New Hope for Urban High Schools

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New Hope for Urban High Schools Cultural Reform, Moral Leadership, and Community Partnership

Lisa Gonsalves and John Leonard

ISBN: 0-275-99165-2

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-99165-4

DOI:

264 pages

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 3/30/2007

List Price: $49.95 (UK Sterling Price: £34.95)

Discount Price: $24.98 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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Reviews:

Gonsalves and Leonard's new book offers a strategy for educators and school officials to use that moves beyond traditional solutions like curricular changes, more rigorous academic content in the classroom, or school restructuring designed to maximize the impact of the classroom. The authors assert that effective and lasting change must come from cultural change....By examining the trends, policies, and challenges of Dorchester High School in Boston, much like those of high schools all over the United States, the authors capture the lessons learned from Dorchester's history that should be instructive to educators and school officials today. They also examined Dorchester High in the context of community partnerships. This book will engage the reader. The authors do a good job of helping readers to connect the characters, time, and context of the Dorchester case with the needs and experiences of the readers' own students and communities.
—MultiCultural Review Winter 2007
Gonsalves and Leonard provide a case study of Dorchester High School in Boston (where both the authors have worked), which they consider in the context of national and local history from 1945 to 2006, as well as the geographical and sociological context of the local neighborhoods and community partnerships. They then present lessons learned and recommendations for urban high school reform work through their framework, which is based on the theories of Urie Bronfenbrenner and his ecological systems approach. The impact of community partners, challenges urban teenagers face, and the role of school leaders in cultural change are discussed.
—Reference & Research Book News May 2007
This book is the story of Dorchester High School in Boston. The groundwork for this case study is represented in great detail with a general history of schooling from 1945 to 2006, along with a thorough description of the impact of government mandates and their effects on schools like Dorchester High School, beginning in the late 1980s. There is little doubt that education since the 1960s has become more complex and unsettled. Such factors as a growing diversity in student population, students with special educational needs, and students with bilingual issues are all affecting our schools and testing educators, including those at Dorchester High. Authors Gonsalves and Leonard believe that the average urban high school is unable to fix itself. They state that the circle of responsibility extends far beyond the rolls of the school, and that a cultural reform strategy in this expanded community is a requirement for real school improvement. They intend to demonstrate how an alignment of forces, including businesses, legislative leaders, and involved educators, could significantly reform a school. They present numerous and varied stories that underscore the importance of how community partners facing unique challenges can work together to renew and reform our schools. Recommended. All levels.
—Choice 1/1/2008

Description: The last sixty years have seen tremendous strides in high school education. More young people of all races and backgrounds are graduating from high school, with more credits in tougher courses, than ever before. However, our dropout rate is still too high and far too many graduates are not prepared for college. High school reform for city schools has been particularly challenging where poverty and racism have undermined the high school experience. Educators have relied upon two reform strategies: the curricular strategy focuses on the academic content that is delivered in the classroom, content reformers have adjusted. They also have restructured the high school itself to maximize the impact of the classroom. This book offers an additional strategy, one essential for real change: the cultural reform strategy. Cultural change—a fundamental change in the beliefs, attitudes and expectations of the stakeholders—is difficult to achieve. Yet, without a change in the culture of the high school, curricular and structural reforms will have limited impact on raising student engagement.

The authors illustrate the history of high school reform, and develop a case for the necessity of cultural reform, by taking an intimate look at one very typical urban high school—Dorchester High School in Boston. Dorchester High faced trends, policies, and challenges similar to those of high schools all over the country, so that the lessons learned there should be instructive for urban high schools across America. Gonsalves and Leonard also examine Dorchester High in the context of community partnerships and relationships.

About the Author: Lisa Gonsalves is Assistant Professor at the Graduate College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston. She also serves as Faculty Coordinator of the Teach Next Year Professional Development School Teacher Preparation Program at Dorchester High School.

John Leonard is Headmaster, Economics and Business Academy, Dorchester Education Complex, Boston Public Schools.


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