Publication date:

23 February 2012

Length of book:

564 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

260x180mm
7x10"

ISBN-13: 9781442204676

Research on Schools, Neighborhoods, and Communities: Toward Civic Responsibility focuses on research and theoretical developments related to the role of geography in education, human development, and health. William F. Tate IV, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and former President of the American Educational Research Association, presents a collection of chapters from across disciplines to further understand the strengths of and problems in our communities. Today, many research literatures—e.g., health, housing, transportation, and education—focus on civic progress, yet rarely are there efforts to interrelate these literatures to better understand urgent problems and promising possibilities in education, wherein social context is central. In this volume, social context—in particular, the unequal opportunities that result from geography—is integral to the arguments, analyses, and case studies presented. Written by more than 40 educational scholars from top universities across the nation, the research presented in this volume provides historical, moral, and scientifically based arguments with the potential to inform understandings of civic problems associated with education, youth, and families, and to guide the actions of responsible citizens and institutions dedicated to advancing the public good.
Professor Tate is to be congratulated for emphasizing the role geography and location can play in research on schools. Issues of racial segregation and inequality are at the forefront here, grounded in theoretical scholarship on place and methodological work on how learning takes place. Issues of health, immigration, culture, and college readiness are studied in a spatially sensitive manner, emphasizing that schools are not isolated islands but offer greater or lesser opportunities depending on where they are located. The book should be required reading for anyone interested in schools, neighborhoods, or communities.