Lee (U. of Kansas) emphasizes the role of school psychologists as consultants, and one of this encyclopedia's goals is to introduce non-specialists to the scope of psychology applied to education. It can also serve as a reference for practitioners and vocational counselors. For ease of use, the comprehensive contents are listed both alphabetically

Bracey, a research psychologist and author, summarizes the various types of experiments being done today in the United States to try to reform public education, including charter schools, privately run schools, the voucher system, and commercializing schools with corporate contracts, He also examines certain "myths" about public education such as the correlation between money and outcomes, and the idea that more hours in school will result in higher test scores. c. Book News Inc.

From one of the foremost authorities on education in the United States, former U.S. assistant secretary of education, “whistle-blower extraordinaire” (The Wall Street Journal), author of the best-selling The Death and Life of the Great American School System (“Important and riveting”—Library Journal), The Language Police (“Impassioned . . . Fiercely argued . . . Every bit as alarming as it is illuminating”—The New York Times), and other notable books on education history and policy—an incisive, comprehensive look at today’s American school system that argues against those who claim it is broken and beyond repair; an impassioned but reasoned call to stop the privatization movement that is draining students and funding from our public schools. ​In Reign of Error, Diane Ravitch argues that the crisis in American education is not a crisis of academic achievement but a concerted effort to destroy public schools in this country. She makes clear that, contrary to the claims being made, public school test scores and graduation rates are the highest they’ve ever been, and dropout rates are at their lowest point. ​She argues that federal programs such as George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind and Barack Obama’s Race to the Top set unreasonable targets for American students, punish schools, and result in teachers being fired if their students underperform, unfairly branding those educators as failures. She warns that major foundations, individual billionaires, and Wall Street hedge fund managers are encouraging the privatization of public education, some for idealistic reasons, others for profit. Many who work with equity funds are eyeing public education as an emerging market for investors. ​Reign of Error begins where The Death and Life of the Great American School System left off, providing a deeper argument against privatization and for public education, and in a chapter-by-chapter breakdown, putting forth a plan for what can be done to preserve and improve it. She makes clear what is right about U.S. education, how policy makers are failing to address the root causes of educational failure, and how we can fix it. ​For Ravitch, public school education is about knowledge, about learning, about developing character, and about creating citizens for our society. It’s about helping to inspire independent thinkers, not just honing job skills or preparing people for college. Public school education is essential to our democracy, and its aim, since the founding of this country, has been to educate citizens who will help carry democracy into the future.

Losing America’s Schools: The Fight to Reclaim Public Education is a call to save one of the last great democratic institutions in America. Corporatization, charter schools, misleading claims of skill gaps, the loss of Separation of Church and State, deprofessionalization, and the over–use of technology all threaten the existence of the schools that belong to all Americans. This book addresses the problems surrounding those issues, and is a tribute to the groups and individuals who are fighting draconian reforms in order to save our public schools. It is the sequel to Misguided Education Reform: Debating the Impact on Students.

Forget everything you think you know about school reform. Cutting through the cant, sentiment, and obfuscation characterizing the current school reform debate, Frederick M. Hess lacerates the conventional "status quo" reform efforts and exposes the naivete underlying reform strategies that rest on solutions like class size reduction, small schools, and enhanced professional development. He explains that real improvement requires a bracing regime of common sense reforms that create a culture of competence by rewarding excellence, punishing failure, and giving educators the freedom and flexibility to do their work. He documents the scope of the challenges we face and then provides concrete recommendations for addressing them through reforms to promote accountability, competition, a 21st-century workforce, effective school leadership, and sensible reinvention. Engagingly written and drawing on real world experiences and examples, Common Sense School Reform will generate debate and help set the agenda for the future.

Despite concerted efforts from our educators, administrators, and government, American education continues to struggle. The author of this work argues that the decline can be traced to censored curricula, inaccurate textbooks, test-driven evaluations, and increasing poverty among the student population. Under the definition of "failure" specified in the No Child Left Behind Act, more than 80 percent of American schools could currently be labeled as failing, while the quality of American education overall and our students' performance continue to rank unfavorably against international competition. This book examines the crisis in American education and identifies how weaknesses in textbooks, teaching, and testing have created the crisis facing American education—a topic that dramatically affects students, teachers, and parents. Author Herbert N. Foerstel exposes the textbook "wars" that began a century ago and rage on with even more venom today. His book traces the legal basis for curricular censorship that dates back 75 years; identifies the bizarre process by which shoddy textbooks have been written, published, and come to be widely accepted; and documents the disastrous effect that reliance on these materials has had on the curriculum. Foerstel also supplies a careful assessment of the current political debate over education reform and of the proposed solutions to these problems.

Drawing from Louis Farrakhan’s decades of teaching on education and leadership this volume brings his ideas into the educational leadership discourse. It explores through a critical framework the purpose of education disclosing how those in powerful positions have shaped educational policy to use schools and universities for their benefit. The book inspires educational leaders to serve the best interest of those under their leadership. In a spiritual tone it discusses the purpose of education, leadership as love, servant leadership, transformative leadership, and futuristic leadership. In the 21st century, leadership for social justice has become a major theme and in this volume Louis Farrakhan’s many years of working for equal justice on behalf of historically underserved groups is applied to the practice of educational leadership in K-12 and higher education.