Natalie Wexler
Autor(a) de The Knowledge Gap: The hidden cause of America's broken education system--and how to fix it
About the Author
Natalie Wexler is an education journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and other publications. She is a senior contributor to Forbes.com and the coauthor, with Judith C. Hochman, of The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through mostrar mais Writing in All Subjects and Grades. Before turning to education, Wexler worked as a freelance writer and essayist on a variety of topics, as well as a lawyer and a legal historian. mostrar menos
Obras por Natalie Wexler
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Data de nascimento
- c. 1964
- Sexo
- female
- Locais de residência
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Educação
- Harvard University (BA|English History and Literature)
University of Sussex (MA|History)
University of Pennsylvania (JD|Law) - Ocupações
- education writer
reporter
law clerk (supreme court)
lawyer
legal historian
Membros
Críticas
Listas
Prémios
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 6
- Membros
- 134
- Popularidade
- #151,727
- Avaliação
- 4.2
- Críticas
- 5
- ISBN
- 8
Wexler grabs your attention from the beginning by talking about her observation of two classrooms which focus on first and second graders. Over the years she observes these classrooms she runs into a few obstacles that end up having her change due rooms due to teachers finding new positions, or at one point not being allow back in the classroom because of difficult behaviors with one student. This part takes up a short amount of the book but relates back to tying different curriculums in low- and upper-income classes, as well as finding out what works effectively.
This was not the part I found most interesting, even though I enjoyed keeping up with the progress in the classrooms, it was the fact of how many curriculums the United States has had over the years and the lack of them being used successfully. As a parent I became disappointed in knowing many teachers were unsure about a curriculum and enjoyed being able to have freedom in the classroom and felt restrained by it. This though is a huge concern in the States and is a place where we are falling behind in compared to other countries. Wexler mentions this difference alongside of these curriculums coincide with their testing. Which consist of using essays instead of multiple choice to show and measure the student’s ability to understand and recite the information they have learned.
The book not only connects you on a teacher level but as someone, as myself from a science background, the information often mentioned relates back to science and data. The problem though with education and science is that teachers are not always open to this data and again feel they know what’s best for students and ignore these facts. Even when the data provided shows how best children learn and can comprehend the information given to them, they are still reluctant to always use it.
The part of the book that I found interesting was the support of taking national testing out of schools. To quote the book on Dana Goldstein “the hope that collecting more scores will raise student achievement is like the hope that buying a scale will result in losing weight” (Wexler 2019). Another quote supports parents boycotting the Common Core-aligned tests which references “some children suffered from test anxiety and feelings of failure, with one mother reporting that her nine-year-old had attempted to hang himself, and some pediatricians saw an uptick in stress-related illness. Educators complained that children were crying during or after tests, while others vomited or lost control of their bowels or bladders” (Wexler 2019). This was another issue that was addressed throughout the book and changes that need to be done in the education system.
As I read through the book, I thought there would be this magical ending that would put everything in place about the gap in education and how we fix it. That though was not true instead I came out even more wanting and feeling to know more about the faults in our system and how can I be a part of fixing it. This book connected me to education on a parent level, science, and as new teacher. This is one of the books that is a must read for many backgrounds and certainly one for a first-time teacher as you navigate your way through what works best for your classroom and you.… (mais)