In Kati's Blogs: An Equity Must-Read: How It's Being Done

It would be hard to say I’m unbiased in recommending a book by veteran education journalist and Ed Trust senior writer Karin Chenoweth. But How It's Being Done: Urgent Lessons from Unexpected Schools is a must-read for everyone committed to the goal of education equity. It provides valuable insight into the impressive achievements of eight high-minority and high-poverty schools from various settings across the country—schools that defy the ill-conceived notion that achievement gaps are inevitable.

Karin doesn’t simply identify campuses with strong results for low-income students and students of color. She shares concrete details about how educators helped their students reach exceptional levels of academic success. Among them is Norfork Elementary School in Arkansas, which is located in a community known as the methamphetamine capital of the Ozarks. The results of the intentional strategies adopted by the school’s administrators and teachers speak for themselves: Despite high rates of poverty—both in the school and throughout the community—88 percent of Norfork’s sixth-grade students read at a “proficient” or “advanced” level.

The stories are inspiring, but How It’s Being Done does far more than inspire. This book outlines the road map each school followed to reach extraordinary heights. After all, success is no fluke. These schools earned positive results by using practical and concrete strategies to help students learn at the highest levels.

Not all of the schools featured are recent “turnarounds,” but some certainly are. And their stories should be particularly instructive during the coming year, when state and local officials turn their attention to improving of the lowest performing schools in their states.

Anyone interested in learning how some previously struggling schools turned the corner will find Karin’s book to be valuable reading.

And be sure to vote for Karin's first book, It's Being Done, in Education Next's poll of the top education books of the decade.

This blog appears in the National Journal Education Blog.