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One of the best parts of the book is the detailed discussion of why kids who come from a background of poverty more often than not do not do well in school. It details how Canada, who was born in a poor neighborhood in the South Bronx, decided that if these kids were going to succeed in large numbers that his approach was going to have to affect every part of their lives, not just what happens while they are in school.
I am telling anyone who will listen that there is a way to educate all of the kids in our community and that what Geoffrey Canada has come up with may be the best approach. The city I live in, Charlotte, NC, struggles with many of the same problems of a wide achievement gap between affluent white kids and poor black and Latino children.
Geoffrey Canada has developed a comprehensive, holistic formula to successfully educate poor kids in Harlem who historically have not had a good educational outcome. It covers how their upbringing by well-meaning but highly stressed and beleagered parents puts them behind their affluent peers.
This is a great book that anyone who is passionate about public education and the inequities that exist in them will enjoy reading. This book details the work that went into the program his Harlem Children's Zone developed and administers.
It debunks myths that these kids have inferior intellects.
If you are interested in charter schools or about how to successfully impact student performance outcomes working with high-poverty populations, this is a good case study of a successful school. If you're paying attention to the education agenda under the Obama administration, you'll know about charter schools and you may have heard about Geoffrey Canada.
He has benefactors (investors with plump bank accounts) who watch his work like the careful investors they are. It works. If you are discouraged about the challenges of bringing children from America's poorest communities up to grade level, and doing so on a sustained basis, read this. Tough's recap of the organizational challenges is matched in reporting by the portraits of people we meet along the way. Paul Tough's account of Geoffrey Canada and The Harlem Children's Zone should be read and studied by everyone in education.
There's Canada's fascinating personal story first, of course, and then the parents, students and teachers who have built this remarkable model in the heart of Harlem. It's about top to bottom, front to back, never-give-up commitment. It's no wonder President Obama wants to replicate this project nationwide. The resources give Canada the opportunity to attempt "whatever it takes" but Tough's careful reporting shows that dollars aren't all that matters. (If you read authors such as Michael Pollan or Timothy Egan, you'll enjoy Tough's unflashy style).
Feeling a bit hopeless about what it might take to close achievement gaps in public schools. "Whatever It Takes" also is a terrific primer in simple, unadulterated problem analysis. You may have seen the "60 Minutes" segment on Geoffrey Canada, but "Whatever It Takes" probes much deeper into how the organization was built and the significant challenges Canada faced--and met--along the way. Read this. It also takes school leadership, effective teaching, and the right attitude to reach students with so many obstacles already stacked against them.Tough's writing is clear, solid and unambiguous. Canada approaches the problem with a blank slate.
"Whatever It Takes," as the title implies, is about commitment. Problems don't linger in Canada's world, they are attacked with energy and resolve.
The photos were however great and helped creat a connection between the story and the reader.Worth a read by all means, provokes important questions and provides some answers. From an international perspective this is a great book to get a historico-social lowdown on what is happening in the Harlem Childrens zone.I felt empathetic to the needs and concerns of the students, and also the problems faced by educators both of whom are measured only by systemic standardised tests.The biggest contribution to educational practice would have to be the holistic 'conveyor belt' paradigm created by Canada in which many programs from birth to maturity contribute to better outcomes for students - rather than herculean and ultimately unsustainable efforts by a few gifted and tireless teachers.I would have like to see more diagrams about these programs and some analysis (charts) of their contribution or effectiveness.
a fantastic guide if you're considering a similar program or just want to learn about an amazing success story. this book is captivating, easy to read and makes sure that real stories punctuate the organizational goals.
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