Harvard Education PR Urban School Reform: Lessons from San Diego

Today's urban school reformers face a bewildering array of challenges. Urgent problems pertaining to governance, management, labor relations, classroom instruction, and numerous other areas face those who wish to reform and improve urban schools. Having undergone one of the nation's most comprehensive school reform efforts in recent years, San Diego has been a site of nationwide interest--one that is uncommonly well suited to learning about the challenges facing all reformers. This timely book addresses the full range of critical issues pertaining to urban school reform by looking closely at the recent reform efforts in San Diego. In essays by an impressive gathering of scholars and practitioners from across the country, the book considers crucial dimensions of reform efforts in the San Diego schools, including performance, governance, the external environment, central leadership and management, district infrastructure, support services, and school-level instructional efforts. The result is a full-scale assessment of San Diego's reform efforts--a record of unmistakable relevance and value to other urban reform movements throughout the United States. From the Back Cover <div>This book addresses the full range of critical issues pertaining to urban school reform by looking at recent reform efforts in San Diego. In essays by an impressive gathering of scholars and practitioners from across the country, the book considers crucial dimensions of San Diego&#8217;s reform agenda, including performance, governance, the external environment, central leadership and management, district infrastructure, support services, and school-level instructional efforts. The result is a full-scale assessment of San Diego&#8217;s reform efforts&#8212;a record of unmistakable relevance and value to other urban school reform movements throughout the United States.<br><br> &#8220;Impatient with the slow and sometimes stagnant pace of urban school reform, many observers are calling for bold and brash interventions. San Diego, under Alan Bersin, is a prototype of this approach, which one of the chapters in the volume summarizes as &#8216;Do it fast, do it deep, and take no prisoners.&#8217; In <i>Urban School Reform</i>, top scholars turn their microscopes on the San Diego experiment, providing a nuanced assessment of an effort that is certain to be analyzed&#8212;and argued about&#8212;for years to come.&#8221; &#8212; <b>Jeffrey R. Henig</b>, Teachers College, Columbia University<br><br> &#8220;Alan Bersin has been a visionary school superintendent in San Diego. He has moved with bold strokes and sought to transform the very culture of the dysfunctional school system that he inherited. This invaluable book chronicles his efforts in a thorough and balanced manner. It is essential reading for those who are serious about urban school reform.&#8221; &#8212; <b>Joel Klein</b>, Chancellor, New York City Board of Education<br><br> &#8220;Each essay provides the next-best thing to being a participant-observer during the San Diego reform effort. A must-read for the committed urban school reformer.&#8221; &#8212; <b>Deborah McGriff</b>, Executive Vice President, Edison Schools<br><br><b>Frederick M. Hess</b>&#160;is director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and executive editor of Education Next. He is the author of&#160;<i>Spinning Wheels: The Politics of Urban School Reform</i>&#160;and coeditor of&#160;<i>A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom</i>, also published by the Harvard Education Press.</div> About the Author <div><b>Frederick M. Hess</b> is director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and executive editor of Education Next. He is the author of <i>Spinning Wheels: The Politics of Urban School Reform</i> and coeditor of <i>A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom</i>, also published by the Harvard Education Press.</div>