Emergency Teacher Cl

by Asquith,Christina

• ISBN13: 9781602391932
• ISBN10: 1602391939
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-11-17
• Publisher: FRWHEEL

Summary

Christina Asquith presents a moving first-hand account of her year teaching in one of Philadelphia's worst schools. Told with striking humor and honesty, her story begins when the School District of Philadelphia, in desperate need of 1,500 new teachers, instituted a policy of hiring "emergency certified" instructors. Asquith, then a 25-year-old reporter for thePhiladelphia Inquirer, joined their untrained ranks. More challenging than her classroom in the crime-infested neighborhood known as "the Badlands" are the trials she faced outside, including a corrupt principal, the politics that prevented a million-door grant from reaching her students, and the administration's shocking insistence that teachers maintain the appearance of success in the face of utter defeateven if it means falsifying test scores. Her story will inspire, educate, and entertain.

Author Biography

Christina Asquith is a former reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and has written for The New York Times, The Economist, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She has a master's degree in Educational Philosophy from The London School of Economics and Politics. She lives in Washington, D.C. Her web site is christinareporting.com

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Introduction	p. xiii
Julia de Burgos: A Short History	p. 1
They'll Take Anyone	p. 13
The First Days of School	p. 28
Bilingual Education	p. 46
The Badlands	p. 59
The Two Percent Factor	p. 69
The New Teacher Exodus	p. 82
The Pedagogical Society	p. 88
Special Education	p. 93
Rebuilding My Classroom	p. 101
Visiting Villanova	p. 112
The Principal	p. 123
Changing Grades	p. 138
Arsons	p. 141
Rally	p. 172
The Toughest Students	p. 178
Good-bye	p. 187
Epilogue: Eighth-Grade Graduation Day	p. 195
Afterword	p. 205
Acknowledgments	p. 209
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