Forum Network

Deborah Meier discusses her new book, In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization, which explores how we can restore faith in our schools in an age of standardized testing and curricula. In a multi-layered exploration of ways to engender trust between parents and teachers, between teachers and students, and among diverse ethnic groups, she traces the success stories of small public schools that she and her colleagues have created in Boston and New York. How do we create a dynamic where teachers and students are trusted to use their own judgment in education? Are standardized tests ever appropriate? She probes these, and other, provocative questions in this lively discussion.