High School Philosophy

Theodore Sizer, the founder of The Coalition of Essential Schools, was a passionate advocate for the American school system. In this, his last audiobook, he offers a vision of what a future secondary education might look like.

As they say, there are a thousand ways to use a knife. If one method isn't working, don't keep doing it. It's time you try another effective method to help students see themselves and the world from a different, much better perspective.

Despite ongoing professional development for urban educators, many inner-city school students are still not performing on high levels or even grade level. This book is a practical guide to helping educators understand the innate difficulties of transferring expertise from the experts, through the teachers, and into the students in a meaningful way that demonstrates student learning.

Refugee High is a riveting chronicle of the 2017-18 school year at Sullivan High, a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its height in the White House. Even as we follow teachers and administrators grappling with the everyday challenges facing many urban schools, we witness the complicated circumstances and unique education needs of refugee and immigrant children: Alejandro may be deported just days before he is scheduled to graduate; Shahina narrowly escapes an arranged marriage; and Esengo is shot at the beginning of the school year.