Building a Learning Culture in America

by Kevin Chavous

Overview

Building a Learning Culture in America takes an incisive, no-holds-barred look at how America embraced and cultivated a culture of learning in the past, how that culture declined in the sixties and seventies, and what must be done to regain it. From political gridlock to systemic discrimination, Chavous details the many ways education today is off track, and cites specific examples of what Americans might do to reform it.

Part memoir and part manifesto, this is a frank, fascinating, and personal account of Chavous' experience as a politician working to enact school choice in Washington, DC, and throughout the United States. During the course of his political career, he has seen political skirmishes and party scuffles interfere with the United States' ability to improve its educational system. These conflicts did not cause the problem; they were merely a result. The true problem was more basic: the decline of America's learning culture.

This pivotal work calls for Americans to unite in making the changes needed to re-establish a learning culture as an inherent piece of the American national fabric, and tells us how to begin.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412864428
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	08/30/2016
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Contents Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Endorsements Introduction Part 1. The Politics of Reform—My Struggle for School Choice 1 My Personal History of Learning 2 A Look at Education in America The Creation of an Education System For All 1960s and 1970s: In the Midst of Great Change, Our Schools Remained Stagnant 3 A Nation at Risk: Then and Now A Nation at Risk The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools 4 Equal Opportunity Education: A Civil Rights Issue A Family History of Activism Experiencing Racism Firsthand 5 Public Service in Our Nation's Capital 6 Heading Up the Education Committee 7 Running for Mayor and Growing Charter Schools in DC 8 School Vouchers in DC 9 Losing My Council Seat and Joining the Education Reform Movement 10 Glimmers of Hope Part 2. Achieving Reform: Building a Learning Culture in America Introduction 11 Establishing a New Brand of Nationalism 12 Removing Politics 13 All Children Can Learn 14 Encouraging Education Activism 15 Considering How Other Cultures Teach and Learn 16 Let Us Model Our Learning Culture Movement on Other Successful Social Change Movements The Civil Rights Movement The Environmental Movement Gay Rights Movement Public Health Movement Technology's Role in Enacting Social Change The Learning Culture Movement 17 Trusted Voices Championing the Cause 18 Celebrating Models and Teachers That Work Part 3. Some Success Stories 19 Three Schools and One School District with Great Teachers and a Learning Culture Salemwood School Houston Heights Learning Academy Village Leadership Academy The Lindsay Unified School District Conclusion: Finding Hope Bibliography Index