Disrupting Disruption

With public schools under siege, this deep-dive, elegantly written account of how three school districts dramatically boosted graduation rates and closed the racial and ethnic opportunity gap couldn't be more timely. * Deborah Meier, MacArthur "genius" award winner and author of In Schools We Trust *
I love this book because it makes one thing crystal clear: You don't need to have superheroes to run successful school systems. Hard, steady work, informed by good evidence and collective professional wisdom in our schools, can take you a long way. Disrupting Disruption shows, in rich detail, how three US school districts keep transforming teaching and learning in their schools—the same principles that earlier lifted Finland's schools to the top. * Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons and co-author of Let the Children Play *
David Kirp and his colleagues have always been ahead of the curve in identifying and explaining how successful school districts go about their work. With Kirp and company, you get painstaking methodology and crystal clarity of results. I invite the reader to read and enjoy the book, understand that district success is describable, and then realize that the devil is in the disruption. Above all, Disrupting Disruption has layers of meaning and insight read it carefully and enjoy every morsel. * Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus and Global Consultant, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto *
Disrupting Disruption has an important and timely message. It calls into question a reform movement that, fueled by abundant self-confidence and self-righteousness, deliberately set out to rearrange the basic landscape of American education. Where the standard reform mantra offers a checklist of off-the-shelf reform cure-alls, Disrupting Disruption suggests that what matters is less the specific things a district does than the way that it does them. And by fessing up to the fact that they have no magic medications to peddle, the authors win the reader over with their forthrightness. * Jeffrey Henig, Professor of Political science & Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the author of The End of Exceptionalism in American Education: The Changing Politics of School Reform *
At a time when the American Dream is dying and quick-fix education fads are making things worse, Disrupting Disruption gives us what we need. Brilliantly analyzed and fluently written, the book offers powerful, practical lessons from three impressive school districts about what we can do to redeem the promise of public education. * Richard D. Kahlenberg, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation *
The authors have done a great service by showing how to debunk the paradigm of 'demography is destiny.' School systems can help all students succeed when they create stable, supportive learning environments where there is a relentless focus on essential ingredients: talented and supported teachers, a challenging and coherent curriculum, high-quality programs, and partnerships with parents and local organizations that reinforce the shared academic mission. These strategies and examples remind us that education is the cornerstone of our democracy—and how we can keep it that way. * Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers *