Those Who Dared

Carl Glickman, President of the Institute for Schools, Education, and Democracy and former University Professor at The University of Georgia-Athens, has released a new book titled "Those Who Dared: Five Visionaries Who Changed American Education". The book is a collection of ideas and thoughts from five educational reformers - James Comer, John Goodlad, Deborah Meier, Henry Levin, and Ted Sizer.

Carl Glickman will kick off the Regional Principal Leadership Academy's National Faculty Seminar Series in December, with a private learning session for RPLA Interns.

The following excerpt is from the publisher, Teachers College Press:

"For decades, practically every major initiative in American education (from top-down standards to the testing movement) has moved decision-making farther away from the school. Throughout their careers, Deborah Meier, John Goodlad, James Comer, Ted Sizer, and Henry Levin have been at the forefront of the fight against this trend, working to give our schools back the ability to educate students in the broadest and richest traditions of activity, inquiry, and problem solving. Now these visionary educators have joined together to share their personal stories of the challenges and triumphs they faced in the classroom, and their ideas of what education can and should be for every student. Serving as an inspirational guide to action for those looking to be more involved in the urgent and continuing efforts to restore America’s public schools, this book:

• Brings together the experiences and insights of greatly influential and progressive educational leaders of the past half-century...and they are still working today!
• Ranges from highly personal to imminently practical to passionately political, with each writer offering a unique perspective on what it takes to sustain major school change.
• Recounts the many instances when the authors thought beyond the conventional boundaries of educational practice to find innovative solutions in a number of critical areas, including developing more effective curriculum and assessment, expanding the benefits of gifted education to every child, strengthening school/community partnerships, and addressing the specific needs of small schools and learning communities."

More Suggested Readings

• Principal Mentoring: A Safe, Simple, and Supportive Approach by Carl J. Weingartner (Corwin Press, Dec. 2008)
• Qualities of Effective Principals by James H. Stronge, Holly B. Richard and Nancy Catano (ASCD, 2008)