cover image Smart Schools, Smart Kids: Why Do Some Schools Work?

Smart Schools, Smart Kids: Why Do Some Schools Work?

Edward B. Fiske. Simon & Schuster, $21.45 (303pp) ISBN 978-0-671-69063-2

``We know how to fix American schools, and they are being fixed'' is the good news of this report from the field by the education correspondent of the New York Times . Innovative approaches to the learning styles of students, school-based management which empowers teachers, and decentralization of school boards are among the transforming elements that Fiske observed in a country-wide tour of redesigned public school systems. While citing outstanding prototype systems--among them those of Miami, New York City's Community School District 4, and New Haven, Conn.,--Fiske emphasizes that the educational turnabout is in its early stages. His ``journey through the quiet revolution that is slowly transforming American education'' offers hope with its pragmatic analysis. Author tour. (Aug.)