Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In 1973, Community School District 4 in East Harlem was, by many parameters, the worst school district in New York City. Only 16% of the students read at grade level, and truancy was rife. Fifteen years later, 63% of students were reading at grade level, and parents from outside the district were enrolling their children in its schools. How a small band of educators accomplished the feat--which garnered for one principal a MacArthur prize--is exhaustively recounted by Fliegel, who served as the first director of District Four's Office of Alternative Schools, and MacGuire, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Among the dramatis personae are a cavalcade of Board of Education figures, including ex-school chancellor Anthony Alvarado and present chancellor Joseph Fernandez. The authors present a depressing picture of Board of Ed politics and bureaucracy. The key to District Four's success, we're shown in this inspiring study, was the establishment of mini-schools with specialized curriculums and allowing students to choose which school to attend. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

This is a moving and inspirational account of the slow but consistent and effective progress of District Four, in New York City (one of the poorest school districts in the country), and the fight for school choice in that district. The central theme of the book relates to the transformation of the school district through new "alternative" schools of choice. Progress on the choice question was made through the determination of former deputy superintendent, Seymour Fliegel, who spearheaded the program with the help, support, and vision of many in the school system including teachers, principals, administrators, students, community volunteers, and parents. Through school choice, District Four became a model for other urban school districts and public schools in the US. Fliegel brings the reader through the stages of this educational innovation with glimpses of true situations and real people that make it all the more personal to the reader. The information is reinforced and supported by the changes that took place between 1974 and 1992. The conclusion of the authors is that school choice is a powerful way to improve educational performance. Recommended for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, practitioners, and general readers. D. M. Coker; Baylor University

Booklist Review

A touch of hyperbole here, but you can't blame Fliegel and MacGuire. This is a remarkable story. In 1974 District Four ranked near last in a poor New York City public school system; by 1992 it had produced thousands of successful students and overcome big-city educational bureaucracy through conviction, caring, and endless strategizing. Fliegel was there from the start (first as the director of the district's Office of Alternative Schools and then as deputy superintendent), fighting off bureaucrats while nourishing a new approach: small alternative schools set within larger traditional school buildings. Growing from 1 school to 24, ranging from kindergarten through high school, the new schools focused on literacy, technology, and the performing arts. They evolved into a school choice system that worked, grew, and held on against budget cuts and hot scandals. New York City is now extending the concept citywide. Fliegel is a determined scrapper who figuratively pounds the table while discussing centralized bureaucracy. He's convinced and enthusiastic about innovation and choice, and his story bears exuberant and informative witness to the difficulties, rewards, and merit of changing public schooling. ~--Virginia Dwyer