A powerful story of courage and hope that should inspire others to follow trailblazers like Steckel and his students.
Inspiring account of what it takes to overcome class and ethnic barriers to gain acceptance to college.
In 2006, Steckel was recruited to a new Brooklyn high school (the Secondary School for Research) from the college admissions program of a private Upper East Side school. He and his wife, Zasloff (co-author: Hope, Not Fear: A Path to Jewish Renaissance, 2008), chronicle the pitfalls he faced as he helped the students navigate the college-admissions process and worked with his existing network of admissions officers and support programs to qualify candidates in innovative and unorthodox ways. The success stories built foundations for others in applying and dealing with the stereotyping, racism and unconscious bias the students encountered as they advanced toward their goals of college admission. Steckel helped the students develop the resources to present their personal stories successfully. They also had to keep their eyes on the prize as they endured brutal misfortunes—e.g., the fire that destroyed Mike's home and put him in a shelter or the gang beating that nearly killed Dwight. Steckel was with them the entire way, celebrating successes and helping them overcome heartbreaking setbacks and bureaucratic inflexibility. He helped the students find programs in which potential college candidates from disadvantaged communities could pre-qualify through competitive recruitment—e.g., Questbridge and Posse, which work with Ivy League schools. The author also worked with them to meet deadlines, be on time for interviews and raise funds through scholarships. Of the 42 members of Steckel's first graduating class, 41 entered college, and they qualified for $1.8 million in scholarships. The next year's class was 75 strong and ready for another new beginning.
A powerful story of courage and hope that should inspire others to follow trailblazers like Steckel and his students.Pub Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59558-904-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Avoiding the explicit taking of sides in the academic war between ``radicals'' and ``conservatives,'' Graff (Humanities and English/Univ. of Chicago; Professing Literature, 1989, etc.—not reviewed) argues that everything in higher education will be fine- -in fact better than ever—if the great battle itself becomes what college students study. The trouble for college students today seems to be that their teachers so often contradict each other—one saying, for example, that Western culture is the world's highest ideal, another that it's racist, sexist, and oppressive. What's a student to do? Graff suggests tearing down the classroom wall between the teachers- -having them teach together in ``theme'' courses—so that students can watch the two argue face to face, thereby learning much not only about the nature of the debate but about approaches to knowledge. Never allowing that students might make conclusions for themselves even with the classroom wall in place, Graff argues tirelessly for the merits of its removal. The ``wars'' now going on, he declares, are a sign not of moral collapse but of a valuable social energy and commitment among humanities scholars no longer content just to be dull antiquarians; fights may arise between them and their old-fashioned colleagues, but conflict causes paralysis ``only as long as we fail to take positive advantage of it.'' Well, maybe, but the how is the trouble. Putting faculty together into cozily ``thematized'' classrooms won't convince everybody that a lot of new learning will occur, and even Graff, as if admitting the unspeakable truth that quality of teaching depends on quality of teacher, devastatingly admits that ``a dull, pedantic faculty teaching in concert will produce no more inspiring result than a dull, pedantic faculty teaching separately.'' Earnest in intent, but in logic wandering confusedly in the torn battlefields of academe.
Pub Date: Nov. 23, 1992
ISBN: 0-393-03424-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1992
Who would think that a story of 25 years of bureaucratic struggle could be so interesting? Perhaps it's because the struggle is over Head Start, the preschool program born of the ideals of the War on Poverty and the activism of the civil-rights movement. Zigler (Psychology/Yale; Project Head Start—co-ed., 1979) was there at the beginning as a member of the Head Start planning committee and later as director of the Office of Child Development, which shaped Head Start. Coauthor Muenchow wrote a 1980 report on Head Start with Zigler and is now executive director of the Florida Children's Forum. Their story is one of shifting alliances, dedicated civil servants, political strategy, surprising heroes (Utah's Sen. Orrin Hatch), unsuspected villains (Vice-President Walter Mondale), and a community of parents and teachers who slowly gathered strength and political sophistication until President Bush recently asked Congress for a $600 million increase in Head Start's budget. What sets Head Start apart from other preschool programs that serve disadvantaged communities is its health-check program- -entering four- and five-year-olds receive medical and dental assessments and have their immunizations brought up to date—and its insistence on direct parental involvement in the program. Although evaluation efforts have been problematical—even Zigler suggests that the improved health of the Head Start children rather than the enriched curriculum may be responsible for their improved performance in school—Head Start is both a real and a perceived success. Still fighting to upgrade the program, the authors offer a final chapter advocating how Head Start can be modified (by increasing salaries and social and health services) and even expanded (by opening the program to younger children) to support suggested welfare reforms. A case study in how determination, dedication, and a good cause can bring about social and educational innovation.
Pub Date: Nov. 4, 1992
ISBN: 0-465-03316-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1992
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