Built to Fail: Structural Deficiencies and Student Failure

This book argues that American schools are marked by fundamental structural deficiencies that get in the way of student achievement. The structural deficiencies are pervasive. They include the emphasis on grade level, building large schools and districts, and insistence on building comprehensive high schools. These structural deficiencies negatively impact achievement for all kids, but they are particularly detrimental to at-risk populations. In fact, at-risk populations are negatively impacted to such a disproportionate degree that to continue to maintain these structural deficiencies borders on racism at the worst or pure negligence at the least. After identifying the structural problems, the authors consider what the best schools in the U.S. and other countries do to promote excellence. Based on what works, the authors offer suggestions for fixing the broken structure and promoting educational excellence. The book ends with a self-diagnostic tool to help schools and districts identify their structural deficiencies and prioritize an action plan for eliminating those deficiencies.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Epigraph Preface Introduction The Modern State of Education in America A False Promise OR The Siren Song of Choice The US vs. the World The Educational Approaches of Other NationsGreat US Schools – Breaking From the Grade Level & ComprehensiveModelExamination of Minority AchievementToday’s Paradigm Existing Sociological Theoretical Framework Empirical Data that Supports Structural Deficiency Theory Or: I wonder if anyone will ever read this dissertation stuff! Structural Efficiency Theory12, 14 and 15. A View to A Kill: How to Slay Your Cerberus Appendix

About the Author :
Dr. Randy K. Trani, past Oregon middle level principal of the year and high school principal of the year, currently works as the Superintendent of Corbett School District in Oregon. During his ten years at Corbett the school has been recognized as one of the top ten schools in the country multiple times by different national presses. He enjoys working with districts around the county who are interested in the Corbett model of education. Dr. Robert K. Irvine is a partner in the consulting firm PARC Resources and works with nonprofits, Indian Tribes and local governments. In addition, he is an adjunct instructor with Blue Mountain Community College and taught fourteen years for Eastern Oregon University's Distance Education Program.

Review :
The authors take a critical look at the structure of the American schooling system and the negative impact the current structure is having on teaching and learning for all students – particularly students from culturally diverse and low income backgrounds. As a person who was educated in a private school of less than 1000 (K-12), I know firsthand the benefits of a smaller learning community, where everyone knew everyone, and while choices were limited, they were rich and meaningful. Much of the content makes perfect sense and is timely for the transformation needed in the K-12 education system. In Structural Deficiencies in the School System, Trani and Irvine once again demonstrate how small, student-centered school systems can not only meet the learning needs of the students they serve, but provide fantastic opportunities for children to have long-term success by obtaining rigorous foundational skills. Structural Deficiencies in the School System: How Grade Level, Comprehensive High Schools, and Big Districts Cause Student Failure is a compelling, sharp, and ringing indictment of the bloated and misguided state into which many of the schools in this nation have fallen. In this text, Randy Trani and Robert Irvine leverage their substantial experience and know-how in the educational space to provide an insightful look into where so many schools are going wrong, coming up short, or just missing the point altogether. Indeed, having served and worked as teachers, principals, and superintendents in schools across the country, the authors provide a crisp and unique insiders’perspective in a space that demands more insight and clarity. In so doing, Trani and Irvine illuminate certain facets of the modern American school system—both good and bad—that desperately need the type of attention and focus that they receive in Structural Deficiencies in the School System.