In the seventies, countries lauded American education as one of the best systems in the world. Then came the accountability movement. What was measured was what counted. Those who measured low were punished. Those who measured high were rewarded. With measurements came the loss of emphasis on the critical thought so necessary to the preservation of American democracy and improving the American way of life. Where do children learn the skills, practice and habits of democracy? Sharron Goldman Walker s second volume on democracy in education asks educators, especially teachers and principals, to contemplate their roles in education and its connections with the preservation of American democracy. Do we send children to school to learn only how to achieve high scores on high stakes tests? If democracy is not learned by practice in the schoolhouse, how will children recognize it when they leave it? Will they be able to critically reflect upon the issues presented to them? Today s politics have descended into mutual shouting matches, name-calling, hate and fear. Without the ability to critically reflect upon divergent views through reasoned discourse what will be the quality of the democracy? If democracy in education is not practiced in the schoolhouse, democracy in America will vanish.

After her school wins the coveted United States National Secondary Education Award, a school principal embarks upon an educational odyssey. The principal discovers that the reasons for winning the award are a sham! As her school falls apart, she begins to reflect on the stagnant school organization and the ineffective prescriptions for improvement. She wonders why as a democratic nation, American schools do not model the practice of democracy for students. The principal begins her quest to unearth the flaws in her own thinking about the way schools work in her quest to create more democratic schools. Endeavoring to understand how systems really work, the principal puts her new ideas into practice and shares with the reader the lessons learned from past practices. This book presents a guide for principals in the form of rules that suggest that educational leaders must ask themselves why they do what they do. It also takes readers through a series of vignettes focused on how principals can practice democracy in the schoolhouse, while challenging themselves and their school community.

In the seventies, countries lauded American education as one of the best systems in the world. Then came the accountability movement. What was measured was what counted. Those who measured low were punished. Those who measured high were rewarded. With measurements came the loss of emphasis on the critical thought so necessary to the preservation of American democracy and improving the American way of life. Where do children learn the skills, practice and habits of democracy? Sharron Goldman Walker s second volume on democracy in education asks educators, especially teachers and principals, to contemplate their roles in education and its connections with the preservation of American democracy. Do we send children to school to learn only how to achieve high scores on high stakes tests? If democracy is not learned by practice in the schoolhouse, how will children recognize it when they leave it? Will they be able to critically reflect upon the issues presented to them? Today s politics have descended into mutual shouting matches, name-calling, hate and fear. Without the ability to critically reflect upon divergent views through reasoned discourse what will be the quality of the democracy? If democracy in education is not practiced in the schoolhouse, democracy in America will vanish."

After her school wins the coveted United States National Secondary Education Award, a school principal embarks upon an educational odyssey. The principal discovers that the reasons for winning the award are a sham! As her school falls apart, she begins to reflect on the stagnant school organization and the ineffective prescriptions for improvement. She wonders why as a democratic nation, American schools do not model the practice of democracy for students. The principal begins her quest to unearth the flaws in her own thinking about the way schools work in her quest to create more democratic schools. Endeavoring to understand how systems really work, the principal puts her new ideas into practice and shares with the reader the lessons learned from past practices. This book presents a guide for principals in the form of rules that suggest that educational leaders must ask themselves why they do what they do. It also takes readers through a series of vignettes focused on how principals can practice democracy in the schoolhouse, while challenging themselves and their school community.