Review_Author: Cheryl North
Book_Author: Alfie Kohn
Book_Title: The Schools our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional
Classrooms and "Tougher Standards"
Reference: (1999) New York: Houghton Mifflin Company
Date: 4/29/2002
Time: 2:37:23 PM
Remote Name: 128.175.34.50
We were planning the Festival of Words, a one-day conference for middle and high school writers and their teachers to explore writing, meet authors, and discuss literature. The Education Resource Center was ordering books for authors to sign and Peggy brought out a pile of books. They were left over from the Teachers as Readers group and she wanted to sell them. In the pile was Alfie Kohn’s, The Schools our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and ‘Tougher Standards.’ I bought this book because it was $3 and I knew that I would be forced to read it some day.
The book sat in my office for several weeks. It looked drab and boring. I knew that it was going to criticize our education system. I knew that it was going to point out every fault and every problem in our school system that we know all too well. I am tired of defending my profession. I’m tired of the negative press. But I picked it up one day and didn’t put it down. Wow, Alfie Kohn did not bash teachers or place unrealistic demands on educators. Instead, he talked about how tougher standards are driving creative thinking out of the classroom and away from our kids.
Overall, Alfie Kohn has a writing style that is clear and concise. This is not an intellectual text that thinks multi-syllabic words and obscure lingo is the way to make your point. Everyone that is affected by education can read this book. Parents and students, as well as educators will gain insight into the standards movement. This book needs to be read by everyone. Buy a copy and send it to your senator today.
But this isn’t an opinionated educational theorist who just rambles on about what he thinks needs to be done. His book is interspersed with examples, studies, and statistics. This is evidenced by the 64 pages of notes and a 29 page bibliography. But, perhaps, the most important part is “Appendix A: The Hard Evidence.” Kohn addresses E. D. Hirsch’s book, The Schools we Need head on. He picks apart Hirsch’s arguments and proves how they are not backed by research. He shows how Hirsch used studies to prove his point, but took these studies out of context. Alfie does not want students to memorize a list of facts, he wants them to be intellectuals and learn how to be critical thinkers.
As a teacher teaching in the standards movement, I have mixed feelings. I have taught students who are bright, yet do not want to be in school, and students who struggle, yet really try hard. I wonder what will happen when exit exams are implemented in Maryland. These tests made me uncomfortable. I felt as if Maryland thinks teachers could not be trusted with students’ grades, so these tests will prove if they have the skills to pass the class. I worried about what would happen when a bright student failed your class, yet passed the test, or vice versa. When teachers brought up these concerns, we were told that tests would improve our teaching. It has in the lower grades with MSPAP. Well, I know that when I taught middle school, we focused all of our inservice time on raising test scores. It just did not seem right.
Alfie Kohn’s book gave me fuel for the fire. I found myself sending quotes to fellow teachers. The next time the supervisors tell them that testing will improve teaching, they can tell them about a study done at the University of Colorado. They asked a group of fourth grade teachers to teach a specific task. “About half of them were told that when they were finished, their students must ‘perform up to standard’ and do well on a test. The other teachers were simply invited to ‘facilitate the children’s learning’” (Kohn 95). What group did better? The group that was not pressured to perform up to the standards. Kohn thinks this may be due to the old mentality that people need to be forced to do something. We know that this has not worked in business, nor will it work in education.
Kohn’s book also proved something that I have known all along. Schools are doing a good job of teaching students. Instead, the media only shows the bad side. Most people would agree that American students perform lower than other students in the world. No one knows that “A 1992 examination of the reading literacy of 93,00 nine-year olds around the world found that U. S. students had the second-highest average score of the thirty-two participating countries” (Kohn 17). Now, you know how poorly the United States performs in math and science. But did you know that according to the Third International Mathematic and Science Study (TIMSS), that our elementary students’ performance was exemplary? (Kohn 18).
Kohn provided the facts to prove something that I have known all along. Schools are filled with good teachers, students, and parents who care. We have been brainwashed to think that schools are failing our kids. Now, this book does not believe that there is nothing to be done. Kohn is interested in improving education, but he does show how negative press influences us.
Another problem facing schools today is the call for going back to the basics. Alfie Kohn gives some very strong arguments for negotiating past the old school and into nontraditional teaching. This is achieved through authentic teaching and he gives plenty of examples. In his argument against the drill and skill math curriculum, he cites the example of a teacher who tapes off a section of the floor and then asks students to figure out the square footage. He is not one to tell teachers to do a better job without telling them how.
As I was reading this book, I read an article in the Baltimore Sun about how only Title I schools will be required to take MSPAP this year. I was angry that affluent children were deemed as not needing the test and poor kids had to take it. I immediately fired a letter off to The Sun. Of course, I used several quotes from The Schools our Children Deserve. I had to be careful and give him credit for his ideas, but I did not have the joys of parenthetical documentation or a works cited page. After I felt as if I gave credit to Alfie Kohn the best way possible, I still did not feel comfortable. I went to his website and sent an e-mail explaining that I wanted to make sure that I gave him proper credit. A few hours later I received a reply with some advice and a note of thanks. A few days later, I read the part of the book were Kohn invites anyone to use any of his information to help rid our schools of standardized tests. My respect for him grew even more.
This book is one that I will refer to often. As a matter of fact, I just found out that my nephews’ school has adopted Accelerated Reader after dropping Book It! last year. I called her and quoted what Alfie Kohn has said about these programs just bribing kids to read books for pizza. She was ready to buy the book, but I have already bought it for her for her birthday.