Book Review

Group claiming to create reading opportunities for kids may have turned down book because it doesn’t support affirmative action.
Los Angeles, CA - A new bilingual kids book is apparently "unfit" for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) because it shows kids that affirmative action actually hinders their success. But the author of Joey Gonzalez, Great American (WND Books, ISBN 978-0-976726-93-7, March 2008) believes he understands why Bookends, a non-profit organization that provides used childrens’ books to LAUSD inner-city school libraries, has rejected his donation.

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Dr. Storey, you recently released the second edition of your book " The Road Ahead: Transition to Adult Life". What led you to write the first edition? My co-editors and I were looking for a text that was written more for practitioners (teachers and other support providers) rather than for other academics. We wanted a practical text where people could take the information and put it directly to use.

Jay Mathews
Journalists, particularly me, tend to get excited about charter schools, the independently run public schools that have produced, at least in some cases, major improvements in achievement for children from low-income families. The charter educators I write about are often young, energetic, witty, noble and pretty much irresistible.

Adults are so busy imagining the ways that technology can improve classroom learning or improve the public debate that they've blinded themselves to the collective dumbing down that is actually taking place.

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Aaron Greenspan has just written a book entitled ”Authoritas: One Student’s Harvard admissions and the Founding of the Facebook era. In this interview, he responds to questions about Harvard, his book, and comments about higher education in general.

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Judy, you have just written a book about a variety of mnemonics and what you call "old-school ways." What prompted you to write this book? I’ve always had a good memory and realized that I use mnemonics every day – to remember the days of the month, my dad’s birthday or where I left my car keys.

Aaron Greenspan was just like any other recent Harvard graduate until the day he read that his invention, a web site called The Facebook, was worth billions of dollars—and someone else was taking the credit. Trying to find the rationale behind an unbelievable tale of ingenuity, triumph and betrayal, Greenspan sat down to write his story, and emerged with a book that follows a boy and his autistic brother from public school to the hyper-competitive college admissions process to the gates of Harvard Yard and beyond. A true story that sheds light on the American educational system, the immense challenges of coping with autism, and of course, the astronomical growth of The Facebook, Authoritas is an engrossing account of life that any student, parent, teacher or entrepreneur will relate to.

WHAT ARE THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COSTS OF FAILING TO EDUCATE ALL OF AMERICA'S CHILDREN?
Edited by Clive Belfield and Henry M. Levin
While the high cost of education draws headlines, the cost of not educating America's children goes largely ignored. The Price We Pay remedies this oversight by highlighting the private, fiscal, and public costs of inadequate education.

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Catherine Millett is Senior Research Scientist at Educational Testing Service (ETS), and co-author of A Culture of Evidence: An Evidenced-Centered Approach to Accountability for Student Learning Outcomes

By Allen Quist
Beverly Eakman's new book, Walking Targets, is a detailed and accurate description of the troubling and dangerous state of education in contemporary United States of America.

The paradigm shift in elementary and secondary public education will be evident when everyday people discover their individual and collective roles in the transformation of schools. As stewards of our younger generation, we have both the right to demand academic excellence from students and teaching professionals and the responsibility to ensure that individual schools and school systems have the capacity to meet our high standards.

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EdNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
You have recently co-authored a book with Karen Isaacson entitled “Intelligent Life in the Classroom.” What prompted you to write this book? I have always wanted to write a book, so when the opportunity came along, I knew I had to go for it. Karen and I wanted to create a fun and accessible way

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EdNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
You have written a book entitled He’s Not Autistic, But…How We Pulled Our Son From the Mouth of the Abyss. What prompted you to write a book about your son?

A seminary president and recently announced candidate for president of the Southern Baptist Convention says in a new book that Christians should have an exit strategy from public schools.Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says in Culture Shift: Engaging Current Issues With Timeless Truth that Christian parents increasingly view public schools as "prime battlegrounds for cultural conflict."

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EdNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
You have just written a book entitled "America's Survival Guide". What prompted you to write this book? From my experience working for and serving on the Michigan State Board of Education, as well as my time as judge, I have come to appreciate that a large proportion of our students and general public do not have a good understanding of our founding history and First Principles.