Reform Versus Dreams Preventing Student Failure [Hardcover]

Reform versus Dreams provides a genuine example of how problem solving happens best in public education.? Creative and committed teachers were asked to put their minds to designing a system that would provide a safe environment for learning and encourage all students  regardless of their background  to reach high achievement. Smartly, the teachers turned to research and used proven techniques to build a successful model.?. The book takes the next natural step to show the reader how he or she can achieve similar success. This book is a marvelous addition to any educators library and any school innovators toolbox for positive change.Just in time! This intriguing book, Reform versus Dreams: Preventing Student Failure, arrived with exactly what these changing times in education need: important reminders. The book reminds educators of the urgency to meet the learning and social-emotional needs of disinterested, unmotivated, low performing, and even defiant students. The author reminds readers of the importance of looking to tested practice and research and not just to this years new thing. Reform versus Dreams reminds educators that data-driven professional collaborative inquiry and problem solving, ongoing daily professional learning, and decisive and sometimes unconventional actions are essential components to any school improvement efforts.Rosalinds first-hand description of the research-based process for reforming a school is an excellent example for all of us.? She highlights the challenges as well as the key steps and rationale for decision making.? She cites the research that guided the school team's planning toward helping not only 16 at-risk students, but the other students who joined the special program that made a huge difference in all their lives.?In an era of almost continuous school improvement schemes, LaRocque examines school reform within the context of student needs, teacher-designed plans, and definitions of success that include more thalCž