Radical
Fighting to Put Students First
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4.1 • 39 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
In Radical, Michelle Rhee, a fearless and pioneering advocate for education reform, draws on her own life story and delivers her plan for better American schools.
Rhee’s goal is to ensure that laws, leaders, and policies are making students—not adults—our top priority, and she outlines concrete steps that will put us on a dramatically different course. Informing her critique are her extraordinary experiences in education: her years of teaching in inner-city Baltimore; her turbulent tenure as chancellor of the Washington, DC public schools; and her current role as CEO of the education nonprofit StudentsFirst. Rhee draws on dozens of compelling examples from schools she’s worked in and studied, from students who’ve left behind unspeakable home lives and thrived in the classroom to teachers whose groundbreaking methods have produced unprecedented leaps in student achievement.
An incisive and intensely personal call-to-arms, Michelle Rhee’s Radical is required reading for anyone who seeks a guide to not only the improvement of our schools, but also a brighter future for America’s children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
American children are guaranteed an education, but they are not guaranteed a good one. Rhee, founder of StudentsFirst and former chancellor of the Washington D.C. public schools, details drastic changes for how children should be educated, sparking a heated debate over what many consider aggressive reforms. Growing up in a family of teachers in a strict Korean household, Rhee shares the triumphs and tribulations of her childhood. Later, recognizing the struggles of American schools, Rhee uses her experiences initiating a movement to remake American public education to allow each child the opportunity to learn and achieve. Many of her ideas are contentious or counter common practices, and have created a range of responses from impassioned dissenters to rabid fans. Despite Rhee's speeches about the dire need for better teachers, many individuals and organizations were angry at her actions and often questioned her motives. Regardless, she stresses that it is time to change the way the schools are run, how teachers are selected and trained, and how this all relates to the needs of students. Anyone interested in the future of public education will find a valuable guide for gleaning ideas, getting inspired, or perhaps for even instituting these techniques in your own local school.
Customer Reviews
Good for it's purpose
This is a great book for it's purpose - to inform the reader about the issues we are facing in education in America today.
This is not a book to get great insight into Michelle Rhee's personal life, it is not an articulate and well written linear story.
It jumps around a lot, some things are even left unanswered. But at the end of the day it accomplishes every goal it set it out to, and everything I hoped to gain by reading the book.
If you are looking for a story to read, this isn't it. If you're looking for juicy gossip on politicians and such, again wrong book. If you are looking for a book that points out problems in the system, gives insight based on experience on how to fix it, and shows the hypocrisy of the anti-reform movement then this is the book for you. If you are interested in education this is a great book to read and I highly recommend it. Everything she says or claims is backed up by evidence that can be found online if you are interested and doubtful.
However, I do think the book could have been structured better but I have to remind myself Michelle Rhee is not primarily a writer, therefore her focus isn't style, it's getting her point across, and she does this well.
Excellent
Michelle Rhee is my hero! Her fearless devotion to the reform of education is honorable! This book has opened my eyes to the constant struggle we face as a country to make gains in education! Our students need us...Our county needs us! It's time we put students first! If you have any desire to make a difference in the lives students, this book is a must read!
Teach
Her backwards ideas and tough guy tactics are despicable!