
Potential Grizzlies
Making the Nonsense Bearable
Kevin G. Welner(Author)
Information Age Publishing
Published on 22. October 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
100 pages
978-1-64802-297-5 (ISBN)
Description
If all humor does indeed come from pain, then American educational policymaking has been a petri dish brimming with hilarity. Even before Betsy DeVos ascended to her perch atop the U.S. Department of Education, her predecessors had offered up an excruciating decade of fodder for satire. Ably assisted by a bevy of billionaires, foundations, and advocacy think tanks, these policymakers unleashed a torrent of rhetorical gibberish and evidence-free "innovations" on the nation's children and their schools.
Potential Grizzlies: Making the Nonsense Bearable is one researcher's attempt to laugh instead of cry. The book will bring back memories of policymakers from more innocent times, from Michelle Rhee to Arne Duncan to Chris Christie. Sit back and relax with fond thoughts of your favorite policies, from testing to school choice to "parent trigger." Or maybe just smile and imagine a day when policymakers turn to research evidence and knowledgeable educators to build a sound future for our children.
Potential Grizzlies: Making the Nonsense Bearable is one researcher's attempt to laugh instead of cry. The book will bring back memories of policymakers from more innocent times, from Michelle Rhee to Arne Duncan to Chris Christie. Sit back and relax with fond thoughts of your favorite policies, from testing to school choice to "parent trigger." Or maybe just smile and imagine a day when policymakers turn to research evidence and knowledgeable educators to build a sound future for our children.
Reviews / Votes
Kevin Welner deftly skewers every phony reform fad of the past twenty years with a sharp blade, neatly removing head from body without leaving a trace. He says in a few cleverly chosen anecdotes what many of us have tried to prove in laborious tomes. The so-called ""reform"" movement is a hoax. Read it and laugh!"" - Diane Ravitch, Research Professor of Education at New York University, and author of Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America's Public Schools"During these days of grim headlines, Potential Grizzlies provides welcome relief. With clever twists about "reformers" and their projects, Welner captures the tragic hilarity of what friends of public schools have lived through for the past decades. Every time I thought I read the most hilarious ""tweak"" of ed reform, I would find a new favorite a few pages later. A must-read for those who have waged the fight against NCLB, Race to the Top, privatization, and of course Betsy DeVos." - Carol Burris, Executive Director of the Network for Public Education, and author of On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the Twenty-First-Century Struggle against Resegregation
""Welner expertly jumbles satire, research and education reform into this must-read book, which simultaneously covers where we've come from, why, and where we are going with education reform. Honestly I'm angry that my blog is not as funny as this. Read it, unless you don't have a funny bone."" -Julian Vasquez Heilig, Dean and Professor, University of Kentucky College of Education
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Charlotte
United States
Publishing group
Emerald Publishing Inc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
166 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64802-297-5 (9781648022975)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2021
1st Edition
Information Age Publishing
from
€62.33
Available for download
Person
Kevin G. Welner, University of Colorado Boulder
Content
Foreword by David Berliner.
Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
Chapter 1. The Use of Research (or Not) By Policymakers.
Chapter 2. Reforminess.
Chapter 3. School Choice.
Chapter 4. Reading Wars.
Chapter 5. Billionaires and Their Buddies.
Chapter 6. Those Dreadful Teachers.
Chapter 7. Deregulation, Crisis, and Closure.
Chapter 8. Parent Trigger.
Chapter 9. Budget Reduction.
Chapter 10. Class Size.
Chapter 11. Stratified Opportunity.
Chapter 12. Growth Mindset.
Chapter 13. Screen Time.
Chapter 14. MOOCs.
Chapter 15. Higher Ed Grade Inflation.
Chapter 16. Guns.
Chapter 17. Childhood Obesity and Marketing.
Chapter 18. COVID-19.
Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
Chapter 1. The Use of Research (or Not) By Policymakers.
Chapter 2. Reforminess.
Chapter 3. School Choice.
Chapter 4. Reading Wars.
Chapter 5. Billionaires and Their Buddies.
Chapter 6. Those Dreadful Teachers.
Chapter 7. Deregulation, Crisis, and Closure.
Chapter 8. Parent Trigger.
Chapter 9. Budget Reduction.
Chapter 10. Class Size.
Chapter 11. Stratified Opportunity.
Chapter 12. Growth Mindset.
Chapter 13. Screen Time.
Chapter 14. MOOCs.
Chapter 15. Higher Ed Grade Inflation.
Chapter 16. Guns.
Chapter 17. Childhood Obesity and Marketing.
Chapter 18. COVID-19.