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  • © 2019

Inside Today’s Elementary Schools

A Psychologist’s Perspective

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Reveals the most pressing issues that schools face and parents may not be aware of

  • Presents concrete ways to improve schooling and student engagement on a large scale

  • Includes advice for parents and other stakeholders to combat the outlined issues in their communities

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eBook USD 19.99
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  • Read on any device
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Softcover Book USD 29.99
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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
  2. Shortsighted Vision and Lopsided Staffing

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. The House on Sleepy Hollow Road

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 3-9
    3. So Many Girls…So Few Princes

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 11-25
    4. When Am I Ever Going to Use Any of This?

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 27-43
    5. “And Then God Made School Boards”

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 45-65
    6. The Bottom of the Barrel?

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 67-83
    7. What to Do About These Four Things

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 85-102
  3. The Wall of Separation, Administrative Bloat, and Boundless Accommodation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 103-103
    2. Platonic Curriculum; Epicurean Society

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 105-124
    3. Just Wastin’ Time

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 125-141
    4. No Child Left Behind?

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 143-164
    5. I’m Five Teachers at Once!

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 165-184
    6. The Incredible Bending School

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 185-203
    7. Look Not to the Stars

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 205-214
    8. What to Do About These Six Things

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 215-234
  4. What to Do About All Ten Things

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 235-235
    2. A New Day

      • James J. Dillon
      Pages 237-255
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 257-261

About this book

This book takes readers on a tour of a day in the life of a public elementary school in an effort to give parents and other stakeholders a sense of the realities of the classroom. The tour reveals ten worrisome things about today’s schools and considers what to do about them. Dillon emphasizes the need for future schools to be places filled with adventure and high purpose, with classrooms small enough to waste only a minimum of time. They should be free from stifling levels of bureaucracy, supervised by rotating teacher administrators rather than career managers. The book asserts that schools should be staffed by scholarly and engaged teaching professionals dedicated to helping students live a healthy adult life in a democracy rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all, furiously assessed college prep curriculum on everyone. In all, Dillon argues, schools should be places with classrooms of narrow ability ranges dedicated to teaching a coherent curriculum, all in a context of full buy-in and support from students’ families. Let’s go inside today’s elementary schools.


Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Psychology, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, USA

    James J. Dillon

About the author

James J. Dillon, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of West Georgia, USA. He is a graduate of Clark University, a certified public elementary school teacher, and author of Partnerships in Research, Clinical, and Educational Settings (2000) and Teaching Psychology and the Socratic Method (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2016).

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access