propose reforms for how a CEO ought to run his company. Yet every day, your neighbors, politicians, and business owners complain about the failure of schools and call for change without ever setting foot in them. Criticism abounds regarding what schools are doing (and how they’re doing it wrong). In Unlocking the Schoolhouse Door, Larry White examines how repeated and misguided attempts at reform-testing, unfair expectations placed on teachers, and an overemphasis on content-are undermining schools’ efforts to prepare students for the future. Whether you’re a teacher, an administrator, a parent, a politician, a business owner, or simply a citizen concerned about the state of education, this book will shed light on what is-and what should be-occurring in classrooms today. This collection of newspaper columns, culled from the author’s 34 years of experience as a high school teacher and mentor to both students and teachers, deals with such hot-button issues as teacher tenure, the role of parents, discipline and behavior management, grading and assessments, addressing special needs, and the real purpose of schools. Filled with observations, anecdotes, and practical tips from the front lines, Unlocking the Schoolhouse Door will take you inside today’s schools to show you the realities of so-called reform, while pointing the way to a better future for America’s schools.