Reality and Education: A New Direction for Educational Policy

About the Book

A poorly designed system produces poor results. Problems with the public education system are reported every day in periodicals and books. Improving student achievement is too important a societal issue to continue stumbling along the same unending path of let’s try this educational fad and then move to the next proposed solution. The uniqueness of this book is that the myths surrounding education and learning are exposed; it’s like cleaning the lenses of your glasses so you can get a clear view of the world. Once myths are moved aside, reality can settle in, and a practical model for improving education can be developed.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Part I – Reality and education
Chapter 1: Focusing on Reality and Education
Chapter 2: Not all students will learn at a high level
Chapter 3: The role of education
Chapter 4: Look for teachers who love to learn
Chapter 5: Students have a role to play
Chapter 6: Look for an administrator who is the right type of leader
Chapter 7: The finance issue
Chapter 8: Not everyone needs to go to college
Chapter 9: Streamlining the P-16 academic pipeline
Chapter 10: Is it hopeless?
Part II – Given reality how can education be improved?
Chapter 11: The first step
Chapter 12: Educational environment characteristics
Chapter 13: Societal and Community Characteristics
Chapter 14: What about maximizing student learning?
Chapter 15: The final message

About the Author :
Dr. Daniel Wentland is the author of Strategic Training: Putting Employees First and Organizational Performance in a Nutshell. His articles have been published in the Ivey Business Journal, Compensation and Benefits Review, and Education.

Review :
Reality and Education serves as a handy primer for sorting out what is important in education policy. Wentland argues that the purpose of pre-collegiate education is simply learning, not solving an array of societal problems. Learning is elicited by effective teachers who provide clear explanations of what children should learn, what is considered an acceptable quality or level of performance, opportunities for practice and regular feedback, and an explicit understanding of the conditions under which this learning should take place. Teachers are also responsible for conveying to students that successful learning results from effort, time, and persistence. The author emphasizes that, ultimately, students are responsible for their learning. This point varies from current policy, which places full responsibility on teachers for student acquisition of knowledge....The arguments are persuasive and this book is recommended to readers wishing to fully examine the complexities of education policy. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. In this pithy volume, Daniel Wentland surveys the landscape of K-12 education and illuminates a number of important truths. This volume is a useful guide for those seeking to understand our educational challenges. Daniel Wentland’s book is an excellent analysis of the learning environment and where and how it lets us down. His prescription for fixing it is reasonable and practical, and one that is bound to make educators eager and enthusiastic to take a good second look at the system and make it more enriching and responsive. The shelves in book stores are weighed down with 'fix-it books', many of which provide opinions more often than solutions to fix the problems in our education system. In Reality and Education, Dr. Wentland offers a no-frills, common sense solution to improving education leadership, school culture and student achievement. This is definitely an approach that will make educators stand up and take notice!