Education reformers Deborah Meier, Theodore R. Sizer, and Nancy Faust Sizer have published books that have helped shape a movement. As school principals, all three have done another kind of writing as well: short essays in their own schools' newsletters to families.
Keeping School collects the best of these wonderfully readable gems of education writing-from an urban public elementary school and an exurban charter high school-along with new essays. Together, the letters form a portrait of what schools can look like when they are based on the authors' understandings of learning, community, authority, and standards.
A delightful read. An immensely useful resource for educators working to start new schools or reinvigorate existing ones.--Rethinking Schools
"Theodore Sizer and Deborah Meier are among the secular saints of progressive education . . . One of their most admirable qualities may be their determination to continue being provocative . . . Mr. Sizer joins with his wife, Nancy Faust Sizer, and Ms. Meier to speak more directly to parents in Keeping School . . . The book is a potent reminder of how much school culture is a matter of personal chemistry, rather than distant policy making." --New York Times
"As readers, we gain incredible insight into a unique way of holding schools accountable."--School Administrator
"The authors chose the term 'keeping school' to illustrate the broad range of thought and action that goes into the 'collective craft' of education . . . An intimate look at practical applications of school-reform concepts, which parents and teachers will appreciate." --Booklist
Deborah Meier, founder of the Mission Hill School in Roxbury, Massachusetts, is author of The Power of Their Ideas, In Schools We Trust, and Will Standards Save Public Education? Theodore and Nancy Sizer were coprincipals of the Parker Charter High School. Ted is the author of many books, including Horace's Compromise; Nancy is the author of Crossing the Stage; and Ted and Nancy are coauthors of The Students Are Watching.
