Spinning Wheels

While almost everyone agrees that America's urban schools are a mess, Frederick Hess argues that much of what ails urban education is actually the result of continuous or fragmentary reform. The result is what he terms " policy churn" , which distracts teachers and principals from efforts to refine classroom teaching while seldom resulting in successful long-term changes.

Implementing Tracking Reform

1

(11)

The Origins of Tracking Reform

12

(29)

Conflicting Orientations

13

(1)

What Is the Evidence?

14

(5)

Agenda Setting

19

(2)

Keeping Track

21

(13)

Antitracking Politics and Detracking Policies

34

(6)

Summary and Conclusion

40

(1)

The Schools Respond

41

(17)

Data

41

(1)

Untracking in the Schools

42

(4)

Why Some Schools Track and Others Detrack: The UCLA Project's Explanation

46

(3)

An Alternative Framework

49

(6)

Summary and Conclusion

55

(3)

Influences on Tracking Policy

58

(29)

Comparing Tracked and Untracked Schools

58

(6)

Modeling the Influences on Tracking Policy

64

(1)

Institutional Characteristics of Schools

64

(8)

The Technical Challenge of Heterogeneity

72

(1)

The Organizational Characteristics of Schools

73

(6)

Political Influences

79

(5)

Summary and Conclusion

84

(3)

Governing Reform

87

(28)

Educational Governance in the Two States: A Brief History

87

(3)

The State Role in Tracking Policy

90

(1)

Districts and Schools Sharing Authority

91

(6)

Modeling the Source of Tracking Policy

97

(8)

When Policies Collide: Creekside and Parkview Schools

105

(8)

Summary and Conclusion

113

(2)

Tracking and the Subject Area

115

(18)

Subject Area Subsystems

115

(2)

Subject Areas and Tracking

117

(1)

Tracking in English and Math

118

(1)

Middle School Subjects as Part of a Discipline

119

(3)

Middle School Subjects as Part of a K--12 Curricular System

122

(2)

Middle School Departments as Bureaucratic Actors

124

(2)

A Math Department Rebellion: Hillcrest Middle School

126

(4)

Summary and Conclusion

130

(3)

The Classroom, the Teacher, and Tracking Reform

133

(17)

Sifting Reform

133

(2)

What Is Different about Untracked Classes?

135

(3)

Alternative Instructional Strategies

138

(4)

Unanswered Questions from the Classroom

142

(3)

Different Philosophies, Different Policies: Meadowview Middle School

145

(3)

Summary and Conclusion

148

(2)

The Fate of Reform

150

(17)

Implementing Tracking Reform

151

(2)

Casting Doubt on the Prevailing Explanation of Tracking

153

(1)

The Future of Tracking Policy and Research

154

(3)

Appendixes

A. The Study's Methods and Data

157

(6)

B. Statistical Issues in Chapter 4

163

(4)

Notes

167

(20)

Index

187

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Rent More, Save More! Use code: BBRENTAL

5% off 1 book, 7% off 2 books, 10% off 3+ books

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials