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    Duck and Cover
    Confronting and Correcting Dubious Practices in Education

    Rick Ginsberg (Author), Yong Zhao (Author)

    9780807767900

    Paperback / softback, published 28 April 2023

    192 pages
    21.8 x 16 x 1.7 cm, 0.272 kg

    " Duck and Cover illustrates the potential of school reform while documenting the frailties of past efforts at change."—Education Review

    "The book's fresh approach to productive work will appeal to all who wonder why current practices continue to provide mediocre results despite best efforts."—NASSP Principal Leadership

    In the 1950s and 1960s, students practiced ducking under their desks in case of an atomic bomb attack. We know that this was silly and provided no protection and many school practices that are popular today are equally silly. This book explores a wide range of what the authors label "duck and cover" policies—ideas that may have started for good reasons but whose usefulness has declined over time, ideas that may lack sound theoretical foundations or long-term evidence, ideas that violate basic logic and reasoning or cause serious and proven damage. Ginsberg and Zhao explore how and why these policies were adopted, along with the underlining factors that push school leaders to maintain them. They also offer recommendations for reconsidering, replacing, or just removing these dubious strategies from practice. Topics include standardized testing, kindergarten readiness, college and career readiness, social and emotional learning, teaching evaluations, class size, professional development, time management, and much more. Duck and Cover will help readers to think about their schools' policies and practices in new ways, encouraging ongoing consideration and feedback about what actually works.

    Book Features:

    • Invites K–12 educational policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to question the effectiveness of everyday practices.
    • Shows that some commonly practiced and even sacred beliefs in education are not scientifically sound or even logical.
    • Points to actions that leaders can take to remove, reconsider, or revise detrimental practices—a duck-and-cover audit guide with questions readers can use to examine what they do.

    • Contents
    • Acknowledgments v
    • Introduction 1

    Part I: DREAMS, FANTASIES, AND NIGHTMARES

    1. Kindergarten Readiness 13

  • 2. College and Career Readiness 20
  • 3. Reading Proficiency by 3rd Grade 27
  • 4. The Achievement Gap 34
  • 5. Social and Emotional Learning 41
  • 6. Foreign-Language Instruction 52
  • 7. Educational Technology 60

    • Part II: OPERATIONAL BUGABOOS

    8. Professional Development 71

  • 9. Class Size 78
  • 10. Time 85
  • 11. Dress and Grooming Codes 93
  • 12. Teacher Evaluation 99
  • 13. Gifted and Talented and Exceptional Education 105

    • Part III: SYSTEMIC AND ANALYTIC CONUNDRUMS

    14. State Standardized Testing 115

  • 15. Governance by School Board 123
  • 16. How Teachers Are Paid 131
  • 17. Meta-Analysis 141
  • Conclusion 149

    • References 157

  • Index 180
  • About the Authors 185
    •
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