New Library Books in Education

Title Feel-Bad Education : And Other Contrarian Essays on Children and Schooling
Author Alfie Kohn
Publisher Beacon
Call Number LA217.2.K64 2011
Synopsis from Publisher
Arguing that our schools are currently in the grip of a “cult of rigor”—a confusion of harder with better that threatens to banish both joy and meaningful intellectual inquiry from our classrooms—Alfie Kohn issues a stirring call to rethink our priorities and reconsider our practices.

Kohn’s latest wide-ranging collection of writings will add to his reputation as one of the most incisive thinkers in the field, who questions the assumptions too often taken for granted in discussions about education and human behavior.
Title Does God Make a Difference?  Taking Religion Seriously in our Schools and Universities
Author Warren A. Nord
Publisher Oxford
Call NumberLB1027.N67 2010
Synopsis from Publisher
In this provocative book Warren A. Nord argues that public schools and universities leave the vast majority of students religiously illiterate. Such education is not religiously neutral, a matter of constitutional importance; indeed, it borders on secular indoctrination when measured against the requirements of a good liberal education and the demands of critical thinking.

Title Schools for All Kinds of Minds: Boosting Student Success by Embracing Learning Variation
Author Mary-Deen Barringer
Publisher Jossey-Bass
Call Number LB1051.B2494
Synopsis from Publisher
This book shows how schools can--and must--develop expertise in "learning variation" (understanding how different kinds of minds learn) and apply this knowledge to classroom instruction in order to address the chronic learning challenges and achievement gap faced by millions of students. Barringer shows how using what we know about learning variation with a focus on discovering learning strengths, not just deficits, can help schools create plans for success for those students who often find it elusive. The book specifically addresses how school leaders can incorporate this knowledge into instructional practice and school-level policy through various professional development strategies.  

Title Tyranny of the Textbook: An Insider Exposes how Educational Materials Undermine Reforms
Author Beverlee Jobrack
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Call Number  LB3047.J64 2012
Synopsis from Publisher
Educational reforms and standards have been a topic of public debate for decades, with the latest go-round being the State Common Core Curriculum Standards. But time and again those reforms have failed, and each set of standards, no matter how new and different, has had little impact on improving student achievement. Why? The textbooks. Textbooks sell based on design and superficial features, not because they are based on the latest research on how children learn and how well they promote student achievement. In Tyranny of the Textbook,