Campaign Bibliography
Here is a list of books that I have read or at least read samples from to inform myself on issues concerning District 65.
From the Opposing Viewpoints series
Various Authors
Karen Miller, editor
Useful overview of different perspectives on the causes and possible interventions to address gaps in academic achievement based on different criteria (race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc)
Collection of shorter articles, chapters from larger works
The Black - White Achievement Gap : Why Closing it is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of our Time
2010
By Rob Paige (former U.S. Secretary of Education) and Elaine Witty
Detailed historical and prescriptive book making the arguments for the very existence of a national black-white academic achievement gap, examining possible causes, making the case for why schools need to address the gap, and how Black leadership can play a role in closing it.
Interesting to see where I agree and disagree with the arguments of the authors
Promises Kept - Raising Black Boys to Succeed in School and in Life
By Joe Brewster, M.D., and Michele Stephenson with HIlary Beard
Parenting book written by parents whose son was one of the subjects of the American Promise PBS documentary
Helped me a lot in reconciling my own experience as a student with the experiences of my black and brown peers
Why Boys Fail - Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That’s Leaving them Behind
By Richard Whitmire
Provides larger context for academic achievement gap
Interesting to see where there is overlap between racial and gender aligned achievement gaps
Mentions race specifically as multiplying factor for gaps in achievement between boys and girls
Motivational Interviewing - Helping People Change
By William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick
Book I am perpetually in the process of reading
Written to provide medical/clinical/mental health workers with tools to make clients and patients into active participants in their own treatment, as opposed to passive recipients of expert knowledge
Strong Towns - A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity
By Charles Marohn, Jr.
Urban design and history book that examines the American town/suburb from the post WWII era until the present, offering a critique of infrastructure spending plans and
Provides larger context for the role that schools/the education system can play in the life of a city at large
Virtue Hoarders - The Case Against the Professional Managerial Class
By Catherine Liu
Does not shy from controversy
Helpful to read even if you disagree with it
Very opinionated, short piece critiquing an overeducated elite, claiming ownership of liberal values while working to disempower the working class.
