Why Is It So Hard to Get Good Schools?

by Larry Cuban

After almost 5 decades of working in and around public schools, Larry Cuban invites us to think along with him about why it is so hard to get good schools. He offers these reflections because his contact with tens of thousands of public school participants―teachers, policymakers, researchers, parents, and students―has convinced him that “I am not alone in coping with these thorny dilemmas…as each of us muddles toward the kinds of ‘good’ schooling that we seek for children.” Providing a strong counter voice to today’s standards-based reform, Why Is It So Hard to Get Good Schools?: Based on Larry Cuban’s Julius and Rosa Sachs Lectures for 2001–2002, this volume is a must-read for everyone interested in improving our schools. “As the consummate expert on the topic, Cuban draws upon history, philosophy, politics, and educational criteria to describe good schools and the struggles to get them. He provides a fascinating and highly readable account.”
― Henry M. Levin , William Heard Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Elke · Rating 4 out of 5]

short and succinct discussion of how we came to chasing after a monolithic vision of what a "good" school is.