The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

On the surface, this is just a story about Arnold, a Native American teenager and his experience attending a predominantly "white" school located outside of his reservation. However, below the surface, themes of racism, alcoholism, and oppression are evident in his everyday life. Historically, Native Americans have been stereotyped. This book sheds light into those stereotypical assumptions by providing an illuminating look into the culture as told through the eyes of Arnold. Vivid, powerful and eye-opening.

The biggest take-away was learning about how an environment shapes and impacts an individual. Yet, something as simple as changing an environment can have a tremendous positive impact on the outcome of an individual's life. Administrators hoping to bring about real change need to read this book.

Poverty doesn't give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.

Sherman Alexie is an award-winning author, poet, and filmmaker. He lives is Seattle.

My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan

Rebakah Nathan, a university professor, decided to head back to the classroom as  new incoming college freshman, as part of her research project in order to better understand the students of the 21st century. This compelling account is full of interesting and humorous anecdotes.

For example, one of the biggest complaints that international students make about U.S. students, is in regards to their ignorance; their lack of knowledge and misinformation about the world in general. All things considered, a Somali student summed it up by stating that, "You have so much here, and so many opportunities. I wish America would ask more what his country can do to make the world a better place."

Additionally, U.S. students don't seem to value friendships the same way that international students value them. For example, one student mentioned that, "I really don't understand the superficiality in friendships here.  Americans are much friendlier than the English, but then it doesn't really go anywhere." Furthermore, for one British student, the American notion of "partying" was perplexing: "I really don't understand this party thing in the U.S. When you go out here, it's get drunk or nothing. If people go out with people and drink, they have to get drunk. If they don't get falling-down drunk, they think 'what's the point of doing it?' I find it difficult to understand."

For the most part, this was an interesting read, providing a view of what its like for a college freshman.

Rebekah Nathan is a pseudonym for Cathy Small. She is a professor of anthropology at Northern Arizona University and author of Voyages: From Tongan Villages to American Suburbs (1997).

Class Matters by The New York Times

Class Matters is a provocative read, providing an intimate glimpse into the different class-systems comprising our nation. In particular, there are several chapters dedicated specifically to the area of education, and how having one, can dramatically change the social, emotional, and economic factors associated with overall lifestyle. 

Those with money and means, can often provide the best education for their children. Private schools, tutors, after-school programs, extra-curricular activities, membership in exclusive clubs, and countless other learning experiences, are the norm for this class. On the other side of the coin, is extreme poverty, social, emotional, and language barriers, and the ever increasing deficit of money and resources. How then, would a child on the "poor" side of the coin compete for opportunities with those more privileged? Similarly, how can public schools become the great equalizer in a society comprised of such inequality?

The stories are intimate and eye-opening. Those who care deeply about educational reform should read this book. Closing the academic achievement gap will take more than just an academic focus, common standards, and national assessments. The will and innovation to modernize using interdisciplinary methods will be central to the solution. 

The reason is that upward mobility requires what sociologist describe as the twin pillars of success: human capital and social capital. Human capital is a person's education, job, credentials, and employment. Social capital usually means emotional support and encouragement from a reliable stakeholder in one's life, an asset commonly associated with marriage that is itself a form of wealth. 

Class Matters was written by correspondents of the New York Times, with an introduction by Bill Keller. 

Lives On The Boundary by Mike Rose

Mike Rose does a first-rate job detailing the intricacies of the academic struggles "the truly illiterate among us" face in their pursuit of an education. Presented, are vivid accounts of children being misdiagnosed - using standardized tests - and then supplied with healthy doses of remedial courses designed to "fix" the issue/s. The worst part, is that those same children continue on with remedial courses for the length of their academic career, with no opportunity to gain a valuable and meaningful education. If they do graduate, and decide to attend a college or university, they quickly realize how vastly unprepared they are for the academic rigors awaiting them. Plagued and stagnated by a remedial education, do these students stand a chance in life?

Digging deeper, and thinking about the issues at hand for unprepared students, there exist a variety of solutions. Students simply need more opportunity to write, and to be offered guidance along the way. Additionally, they require the chance to develop critical literacy skills - comparing, synthesizing, analyzing. They also need a opportunity to discuss what they are learning, and to be exposed to "Western liberal learning." 

"There is nothing magical about this list of solutions. In fact, in many ways, it reflects the kind of education a privileged small number of American students have received for some time. The basic question our society must ask, then, is: How many or how few do we want to have this education? If students didn't get it before coming to college - and most have not - then what are we willing to do to give it to them now?"

We figure that things were once different, that we've lost something, that somehow a virulent intellectual blight has spread among us. So we look to a past - one that never existed - for the effective, no nonsense pedagogy we assume that past must have had.  We half find and half create a curriculum and deploy it in a way that blinds us to the true difficulties and inequalities in the ways we educate our children. 

Additionally, Mike provides a glimpse of his own humble upbringing, and the personal challenges faced in the pursuit of his own education.

Mike Rose is a member of the faculty of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. He is an award-winning author and a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in Education, and the Commonwealth Club of California Award for Literary Excellence in Nonfiction.

The Principal by Michael Fullan

Principals today are hired with the expectation that they are to be "instructional leaders." But, what does that actually mean? And, is it effective? Michael Fullan doesn't think so. In fact, he goes on to indicate that principals are spending too much time on instruction and individual teacher development, with little or no results on student learning. The solution, is to focus on developing the overall group instead, by leading teachers in a process of learning in order to improve their teaching.

Additionally, seven competencies for becoming a competent leader are presented:

1. Challenge the status quo
2. Build trust through clear communication and expectations
3. Create a commonly owned plan for success
4. Focus on team over self
5. Have a sense of urgency for sustainable results
6. Commit to continuous improvement for self
7. Build external networks and partnerships

Michale Fullan is a professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Year 3

The end of this academic year marks the third anniversary of my blog. In summary, I managed to read 19 books; although not all of them dealt specifically with education. I learned more about Common Core, the qualities of good leadership, the importance of reading, the creation of a successful charter school, and the humble beginnings of our current educational system. Along the way, I even managed to read several biographies and classic novels.

Moving forward, I plan to continue my blog this upcoming academic year 2015-16. The focus will stay the same. Additionally, I will now be starting a new chapter in my life as a PhD student, concentrating on educational leadership.

Work Hard Be Nice by Jay Mathews

This book tells the story of two young educational entrepreneurs who created a school that focused on closing the academic achievement gap, while also improving the lives of many struggling low-income students. Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin are the founders of KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) charter school. Much like Wendy Kopp's memoir, founder of Teach For America (TFA), this impressively written account of the initial inception of KIPP, is full of vivid accounts of the trials and tribulations Mike and Dave confronted on their quest to provide children a better education.

The biggest take-away from this book, is that any school can provide children a stellar education. The crucial differences between KIPP and public schools simply come down to a lack of clarity, purpose, and a preeminent passion for good teaching. Good teaching - passionate teaching - is really all that is needed to transform a mediocre school, into an educational powerhouse, as underscored in this book.

Jay Mathews covers education for the Washington Post. He is the author of six books, including Escalante: The Best Teaching in America.