Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America
by Paul Tough
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Read in September, 2008
Continuing my public education theme, this is Paul Tough's beautifully reported account of the creation and administration of the Harlem Children's Zone, Geoffrey Canada's "laboratory" in central Harlem where they are committed to saving everyone. Utterly inspiring and rich with the history and evolution of public policy and educational theory, this book is a must read for anyone who thinks they know anything about what it takes to move from poverty to mainstream culture.
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this book is about the organization i work for and the big boss man. it's informative and interesting, weaving the developmental theory that underlies our programming with the stories of how it's come be. if you like books like "there are no children here" or "random family" i think you will really like this. i would give it 4.5 stars, but that's just not a possibity.
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Read in November, 2008
I like the idea behind Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone. Take babies and parents of those babies and put them through a conveyor-belt system, from the time the baby is in the womb until high school. However, parts of the book annoyed me. I know test results are important in today's educational system but I felt Canada was obsessed with them, and like one of the members of his staff pointed out, you can't treat a school like a business. You can't take a kid, throw in X plus Y and get ...more
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I didn't expect to enjoy reading this as much as I did. The author, Paul Tough, does an excellent job of outlining the plans and ideas (and successes and failures) of Geoff Canada as he attempts to break the cycle of poverty in Harlem. I think he has some interesting ideas, and he's willing to work really hard to see them through. Obama apparently wants to emulate some of Canada's ideas in 20 other cities in the US.
The basic premise is that every kid can get a high quality education if they a...more
The basic premise is that every kid can get a high quality education if they a...more
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Read in October, 2008
I read this after hearing Geoffrey Canada interviewed on the radio. Canada has created a "conveyor belt" educational system for kids in Harlem, which starts with programs for pregnant mothers and is meant to end when the children complete college.
The first couple chapters have a historical overview of American theories about poverty, which I found enlightening. The nitty gritty details of how to run a school and meet Canada's goals were engrossing. And I was surprised when, towa...more
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What would I do without NPR? This author was interviewed about the Baby College project--a monumental effort to teach disadvantaged parents how to parent--like middle class parents do. The premise is that disadvantage is perpetuated through ignorant parenting skills, just as advantage is perpetuated by upper/middle class parenting skills--more so than money. Led by a black community leader in Harlem, young mothers are taught to read, read, read to babies/tots. They are taught to reason with thei...more
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Read in October, 2008
Really interesting subject matter... I head about it on the radio but sadly, the book doesn't give much more information than the half hour program that I heard. So it's great to know someone is out there trying new ideas to give people resources to break the cycle of poverty but the book itself is a bit of a drag. I'm thrilled to know that Obama likes this model of education (starting before the kids are born, giving the parents tools and skills to enhance their childs cognitive development)s...more
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I just listened to a pod cast from the radio show "This American Life" from September 2008 entitled "going big". One of the stories in this episode told the story of Geoffrey Canada and his war against childhood poverty and education. I can't WAIT to read this book about him and the project he has started that is having amazing results!
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Read in October, 2008
I found it both heartening and depressing to read about Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone. Their approach of focusing on early childhood in order to make real change in people's lives makes a lot of sense. But it's difficult to be hopeful that these programs will be replicated recreated on a much larger scale.
I'm looking forward to reading updates in 5, 10, 15 years and more - what difference these interventions will make in the long run.
I'm looking forward to reading updates in 5, 10, 15 years and more - what difference these interventions will make in the long run.
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I just listened to the episode of This American Life where they talk about this project. I've been thinking a lot lately about getting parents involved when talking to youth. My focus happens to be sexual health of youth, but I'm still intrigued by this man's "baby college" and how the parents seem really engaged and transformed by the program. Regardless of what your interests are I think everyone should look at this model of helping kids.
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Heard the author on the September 26, 2008 episode of This American Life.
UPDATE:
Geoffrey Canada is really making the rounds at Public Radio. He appeared on both This I Believe and Eight Forty-Eight on November 6, 2008.
UPDATE:
Geoffrey Canada is really making the rounds at Public Radio. He appeared on both This I Believe and Eight Forty-Eight on November 6, 2008.
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I heard about this book on This American Life and was intrigued by Canada's desire not to make small changes and save a kid here or there, but to make large sweeping changes in a Harlem community that will change the future of a large population of children born in poverty. Since I sometimes think that my work in a Title I school is futile, I am inspired by true education reform and hope his ideas spread.
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A great book about a man who has developed the Harlem Children's Zone to help people break the cycle of poverty! I heard him on "This American Life" and was very inspired by what he is doing.
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After listening to the story of Geoffrey Canada on NPR's "This American Life," I immediately bought a copy of the book and I was not disappointed. It provides more specifics than the news show covered. While Canada's approach is somewhat unique and definitely takes a lot of work, it's hard to deny that this man is making a difference in the lives of Harlem youth.
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Great book -- very interesting look at the effects of poverty on education full of lots of personal stories.
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Read in November, 2008
recommended to Joanne by:
Maureen
Highly readable overview of poverty in the U.S. and what schools or a coherent educational and social services program might do to eradicate it. As a parent, worth reading for the early childhood research alone. Canada (author of Fist Stick Knife Gun) is absolutely committed to making his charter school and package of services work and is backed by heavy capital. It's breathtaking to watch him succeed and fail. If he can't do
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I enjoyed Samantha's review and look forward to this book.
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Read in October, 2008
An amazing read about the achievement gap between middle class and poor Americans. I agree that Geoffery Canada's early intervention conveyor belt approach is the only plausible model for breaking the generational cycle of poverty in America.
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If you want to know what my job is about - read it! For real, it's very well written and gives very good history about the research behind poverty and what Harlem Children Zone has built to address it.
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