
new books
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W. Norton Grubb has co-authored with
Marvin Lazerson The Education Gospel: The Economic Power
of Schooling published by Harvard University Press. The
Education Gospel takes on the assumptions underlying current views
on the role of education. From the publisher: “Grubb and Lazerson
show how all levels of education were transformed over the twentieth
century into preparation for vocations and professions…. The drive
for personal advancement and workforce preparation has also squeezed
out civic education—not to mention learning for its own sake.
Worst of all, Grubb and Lazerson show, the vocational focus of schooling
has reinforced social inequality. The challenges over the next century
are to create forms of education incorporating both occupational and
civic goals, and to reverse the preoccupation with narrow work skills,
empty credentialism, and schooling as the only source of salvation.”
Mike Rose of the UCLA Graduate School of Education has written of The
Education Gospel, “This is a stunning book, and I hope that
educators and policy makers of all stripes read it. Grubb and Lazerson’s
sweep, scope, and analytical prowess are unparalleled; every chapter
sparks fresh thought about tough, old problems.”
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Robert Ruddell’s book Teaching
Children to Read and Write: Becoming an Effective Literacy Teacher
is now going into its fourth edition with Allyn and Bacon. The book
is used in teacher education programs across the country as well as
for inservice work with experienced teachers. The new edition was introduced
at the 50th convention of the International Reading Association in San
Antonio in May 2005. Teaching Children to Read and Write is
the applied version of a matching theory text. The fourth edition represents
a complete revision of the earlier text: “substantive changes
in content and chapter organization… have made the book more concise
and coherent.”
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Mark Wilson has published Constructing
Measures: An Item Response Modeling Approach with Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates. From the publisher: “Constructing Measures
introduces a way to understand the advantages and disadvantages of measurement
instruments, how to use instruments, and how to apply these methods
to develop new instruments…The author believes that the best way
to learn is by doing. It is therefore recommended that the reader review
the book while actually constructing an instrument.” George Englehard
of Emory University writes of Constructing Measures, “This
is a great resource for learning about measurement. Even an experienced
researcher will benefit from the coherent and logical model based on
the four building blocks.”