Making the Grade: The Economic Evolution of American School Districts
Making the Grade : The Economic Evolution of American School Districts is a 2009 non-fiction book by William A. Fischel. It is published by the University of Chicago Press.
The book argues that, in the words of Floyd M. Hammack of New York University, "local school districts have been and remain a crucial element in American educational policy."[1]
The book states that voters supported changes in the American educational system and changes happened because of the voters; for example, the concept of one room schools was in rural areas due to their local circumstances, but schools then consolidated into larger schools when voters decided they should do so at the ballot box.[2]
Background
[edit]Fischel had written journal articles on the topic prior to creating the book.[3]
Contents
[edit]The book has six chapters. Four of them are original to the book while the other two were adapted from journals. Fischel has analyses of the geographies of school districts, with Google Earth data presented.[3]
Fischel argued that many land owners wanted to have their land be worth more money, so they supported increased financing into public schools in proximity,[1] and having a common school calendar.[2]
The work also describes why some communities rejected the concept of school vouchers.[1]
Reception
[edit]Sun Go of the Korea Institute of Public Finance praised the book for being "rich in insights" about its topic.[3] He praised the journal-derived articles for being "well adapted".
Floyd M. Hammack of New York University wrote that
References
[edit]- Go, Sun (2011). "Making the Grade: The Economic Evolution of American School Districts. By William A. Fischel. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009. Pp. xi, 298. $55.00". The Journal of Economic History. 71 (1): 247–249. doi:10.1017/S0022050711000180. JSTOR 23018287.
- Hammack, Floyd M. (2010). "Making the Grade: The Economic Evolution of American School Districts . By William A. Fischel. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. Pp. xi+298. $55.00". The American Journal of Sociology. 116 (3): 1040–1042. doi:10.1086/657357. JSTOR 10.1086/657357.
Notes
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Barnett, W Steven (2010). "Making the Grade: The Economic Evolution of American School Districts". Business Economics. 45 (1): 73–74. doi:10.1057/be.2009.35. S2CID 154609993. - Available at Gale Academic Onefile
- Go, Sun (December 2010). "Reviewed Work: Making the Grade: The Economic Evolution of American School Districts by William A. Fisch". The Journal of Economic History. 70 (4). Cambridge University Press: 1003–1005. doi:10.1017/S0022050710000872. JSTOR 40984793. S2CID 238175505.
- Greene, Jay P (2010). "Look in the Mirror: We have the schools we wanted, and now we can't change them.('Making the Grade: The Economic Evolution of American School Districts')". Education Next. 10 (3): 76. - Available at Gale Academic Onefile
- Hall, Joshua C (2011). "William A. Fischel: Making the grade: the economic evolution of American school districts". Public Choice. 146 (1–2): 257. doi:10.1007/s11127-010-9696-4. JSTOR 41483625. S2CID 152623436.
- Hutt, Ethan L (2011). "Making the Grade: The Economic Evolution of American School Districts". History of Education Quarterly. 51 (4): 562–565. doi:10.1111/j.1748-5959.2011.00360.x. S2CID 143300138.
- Kasper, H (2010). "Making the grade: the economic evolution of American school districts". Choice Reviews. 47 (9): 1743.
External links
[edit]- Making the Grade: The Economic Evolution of American School Districts - University of Chicago Press
- Profile at Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)
- "William Fischel: Making the Grade". Dartmouth College. 2009-10-15. - Posted on the university's official YouTube account