Rating: 
Summary: The best book on education I've ever read
Review: Ted and Nancy Sizer write, not with the equivocal opinions of policy makers, but with the authority of their years of experience as teachers and school reformers. I've read a lot of books on education, but this is the only one I've read that truly matters. It persuades us, through its economy and intelligence, that only by building a moral community -- one unique to each school -- can we begin to change our public schools to serve their students, teachers, and our society.
Rating:
Summary: excellent!
Review: The Students are Watching is one of the best education books I've ever read! Accessible and passionate, the Sizers use their knowledge and experience to tackle many of the problems in schools today. The book is practical and full of examples--for teachers, students, and parents--describing the true meaning of morality in schools and of how we can create schools that demonstrate a belief in the students; preparing them for the future.
Rating:
Summary: A moral education for children begins right here with adults
Review: When I first picked up Theodore and Nancy Faust Sizer's book, The Students are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract something in the word moral made my knee jerk. Maybe it is the way those on the right like to harken back to the days of mom in the kitchen-dad hard at work on the golf course, and Jane and Joe glued to the Howdy Doody Show (no offense to Howdy himself). But knowing Ted and Nancy's previous contributions to progressive education reform I thought better of laying the book down.In fact, what makes this book so important is its ability to engage reformers on the left in a conversation about moral values, less the archaic symbols of a questionably idyllic past. And it is a moral contract the Sizers are talking about: an agreement between students and school people to fix what is wrong with our schools. "The Students are Watching", the Sizers warn school officials. They are watching and taking note each time the contract is failed by their teacher who is simply trying to control an out of control class, or their decaying school building, or their less than stimulating curriculum. The students are watching and asking themselves why they should care if no one else does. This is a well written, very readable book.
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