The Fog of Reform

In this timely and uplifting work, Goens challenges us to be leaders who are moved by great passions and deep commitments to doing what is right and just, not simply individuals who occupy leadership positions. I suspect that, like myself, educators came into this profession anchored and uplifted by an attitude of optimism and hope. Writers like Goens help us remember why we got into this work and why we persist even when it is not easy. * School Administrator *
George Goens’ highly readable book brings a sane, clear perspective to many dehumanizing outcomes of the school reform movement. Though often well-intentioned, decades of reform have left our children starved for schools with souls that cultivate “wise, caring, whole human beings, prepared to embrace changes and challenges of the future with creativity, soul, and humanity.” I hope every school principal, educator, parent, school board member, concerned citizen, and policy maker will read and share this book, then commit to the moral imperative: to change our national trajectory so that each American child attends a public school that is a primer of freedom, equality, liberty, justice, and ethics. -- Mary Broderick, past president, National School Boards Association
In his book, The Fog of Reform, George Goens defines a moral imperative for school reform in America that moves beyond simplistic quantitative metrics. Children's learning is more complex than a test score or hours of seat time, and requires understanding, questioning and challenging the ‘fog’ created by efforts to reform our public schools. -- David H. Larson, PhD, executive director emeritus, Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents
American Public Education in under attack.  It is being challenged like no other time in history.  Multiple reforms have been proposed.  The upshot for the public and citizenry is growing confusion about the role of public education and what schools ought to be for children. George Goens book, The Fog of Reform, examines reforms and defines concrete proposals on what schools should be and what leaders must do in meeting their moral imperative of educating children in the public setting. -- Jeff Keranen, principal, Whitman Middle School, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
George Goens The Fog of Reform gets us to rethink the role of testing in education and makes us focus on the big picture of learning institutions preparing students for success in life. -- Mark D. Benigni, EdD, superintendent of schools, Meriden, Connecticut, 2015 Education Week ‘Leader to Learn From’
Goens’ candor and insights become such a bright beacon that reveals the dangerous fog shrouding our children, teachers and communities today that anyone will find useful to navigate our educational system back on a course of educational practices and policies that is good for children and supports the values and ethics upon which American education was built. -- Anthony Salvatore, retired assistant principal, Newtown Public Schools, Newtown, Connecticut