Rethinking High School

Zemelman, Daniels, and Bizar take us directly into the classrooms at Best Practice High School, where real kids and teachers are cocreating a rich curriculum and a supportive community.

HARVEY DANIELS has been a city and suburban classroom teacher, and now serves a professor of interdisciplinary studies at National-Louis University in Chicago. In language arts, Smokey is best known for his work on student book clubs, as recounted in Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups. His book has been credited with starting the book club boom in classrooms around the countrytoday, millions of American students are engaged in student-led book discussion groups. Daniels is also co-author of A Community of Writers, which describes a balanced writing program, blending strong teacher-directed lessons with genuinely student-driven workshops. His latest book, due in Fall of 2003, will address reading in the content areas. Through the Center for City Schools, Harvey works with a network of 15 improving elementary schools in Chicago. In 1996, Daniels co-founded the citys first new high school in 30 years, named for and designed