The Bookshelf: April 13, 2017

Trib+Edu is joining with respected books authority Kirkus Reviews to bring you select reviews of books of note in the field of education. For more book reviews and recommendations, visit Kirkus.com.

WE'RE 34TH IN EDUCATION: It's our culture 

By Alexander Kugushev

In this education policy book, Kugushev compares attributes of successful and unsuccessful high schools around the country in an effort to identify the factors that contribute to college and career readiness and to suggest winning strategies. Kugushev moves to solutions, offering proposals for improved teacher training, increased professionalization, expanded parental outreach, and reallocation of funding. Recommendations include a de-emphasis on or elimination of athletic programs, training parents to be effective partners in their children’s education, and expanding and enhancing guidance counseling. [...] The author includes schools’ racial statistics “with great reluctance,” and the hesitancy shows in the lack of engagement with the history of discrimination in public education and in clumsy language.

For the full review, visit kirkus.com.