Inside Our Schools ─ Teachers on the Failure and Future of Education Reform

In this powerful collection of personal accounts, successful and respected teachers from across the country reveal how recent education policies have played out in their schools and classrooms in negative and counterproductive ways, and offer teacher-led alternatives for providing equitable, engaging, and empowering education.

Framed by critical analyses of the major trends and policies enacted over the past fifteen years, Inside Our Schools adds to the understanding of unintended consequences of policy on classroom practice as well as the limits of current policies—which are uninformed by the actual conditions that teachers face—to improve teaching and learning. It also reveals the honest struggles of educators seeking to do the right thing for students in the face of enormous obstacles and underscores the need to inject teacher voices and perspectives in education policy making going forward.

Inside Our Schools provides valuable insights for all those who worry and wonder about the future of education reform: scholars and researchers who are contributing to the preparation of the next generation of public educators; policy makers who need a broader context of the impact of their policy decisions; parents who are trying to understand what is best for their children; and current educators who want to hear, learn, and reflect on the perspectives of peers from across the country.

Brett Gardiner Murphy is the director of strategic projects at the Posse Foundation and a former New York City public school history teacher.