David C. Berliner, Gene V. Glass et al., "50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools" (Teachers College Press, 2014)

Jun 18, 2014

50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools

The Real Crisis in Education

David C. Berliner, Gene V. Glass, and Associates

Hosted by Ryan Allen

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Summary

David C. Berliner, Gene V. Glass, and associates are the authors of 50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools: The Real Crisis in Education (Teachers College Press, 2014). Dr. Berliner is Regents' Professor of Education Emeritus at Arizona State University. Gene V Glass is a senior researcher at the National Education Policy Center and professor at the University of Colorado. The associate authors are comprised of leading Ph.D. students and candidates selected by Dr. Berliner and Dr. Class for this book. In the book, Dr. Berliner, Dr. Glass, and the other writing associates attempt to expose common myths and lies that are present in the current political and educational landscape. While grounding their writing in academic research, the authors' wrote a book aimed to be assessable to administrators, teachers, government officials, and the common (non-academic) person. The result is an extensive and yet easy-to-read book, broken into small sections that all pack a powerful punch. The authors do not hold back criticism from those they consider to be purveyors of myths or lies--such as Michelle Rhee, Michael Bloomberg, and Tony Bennett. From properly interpreting American student rankings on international testing like PISA and TIMSS, to questioning the success of the charter school movement, and showing why young students should not be held back, this book uncovers all of these myths and more. Dr. Berliner joins the podcast to discuss this book and also a few other recent events in education.