What I Learned In School

From the Winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Education in 2007"In the world of education reform, where silver-bullet ideas,ideologies, and intellectual fashion clamor for influence, JamesComer's thinking has long been a sea of calm, balanced, and humanewisdom focused on the needs of the whole person. Reading Comer yousee the incompleteness of so many other approaches to reform, aswell as learn an integrated approach to making schools work. Andnow, here it all is in a single book. If you want to see howschools can actually work, as opposed to affiliate with a priorbelief about how they should work, this is a must read."Claude Steele,professor, the Center for Advanced Study inthe Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University"The best introduction?professional and personal--to theremarkable world of James Comer: physician-educator, parexcellence."Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education,Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts"James Comer is a rare constellation among social scientists: agreat intellect, a keen analyst, a creative problem-solver and aman of enormous empathy. His writings are required reading foranyone interested in education reform or improving the odds forpoor children."Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO, Harlem Children'sZone

Introduction: What I Learned in School ixIntroductory Remarks at the Grawemeyer AwardCeremony, David Reynolds xviiAddress at the Grawemeyer Award Ceremony 11 Washington Elementary SchoolMAGGIE'S AMERICAN DREAM 232 Me, Walter, and AmericaBEYOND BLACK AND WHITE 313 Three Networks and a BabyWAITING FOR A MIRACLE 634 So You Want to Work in Schools?MAGGIE'S AMERICAN DREAM 895 My WorkWAITING FOR A MIRACLE 956 To Leave No Child BehindLEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND 1277 All Our ChildrenMAGGIE'S AMERICAN DREAM 155Questions for Reflection 157Index 159Credit Lines 165The Author 167