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Charter School News & Publications

Tennessee Charter Schools Reports

Education Book Reviews

How Public Charter Schools Can Help All Public Schools Survive Fiscal Austerity and PolicyCombustion

The Future of Charter Schools in Tennessee – TSBA Summer 2011

Starting a Charter School – TCSA October 2011

Charter Schools Workshop - Sept. 15, 2010

Charter School Applicant Institute - March 6, 2010

Education Book Reviews

These book reviews are written through the lens of the State Board of Education’s Master Plan and the four foundational principles the Board expects will lead to fulfillment of its vision: preparing all Tennessee children for successful post-secondary work, education and citizenship. The parenthetical dates at the end of each title represent when the review was written.

  • “We’re from the government. We’re here to help.” A review of INSTRUCTION TO DELIVER, by Michael Barber (Nov. 2011)
  • A Brief Review of Dr. John Ratey’s SPARK: THE REVOLUTIONARY NEW SCIENCE OF EXERCISE AND THE BRAIN (Aug. 2011)
  • The More Things Change . . . A review of THE SEVEN LAWS OF TEACHING (1886), by John Milton Gregory (Aug. 2010)
  • Not Exactly Plato’s Republic: A review of SHOP CLASS AS SOULCRAFT: AN INQUIRY INTO THE VALUE OF WORK, by Matthew B. Crawford (June 2010)
  • A Review of THE RACE BETWEEN EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY, by Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz (Aug. 2010)
  • We Need More Nuts in Education! A review of NUTS! SOUTHWEST AIRLINES’ CRAZY RECIPE FOR BUSINESS AND PERSONAL SUCCESS, by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg (Dec. 2009)
  • Are You Part of an “Education Organization” or a “Learning Organization”? A review of THE MONSTER UNDER THE BED, by Stan Davis and Jim Botkin (Dec. 2009)
  • Who’s on the Bus and Where is it Headed? A review of Jim Collins’ book GOOD TO GREAT: WHY SOME COMPANIES MAKE THE LEAP . . . AND OTHERS DON’T (Sep. 2009)
  • Nurturing Creativity in the Face of Standardized Testing: A review of THE ELEMENT: HOW FINDING YOUR PASSION CHANGES EVERYTHING, by Sir Kenneth Robinson (July 2009)
  • Student engagement through challenging assignments: A review of FLOW: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (May 2009)
  • Giving everyone an inheritance: A review of OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS, by Malcolm Gladwell (Apr. 2009)
  • The Place of Education in THE GOOD SOCIETY: A Review of the book by John Kenneth Galbraith (April 2009)
  • TOUGH CHOICES OR TOUGH TIMES –In Tennessee: A review of the report by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce (Mar. 2009)
  • Why any Green Revolution Has to Start at School: A review of Thomas Friedman’s HOT, FLAT AND CROWDED (Jan. 2009)
  • An Easy Recipe: Empowering Leaders, Teachers and Students: A Review of MAKING SCHOOLS WORK: A REVOLUTIONARY PLAN TO GET YOUR CHILDREN THE EDUCATION THEY NEED, by William Ouchi (Nov. 2008)
  • WHAT IF TEACHERS COULD BILL BY THE HOUR? Time and Learning from the Lawyer’s Perspective (Nov. 2008)
  • The THE 8TH HABIT: FROM EFFECTIVENESS TO GREATNESS in the 8th Grade: Applying Stephen Covey’s Leadership Models to Education (Sep. 2008)
  • Breaking up is hard to do, but now is the time to do it: A review of DISRUPTING CLASS: HOW DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION WILL CHANGE THE WAY THE WORLD LEARNS, by Clayton M. Christensen et. al. (July 2008)
  • Why Adults Shouldn’t Play Games with Kids: A review of DOING SCHOOL: HOW WE ARE CREATING A GENERATION OF STRESSED-OUT, MATERIALISTIC AND MISEDUCATED STUDENTS, by Denise Clark Pope (July 2008)