Improving Schools from Within : Teachers, Parents, and Principals Can Make the Difference

Rating:
Summary: Great vision,but where's the substance?
Review: I approached the book with anticipation of finding answers for me now as a teacher and in my future as an administrator. I was inspired to be a better visionary, but left in the dark when it came to practical applications.

Rating:
Summary: The guidebook to being a perfect principal
Review: I did a book report and presentation for my secondary education class at Oakland University on this book. The first few chapters are excellant. Barth has an excellant conception on schools and has brilliant ideas on what, we as teachers can do to improve our schools and make our communities a "community of learners". I love his ideas on how there is always room for learning on all levels of the education spectrum. He has exellent advice for principals who are having trouble with their jobs. This is an excellent book, but for every excellent book there are a few downfalls. While doing my presentation and discussing Barth's views, I received negative comments because my audience felt that his ideas could only work in a utopia community. But you will just have to read this book to find out. My other complaint is in the latter part of the book, where Barth discussed Principal Centers. In these last chapters he becomes an advertiser for these "principal centers" that he runs instead of conveying his own ideas on how to improve schools. I highly recommend this book for principals, but if you are a future teacher, then I would not recommend reading this book, because it is not directed to you.

Rating:
Summary: The guidebook to being a perfect principal
Review: I did a book report and presentation for my secondary education class at Oakland University on this book. The first few chapters are excellant. Barth has an excellant conception on schools and has brilliant ideas on what, we as teachers can do to improve our schools and make our communities a "community of learners". I love his ideas on how there is always room for learning on all levels of the education spectrum. He has exellent advice for principals who are having trouble with their jobs. This is an excellent book, but for every excellent book there are a few downfalls. While doing my presentation and discussing Barth's views, I received negative comments because my audience felt that his ideas could only work in a utopia community. But you will just have to read this book to find out. My other complaint is in the latter part of the book, where Barth discussed Principal Centers. In these last chapters he becomes an advertiser for these "principal centers" that he runs instead of conveying his own ideas on how to improve schools. I highly recommend this book for principals, but if you are a future teacher, then I would not recommend reading this book, because it is not directed to you.

Rating:
Summary: Guiding Practitioners to Take Charge of Their School
Review: In his book, Roland S. Barth offers insights into effectively running a school. He describes his ideal school and gives reasons why he would design the school in that format. For instance, his vision includes a community of learners where the principal is seen as the 'head learner' as opposed to a 'headmaster'. His ideal school is one in which adults and students are encouraged to take risks, and they will know there is a safety net to protect them. Collegiality and humor have a place in Barth's vision since, "the quality of adult relationships within a school has more to do with the quality and character of the school and with the accomplishments of students than any other factor". (p.163) Practitioners are encouraged to write about their craft for a variety of reasons including the fact that "written insights have a 'memory' and they can subsequently be drawn upon. Insights not recorded vanish." (p. 97) The vast array of ideas offered for different ways of looking at schools is refreshing. A very good read!

Rating:
Summary: Guiding Practitioners to Take Charge of Their School
Review: Several of our Site Based Council members read this book a few years ago in planning for a staff-wide summer retreat. This book changed the way we looked at staff development and helped us bring everyone (well almost everyone) on board with whole school change. We continue to use quotes from this book during current staff development opportunities. We've shared this at numerous national conventions and at workshops that we put on in our own school. We now see many of the same excerpts (the bee story!)that we've shared at other conferences that we go to.

Rating:
Summary: The catalyst for change
Review: Several of our Site Based Council members read this book a few years ago in planning for a staff-wide summer retreat. This book changed the way we looked at staff development and helped us bring everyone (well almost everyone) on board with whole school change. We continue to use quotes from this book during current staff development opportunities. We've shared this at numerous national conventions and at workshops that we put on in our own school. We now see many of the same excerpts (the bee story!)that we've shared at other conferences that we go to.

Rating:
Summary: A personal trainer for principals.
Review: The role of school principal can be very isolated (and isolating) and Roland Barth's book, 'Improving schools from within', is a personal trainer/ coach that all principals need. Barth (like Boyer in 'The Basic School') describes benchmarks of excellent practice and offers collegial advice on how to get there. The thing I liked about the book was that I could personally identify with the issues and the writer's point of view. The book is easy to read, relevant to today's education and it has an heuristic quality even though it was published in 1990. Neil MacNeill Principal March 1997