Leave No Child BehindLeave No Child Behind
The call-to-arms to ?leave no child behind” in America has become popularly associated with the Bush administration’s education plan?a plan that actually diverges greatly from the ideals of the Children’s Defense Fund, which originated the concept. Here, in a bold and engaging new book, Dr. James Comer reclaims this now-famous exhortation as a tool for positive and substantive change.
Far removed from the federal government’s focus on standardized testing as the panacea for our educational ills, Dr. Comer’s argument?drawn from his own experiences as the creator of the School Development Program?urges teachers, policymakers, and parents alike to work toward creating a new kind of school environment.
In so doing, Dr. Comer reignites a crucial debate as he details the evolution and many successes of his School Development Program since its inception thirty-five years ago, and he illustrates how his model for change has proven effective in public schools throughout the country. Most important, he offers proof that students from all backgrounds can learn at a high level, adopt positive behavioral attitudes, and prepare for a fulfilling adult life, if they learn in schools that provide adequate support for their complete development--schools that know that leaving no child behind should be much more than just a convenient political slogan.
Comer (of the Yale Child Study Center and the Yale U. School of Medicine) has chosen his title not in support of the Bush administration's high-stakes testing agenda enshrined in the legislation of the same name but to highlight the idea that the true goal of the maxim to "leave no child behind" should be to focus on the individual development of children and the promotion of improved education as social justice. Those principles have been incorporated into the mission of the School Development Program of the Yale Child Study Center, founded in the late 1960s and profiled in this text. The lessons of the School Development Program's experiences working with schools are described and their lessons for an effective education reform agenda in the United States are examined. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The founder of the School Development Program at the Yale Child Study Center argues for a change of focus in educational reform programs away from an emphasis on test scores to an approach stressing community involvement, emotional growth, social skills,ethical development, and a child's relationship with his caretakers.
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- New Haven : Yale University Press, c2004.
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