Rating: 
Summary: Bad teachers do exist, so what do you do?
Review:
Is your child being insulted, humiliated and demeaned by a rotten teacher? Our son was, thanks to a school that refused to do anything about one lethal teacher whose awful treatment of kids was well-known to them for years.
A year later, we were still helping our son recover from that experience. This book may help you to see the signs earlier than we saw them, and if so, it also will tell you what you need to do to protect your child against an incompetent teacher.
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Bad Teachers
Review: During my school years, I had more bad teachers than good. Teachers are generally egotistical people who can not boss other people around in work settings, so they choose teaching in order to wheld their power. Teachers who pick on shy or overweight students are the essense of evil. I had a teacher who picked on a student the day he got back to school after being off because of the death of his mother. This was in the 1960's, and his hair hadn't been cut for a while because the dad had several other children to take care of and going to the barbershop right after losing his wife was the last thing on his mind. The teacher put a bow in his hair and made him walk around all day like that. I had a teacher who told the boys in my class to throw rocks at me at recess, and he stood by and laughed while it happened. This was because I was overweight and he wanted me to see how boys felt about fat girls. I learned to hate life because of teachers. I have very little respect for teachers for the most part.
Rating: 
Summary: Where is the research behind his facts??!
Review: I counted no less than 46 points made by Mr. Strickland that are not backed up with cold, hard research facts. He says, "Best estimates are that between 5 and 15 % of all teachers are incompetent..." Where is the research behind this?! Where did he get that number?! Then he says, that.." out of thousands of colleges in America, only forty of them are truly selective, in that they accept less than half of their applicants..." and that anybody whose reflection appears in a mirror can obtain a teaching certificate. Again, where is the research? How did he arrive at the number 40?? I want a list of those 40 colleges! He states that most teachers read on an eighth grade level. These are just A FEW examples of the many times he makes a strong statement, but does not explain the research behind it. He mentions many "studies" done, but only lists a handful in his reference page. I want details! I will agree that parents SHOULD know as much as possible about what goes on in their child's classroom. I also agree that not all teachers are stellar, and some are even terrible. However, I think that Mr. Strickland paints a picture that is far worse than the reality. I think this book caters to fear and causes suspicion and hysteria on the part of parents. This book is basically just an excuse that parents can use to become combative and confrontational with teachers and administrators. I question the motives of an "educator" who has "been in the field" for 30 plus years that would write and publish such meaningless, fact-less drivel. It is my opinion that he wrote this book purely to make money, and he is profiting off the backs of parents who may or may not truly be dealing with a bad teacher.
Rating:
Summary: Every parent faced with a teacher problem should read this!
Review: I determined by reading the book that I was faced with a BAD Teacher problem. The book helped me to determine the proper actions to take for dealing with an incredible defense system built to protect the teachers and associated staff, at ALL COST. Yes, it has a few minor holes and it may not cover every problem, but when I read this, almost every chapter struck home and helped me fix the problem. Sure beats walking into to the principals office blind!
Rating: 
Summary: mixed review
Review: I liked the fact that the interest of children was at the heart of the book. The author comes across as a strong advocate for young pupils. I also think he can be naive. Children are human and have human weaknesses such as laziness, dishonesty and irresponsibility just like adults. Social skills and self-control are learned skills every bit as important as academic skills. I think too much blame is placed on teachers here. He does have excellent suggestions to making parent-teacher conferences more productive.
Rating:
Summary: says the author misses the point
Review: I think the author misses the point. It is not bad teachers that are the problem, or even bad school districts, it is the system. For people who don't really know, 99% of school districts are run worse than the DMV. Maybe we should get rid of public schools all-together? He doesn't go into this. He mentions a bad teacher as one with no control of the class. Maybe if those parents enforced proper school conduct at home? Also, unless a teacher is doing things horribly unprofessional, maybe a "bad teacher" will be a good learning experience for the kid. He or she will someday have a "bad boss".
Rating:
Summary: How to Effectively Address Problems w/ Your Child's Teacher
Review: I wish I would have read this book prior to my daughter attending elementary school! My daughter had the unfortunate experience of having a "bad" teacher for fourth grade - I felt it was me against our local educational system. I was up against a "valued" member of the staff, but unfortuately she did not know how to reach my daughter. She was labeled "unwilling to participate" or "not trying hard enough". I truely beleive I could have been more effective in any of the numerous conferences had I read this first. I knew from the onset of the problems that my daughter's learning style did not coincide with the teacher's teaching style. But as a parent, how do you turn this situation around and how do you approach this problem without creating a bigger one?? This is a handbook all parents should read if they are having difficultly with a teacher. Guy Strickland gives straight forward advice on how to maneveur through conferences to actually obtain useful information. The book is full of practical situations that every parent could use advice. As Guy points out in the first part of the book, Poor schoolwork is not the problem - only a symptom. But as most parents don't know, how do you constructively work with the educational system to find the true problem? It is too often blamed upon the child when in fact, the child is not the problem!
Rating:
Summary: How to Effectively Address Problems w/ Your Child's Teacher
Review: I wish I would have read this book prior to my daughter attending elementary school! My daughter had the unfortunate experience of having a "bad" teacher for fourth grade - I felt it was me against our local educational system. I was up against a "valued" member of the staff, but unfortuately she did not know how to reach my daughter. She was labeled "unwilling to participate" or "not trying hard enough". I truely beleive I could have been more effective in any of the numerous conferences had I read this first. I knew from the onset of the problems that my daughter's learning style did not coincide with the teacher's teaching style. But as a parent, how do you turn this situation around and how do you approach this problem without creating a bigger one?? This is a handbook all parents should read if they are having difficultly with a teacher. Guy Strickland gives straight forward advice on how to maneveur through conferences to actually obtain useful information. The book is full of practical situations that every parent could use advice. As Guy points out in the first part of the book, Poor schoolwork is not the problem - only a symptom. But as most parents don't know, how do you constructively work with the educational system to find the true problem? It is too often blamed upon the child when in fact, the child is not the problem!
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Bad Teachers
Review: I'd like to believe that the majority of teachers are wonderful, but the reality is that a bad teacher can really damage a child. This book gave us real examples of the exact situations we were going through (delay tactics, union reps) and some inside knowledge on protecting ourselves and our child. Teachers have unions and large administrative supports behind them - parents need the info in the book to stand a fighting chance of working with or hopefully eliminating a bad teacher. I recommend this book highly. We learned a lot about the unspoken pressures and motives regarding dealing with such an unpleasant situation.
Rating: 
Summary: Right on target
Review: I'd like to believe that the majority of teachers are wonderful, but the reality is that a bad teacher can really damage a child. This book gave us real examples of the exact situations we were going through (delay tactics, union reps) and some inside knowledge on protecting ourselves and our child. Teachers have unions and large administrative supports behind them - parents need the info in the book to stand a fighting chance of working with or hopefully eliminating a bad teacher. I recommend this book highly. We learned a lot about the unspoken pressures and motives regarding dealing with such an unpleasant situation.
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