JAY MATHEWS covers education for the Washington Post and has created Newsweek's annual Best High Schools rankings. He has won the Benjamin Fine Award for Outstanding Education Reporting for both features and column writing and is the author of six previous books, including Escalante: The Best Teacher in America, about the teacher who was immortalized in the movie Stand and Deliver.
"A lively account of the way two young guys with more passion than
knowledge overcame bureaucratic and financial barriers, garnered
knowledge from experienced teachers, and made those ideas and
techniques core KIPP ideas. Mathews makes his book as entertaining
as any novel by weaving personal and professional stories and by
surrounding his two stars with interesting characters." --World
magazine
"Mathews does a smart, respectable job here. Frankly elucidating
the major struggles and roadblocks inherent in attempting to reform
how underprivileged children are taught, he nonetheless leaves
readers convinced of the truth in Levin's idealistic statement on
his Teach for America application: "an educator could change
lives." A grand example of humanitarianism in the classroom:
Naysayers who believe there's no hope for America's inner-city
schools haven't met Feinberg and Levin."--Kirkus--USA Today
"A vivid account of two young men who transform themselves from
'terrible' first-year teachers into visionaries."-USA Today
"The improbable story of how KIPP was founded in 1994 by David
Levin and Michael Feinberg, two young Teach for America alumni in
Houston, is thrilling and worthy reading."--Slate
Mathews's sprawling narrative traces the birth and early development of the controversial Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) through the eyes of its charismatic young founders, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin. J. Paul Boehmer captures both the fiery idealism and initial naOvete in the voices of the two protagonists as they parlay their postcollege Teach for America stint in inner-city Houston into a bold national experiment in classroom instruction and school governance. Boehmer provides an especially memorable portrayal of Feinberg and Levin's early mentor Harriett Ball, a veteran educator whose commanding presence conveys both maternal warmth and tough determination. Boehmer only misfires once, when he fails to provide a cue that he is shifting from storytelling into an expository section analyzing the KIPP track record. An Algonquin hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 13). (Apr.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
"A lively account of the way two young guys with more passion
than knowledge overcame bureaucratic and financial barriers,
garnered knowledge from experienced teachers, and made those ideas
and techniques core KIPP ideas. Mathews makes his book as
entertaining as any novel by weaving personal and professional
stories and by surrounding his two stars with interesting
characters." --World magazine
"Mathews does a smart, respectable job here. Frankly elucidating
the major struggles and roadblocks inherent in attempting to reform
how underprivileged children are taught, he nonetheless leaves
readers convinced of the truth in Levin's idealistic statement on
his Teach for America application: "an educator could change
lives." A grand example of humanitarianism in the classroom:
Naysayers who believe there's no hope for America's inner-city
schools haven't met Feinberg and Levin."--Kirkus--USA
Today
"A vivid account of two young men who transform themselves
from 'terrible' first-year teachers into visionaries."-USA
Today
"The improbable story of how KIPP was founded in 1994 by David
Levin and Michael Feinberg, two young Teach for America alumni in
Houston, is thrilling and worthy reading."--Slate
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
