Leave No Child Behind
Preparing Today's Youth for Tomorrow's World
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
The call-to-arms to “leave no child behind” in America has become popularly associated with the Bush administration’s education plan—a plan that actually diverges greatly from the ideals of the Children’s Defense Fund, which originated the concept. Here, in a bold and engaging new book, Dr. James Comer reclaims this now-famous exhortation as a tool for positive and substantive change.
Far removed from the federal government’s focus on standardized testing as the panacea for our educational ills, Dr. Comer’s argument—drawn from his own experiences as the creator of the School Development Program—urges teachers, policymakers, and parents alike to work toward creating a new kind of school environment.
In so doing, Dr. Comer reignites a crucial debate as he details the evolution and many successes of his School Development Program since its inception thirty-five years ago, and he illustrates how his model for change has proven effective in public schools throughout the country. Most important, he offers proof that students from all backgrounds can learn at a high level, adopt positive behavioral attitudes, and prepare for a fulfilling adult life, if they learn in schools that provide adequate support for their complete development--schools that know that leaving no child behind should be much more than just a convenient political slogan.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Comer (Maggie's American Dream), a child psychiatrist who founded the School Development Program (known for many years as the Comer Process) at the Yale Child Study Center in 1968, reiterates the wise assumption behind his decades of educational work: that"development and learning are inextricably linked." He reminds teachers and administrators that some children have experiences that hinder school readiness and eagerness to learn; schools must therefore strive to encourage emotional growth, not just better test scores. And especially for low-income students, Comer argues, higher scores aren't enough: these students"need... skills that are gained through meaningful interactions with meaningful caretakers from birth through maturity." If educators must address problems they did not create, Comer says, they need more training in how to"read" children as individuals and thus better teach them. Comer also calls on parents to provide environments in which children feel valued. He shows how his prescribed marriage of child development and pedagogy worked in a series of pilot schools, and he warns of the great social cost of failing to better educate our students. (Studies show that educational achievement has a bearing on everything from civic participation to substance abuse). Amid the loud chorus of cries against standardized testing, Comer offers a clear and confident voice of change.
