The shortage of qualified teachers in our nation's classrooms is critical, and it is getting worse. This thought-provoking book reveals the reasons for the crisis and offers concrete, affordable solutions. “A practical vision of how our children can get the high-quality teaching they deserve—a vision worth pondering and even implementing.”—Ted Fiske, former Education Editor of the New York Times and coauthor of When Schools Compete: A Cautionary Tale “This book should be read not just by teachers and teacher educators but also by parents, citizens, and policy makers—by all those who need to speak out for children.”—Deborah Meier, Educational Leadership “Why do so few people go into teaching, or once they have begun a career in public school teaching, abandon it? Kitty Boles and Vivian Troen, teachers both, investigate that question and then propose considerable and thoughtful changes that would bring great benefit to our beloved profession.”—Theodore Sizer and Nancy Faust Sizer, authors of The Students Are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract

Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks â€" and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol. Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety.