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This digital document is an article from Techniques, published by Association for Career and Technical Education on February 1, 2009. The length of the article is 758 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Technical education looks to the past and the future in Massachusetts.(THE LAST WORD)
Author: Judy Bass
Publication: Techniques (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2009
Publisher: Association for Career and Technical Education
Volume: 84Issue: 2Page: 62(1)

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

Product Description
This important and much-needed book is based on a longitudinal study of fifty new teachers during their first years in the classroom. It highlights the cases of ten, whose stories vividly illustrate the joys and disappointments of new teachers in today?s schools. The book documents why they entered teaching, what they encountered in their schools, and how they decided whether to stay or move on to other schools or other lines of work. By tracking these teachers? eventual career decisions, Finders and Keepers reveals what really matters to new teachers as they set out to educate their students.? The book uncovers the importance of the school site and the crucial role that principals and experienced teachers play in the effective hiring and induction of the next generation of teachers.

Staffing the nation?s schools presents both challenges and opportunities. For teacher educators, district administrators, educational policymakers, teachers, principals, and staff development professionals, Finders and Keepers provides valuable insights about how to better serve new teachers and the students they teach.?

"At a time when expectations of teachers have never been higher or the challenges of teaching more daunting, Johnson and her project team show how the choice to stay or leave is forged in the early months of becoming a teacher?through hiring practices, pay and other resources, relationships with students, colleagues or administrators, and opportunities for learning and leadership. This book should compel attention from anyone concerned with the future of teaching."
?Judith Warren Little, Carol Liu Professor in Education PolicyGraduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley

"Finders and Keepers is a must read for superintendents, district administrators, principals and anyone who cares about the retention and recruitment of high-quality teachers to public schools. The book is both informative and insightful, and above all, it inspires the reader to action."
?Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of Schools, San Francisco Unified School District

"Knowledgeable, skilled and caring teachers represent our best hope for educating all our students well. Finders and Keepers, about real teachers in real schools, tells us how we can overcome impediments together, creating a more genuine profession for teachers and more learner-centered schools for all our students."
?Adam Urbanski, president, Rochester Teachers Association and director, Teacher Union Reform Network

"If you think that this generation of teachers is like the last one, think again. Not only is this book full of insights about the desires and needs of new teachers, but it also provides compelling stories about what the best schools do to keep them and grow their skills. It is a must-read for policymakers, superintendents, principals, and everybody else who cares about quality education."
?Kati Haycock, director, Education Trust, Washington, D.C. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Keeping Teachers
Finders and Keepers perfectly describes my colleagues' and my experiences.We are Ivy League graduates committed to progressive public school education.After five years of teaching in New York City public schools, even the most tenacious of us has been forced to shrug her shoulders and conclude that, "this job is just unsustainable."Finders and Keepers argues that this need not be our trajectory.Johnson and the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers accurately identifies the range of demands on new teachers, and proposes practical and achievable solutions that will enrich the learning environment of any school.

Finders and Keepers sounds an urgent call to attention and puts an end to the finger-pointing game. All players-administrators, principals, superintendents, teacher preparation programs, veteran teachers, union leaders, and policymakers-share responsibility in adequately preparing our schools for the new generation of teachers. We need to make teaching a sustainable career.

Hire the Best/Keep the Best
Every administrator, supervisor, education college professor should own this book.Too many novice teachers leave the profession before they really get their feet wet.This text will help professional educators who mentor teachers realize more fully the challenges and difficulties that beginning teachers face.The value of this book is that the problems of beginning teachers are clearly related from teachers on the job.We as educators must provide the right climate for these wonderful new teachers; this book will provide the insights into those challenges and the alert those in charge of teacher preparation and those whose responsibilities including hiring new recruits as to the myriad ways that the system may be failing our brightest and best candidates for the teaching profession. The answers come directly from those struggling through their first and second years in the profession.This book will be an excellent source to find and keep our best teachers. ... Read more

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Offers surefire advice as well as 50 successful application essays from current students and recent graduates. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Useless - Take it from an HLS Student
A friend of mine had a copy of this book, which I recently looked through. I can assure you that nothing you glean from this book is going to make it easier for you to get into law school. Admissions at Harvard are pretty straightforward - they look at your LSAT score, GPA, and then any extracurricular and work experience you have.
You want to get into HLS? Work hard in undergrad, get top-notch grades, look into some interesting internships, and consider enrolling in an LSAT preparatory course. Other than that, the only advice I can give you is to get your applications in as early as possible in the admissions cycle.

CORRECTION
The author, Willie J. Epps Jr., is of no relation to the previous Dean, as stated in Kevin Meyer's review. The author was a student at Harvard Law who wanted to help college students achieve their goals of getting into law school by uncovering the mystery of how others did just that. The author's insight into the types of candidates and applications accepted into Harvard Law is invaluable for college students considering law school and the essays provided by accepted students give those applying a view of what types of essays made the cut. The book is helpful for students trying to develop a strong candidacy to any law school -- not just Harvard. While some reviewers find the student comments 'egotistical' , one should be reminded that it is the nature of 'personal' essays. (Yes, one's own pride needs to be in check when reading the applications and essays of these exemplary individuals.)
This book can prove to be very helpful when the application process seems nothing but daunting! Thanks Willie.

you don't have to spend money on this book
i will tell you precisely how to get into harvard law school:

a) buy your admissionor

b) be related to a dean of admissions or

c) earn excellent grades and a high lsat score from a reputable college, and don't come off as a jerk in your essay.

beyond that there is no other tactic at your disposal. no book will ever get you into an ivy league law school, and if you are looking for essay advice then you can find it online for free. there is a copy of this book in the career services office of my college. there is basically a copy of this book available on harvard's website (all the info is there).

you can only exemplify your worth to harvard through the choices that you have made in your academic career. that means if the extent of your extracurricular involvement was setting up the keg for that frat party frosh year, or you find yourself as a senior with a 3.2 GPA, your salvation will not be contained in this book. allay the desperation, and get some work experience.

good luck with your search, and discriminate against anyone who is trying to sell you something.

Disregard Previous Poster
I just wanted to point out to the review who claimed "This book is filled with people who got 4.5 and above GPAs and LSAT scores of 170 and better." It is IMPOSSIBLE to get a GPA of 4.5 in college. The highest GPA one can achieve in college is 4.33 and thats *if* the school awards an A+ for a grade of 100%. Most schools just award ordinary A's which caps the maximum GPA at 4.0.

not a guidebook
This book quite simply should not be titled "How to get into Harvard Law School." Rather, it should make reference to profiles of applicants who actually got into Harvard Law School.Epps's advice is fairly generic, telling the reader what HLS is like from a social and academic standpoint.He spends more time concentrating on details that the reader probably already knows by just visiting HLS's official website. Other than share some basic information concerning the university, he lacks in any comprehensive detail regarding increasing one's chances of getting admitted.
On the other hand, the profiles were useful and the applicants' essays were, if nothing more than remarkable, quite inspirational.The profiles were indeed intimidating, but I would assume that people who have considered buying this particular book are not necessarily the types to be easily scared off by soaring GPA's and perfect LSAT's. I would assume that they themselves know where they stand academically on whether they should even consider applying to Harvard in the first place. If I were you, consider borrowing this book from a local library or buying a used copy.The full price is not worth it. The year the book was made is also quite outdated and does not accurately reflect Harvard's statistics today. ... Read more

Product Description

Medicine in the twenty–first century will be very different from the medicine of today's scientific, technological, economic, and ethical conditions of practice will be transformed. What do these changes portend for medical education? Whatknowledge should all medical students acquire? How can medical educators pre-pare students in the most cost–effective way?

This book describes efforts made at Harvard Medical School during the pastto reorient general medical education. Harvard's New Pathway has received national attention since its inception—including a multipart special onPBS’s Nova—because it offers a radical restructuring of the traditional medicalschool curriculum. Its creators, most of them contributors to this book, designeda program that gives students not only a core of scientific, biomedical, and clinical knowledge but also the skills, tools, and attitudes that will enable them tobecome lifelong learners, to cope with and use new information, and—mostimportant—to provide better patient care.

New Pathways to Medical Education also tells the inside story of how a traditional and research–oriented faculty was persuaded to cooperate with colleaguesoutside their departments in adopting a student–centered, problem–basedapproach to learning. Central to this transformation was the Patient–Doctorcourse, which the book describes in detail. This course—which teaches studentsto LISC the patient–doctor relationship for the benefit of patients—is consideredone of the most significant contributions to medical education in the New Pathway.

New Pathways to Medical Education will inspire physicians, medical scientists, and medical educators around the world to think and act more decisively toreform medical education. And because it documents the development of an innovative curriculum, this study will interest educators in all fields.

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Customer Reviews (65)

A Whiner at HBS
Broughton is like the golden age British traveler who goes to great lengths to get to some faraway place and then complains about the food and makes fun of the locals.But the travel writers had a sense of humor.Ahead of the Curve is an unending series of sanctimonious complaints about the Harvard Business School's curriculum, faculty, and, most of all, its students.The food is terrible, says Broughton, and the portions are too small.With a smug conceit that grows more offensive as he plods on, Broughton repeatedly ridicules his fellow students (who, lest we forget, are pretty smart, hard-working folks -- they survived one of the planet's most rigorous competitions merely to get in the HBS and not, contrary to Broughton's characteristically inaccurate generalization, because of who their parents).Admittedly, the Harvard Business School does offer up some embarrassingly mindless exercises -- the sort of stuff that makes corporate HR departments an embarrassment to all but HR department employees.And Broughton does, from time to time, describe fairly, if superficially, the content of his courses.But this is more typical of his chip-on-the-shoulder attitude is his gratuitous characterization of the representatives of a well-regarded, successful consulting firm with which he (unsuccessfully) sought a job merely as "two white men in dark suits, white shirts, and dark ties."That's as perceptive as Ahead of the Curve gets.It's like reading Paul Theroux's stuff -- despite the fascinating surroundings and capable prose, the author's sourpuss personality sucks all the joy out of the experience.

Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School
Excellent book!Rare to see business concepts explained in such an easy and fun way.A must read for every past and future MBA.Especially liked the inner struggles the author goes to, as all of us do.After reading this, one wants to jump into Harvard's education.What a place to have such interesting courses and professors!Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School

This book MAKES you THINK, whether you're into business or philosophy
What shocked me was the fact that the author is an incredibly successful journalist, and turned to something completely different, out of left field, by applying to Harvard Business school.What interested me more was his ability to describe, in layman's terms (because I don't know squat about business terminology!), his experience at HBS.As I delved deeper into the book, a lot of his ideas and experiences at HBS include great descriptions of teachers and students he encountered, as well as explainining the #'s/business part that I barely studied in college.I was surprised that it made me want to learn more about Business School.I love his natural curiousity and inquisitiveness, as well as his skepticism (about EVERYTHING including HIMSELF).I recommend this book to anyone that has a college degree that's afraid of business school!And I also recommend it to anyone that's in Business school because it gives you a completely different and interesting view of another's experience!

Good, not great
I was really looking forward to the book and getting an inside peak at HBS. I don't think it went into the nuts and bolts of the school enough. It was more of a human interest story and there were some interesting stories about classes and some of the students. It did get a bit preachy though towards the end. In summary, it was a fast read, not going to change your life and entertaining.

Deep and non-trivial discussion of MBA experiences
This is strikingly deep and non-trivial discussion of author's experiences as an MBA student at HBS. I found most interesting his thoughts and reflections on work-life balance pertinent in jobs in banking and consulting, which are commonly taken by HBS graduates. Overall, this is qualitative piece of fiction that I heartily recommend to everyone interested in MBA and wishing to get deeper understanding of what MBA is about and what are the not-so-obvious experiences during the 2 years at the very top business school. ... Read more

Product Description
The field of Allied Health is one of the fastest-growing career areas in the U.S. But competition for good jobs in Massachusetts will be tough. That's why Learning Express has created this guide Exclusively to help you prepare for entering the field and getting a top job in the specialty of your choice in Massachusetts.

Only Learning Express Gives You:
-- A comprehensive rundown on the fastest-growing allied health careers in Massachusetts
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Plus Preparation For Success on the Critical AHPAT and AHAT Entrance Exams
-- Exclusive practice exams based on the official Allied Health Professions Admission Test and Allied Health Aptitude Test
-- Hundreds of sample questions and answers
-- Key biology and chemistry concepts concisely presented for easy review
-- A confidence-building advance look at how the test works
-- Test-taking tips for success: pacing yourself, when to guess, overcoming test anxiety, and more ... Read more

Product Description
The Harvard Law School class of '89 came there determined to change the world, but, upon graduating, scrambled to enter the ranks of the nation's top corporate law firms--those least interested in changing anything. In a no-holds-barred depiction of how law schools can turn idealism into greed, Kahlenberg tells where things went wrong--and how it nearly happened to him. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Would You Like Some Cheese to go with that Whine?
First, let me list the good characteristics of the book. The author is intelligent, so it's not extremely tedious. The author's writing style is also very engaging, and he doesn't go into detail about all his term papers. It provides a new perspective on law school and the law in general. That's about all I can say for it.
Now, for what I disliked. The author is a liberal and is constantly comparing things to a liberal standpoint and trying to get you to see why conservatives are like the Wicked Witch of the West. He is extraordinarily bitter when Bush beats Dukakis. I'm not stating my political association, I'm just saying that it's annoying. This is not objective journalism at all (the author has a journalism degree). Second, this guy is a whiner. He gets into the best law school in the country, and whines when he gets a B+. He resents his roommate for making Law Review while the author did not. He can tell from the first semester that law doesn't interest him, that public policy does, but for some reason unbeknownst to the readers he obstinately stays at Harvard instead of transferring to, say, the Kennedy School, where his wife is studying public policy. He does not spare any of his professors from harsh criticism, even the two or three he claims to like. He seems to be upset that almost everyone in his class decides to go to a corporate firm rather than public interest, but he himself comes within a day of taking a job at one of those same corporate firms. He also whines about how hard it is to find a place to work and decide where to go (he got offers from most of D.C.'s top law firms). Finally, he blames his law professors from his cynicism, yet it is evident from the first chapter that the author is a cynic. As he was writing this during law school, I don't think his professors can be given all the credit.
I would only reccommend reading this book if A)you are stuck on a deserted island with nothing else to do. B)you want to tell yourself how miserable you would have been there anyway after you don't get accepted at Harvard or C)to make yourself thankful your spouse/children don't whine as much as this guy and that you're not a lawyer.

He Should Have Dropped Out
This book is, well, strange. The author is obviously bright, and possesses at least some degree of self-awareness. Despite this, it seems to have taken him three years to figure out what should have been obvious in three weeks: namely, that he had no desire to study law or to become a lawyer.

This passage (pp. 130, 131) is typical:

"What I did care about - or thought I did - was my third class: Poverty Law.... But if poverty law was the right field to go into, (the professor) never convinced us that it was interesting. He said that poverty lawyers should use arbitrary rules to benefit their clients, exploit the loopholes, because 'the poor do not have resources, all they have are the rules'. But the rules were boring. It was not interesting to know that when a rule says you have ten days to file, you do or do not count the days at both ends. But that was what poverty law entailed: knowing the arcane rules involved in such things as meeting income and the asset requirements of various programs. During a break one day, I heard one student tell another, 'This is as bad as tax'. Maybe we were just painfully naïve, but we still held out the hope that doing good, if not remunerative, could at least be interesting".

Well, law is concerned largely with "arcane rules". What did he expect?

Kahlenberg's solution to his dislike of law school was to opt for as many non-legal elective courses as possible. Most of these were taught at the Kennedy School of Government, which he greatly preferred: "Its purpose - to take on the great social and political problems of our time, involving issues such as health care, foreign relations, and poverty - was so much more grand than that of the law school (which is concerned with) a narrow field more akin to accounting" (p. 173). Yet even the Kennedy School is attacked for being insuccifiently theoretical: "the school's emphasis on mechanics and management over vision is a perenial concern" (pp. 173, 174).

Kahlenberg writes, at considerable length, about the need for Harvard Law graduates to perform "public service": a phrase which he never defines but clearly restricts to working in Washington as a staff member for a powerful Senator or an important Senate committee. He fails to explain why this sort of employment is more relevant or admirable than the private practice of law, of which he writes disparagingly (p.155):

"By the end of the summer, I had come to believe that most high-priced attorneys did not wear white hats or black hats; they wore no hats at all. They just came to work every day to do jobs that were of little social importance".

I would respectfully suggest the following: (1) the vast majority of jobs in this world can be argued to have "little social importance" (which in any case is an obviously subjective description); (2) the writing of speeches for some hack politician, or policy papers that will be read by few and acted upon by none, is a job of less "social importance" than the provision of legal services to private clients.

Although I myself am a lawyer, I freely admit that it's not for everyone. Why did it take Kahlenberg so long to figure out that it was not for him?

It was only at the tail end of his final year, upon deciding not to take the Bar exam or to accept a job with a law firm, that realization set in: "I wondered whether I had gone off the deep end. Being a press secretary had nothing to do with law whatsoever. Had I just wasted three years of my life and a lot of money? Was law school a big mistake?" (p. 223). Yes, Richard, it was.

Interesting Point, But Poorly Written
This book has some strong points, but they are outweighed, in my opinion, by the negatives.

First, in terms of subject matter, Kahlenberg's very liberal--despite what he may profess, he seems (to a moderate like me) much more liberal than your average Democrat--slant to absolutely everything about which he writes taints the entire book.Apparently, he seems to think that only liberals can provide useful public service or enhance the nation's government.One might think that, with seven years of formal education, Kahlenberg might realize that things are not so black-and-white, and that people of all ideologies can be (and are) public servants dedicated to helping their fellow citizens.

When it came to the actual structure of the book, I tired of his endless rants on how HLS can change people.Yes, I understand--and can sympathize--with his point, but I prefer not to be absolutely bombarded with a single idea over and over again without so much as a single additional insight after the first 100 pages.Moreover, detailed descriptions of two or three firm interviews were interesting--fascinating, in fact.But having to read what amounted to the same story (with different firms and different attorneys that eventually all blended together) some 20-30 times was tedious at best.

Once again, I get his point that all corporate firms are the same, that they are extremely successful at attracting HLS students away from public work, and that they work against progressive change and the common good rather than helping the public.But there has to be a less mind-numbingly dull and long-winded--not to mention pretentious and arrogant--way to communicate the point.

If you absolutely must read this--as you probably should if you have any intention of going to HLS or any other "name" law school--borrow it from the library, but do not waste your money purchasing the book.

Inspiring and thought-provoking!
Broken Contract is the chronicle of Richard Kahlenberg's struggle to justify his classical liberal ideals with the harsh reality of law school: most entering law students have a desire to use the privilege of an education in the law to help the poor and downtrodden of society, "but upon graduating, the vast majority [scramble] to fill the ranks of the nation's top corporate law firms" (from the front flap).Through the framework of his struggle with these powerful opposing forces, Kahlenberg presents us with a fascinating look at Harvard Law School, its culture and the nature of the law education of the late 1980s.He paints a portrait of everyday life as a law student, scrambling for Law Review positions, summer internships, judicial clerkships and ultimately, for a job after graduation.

As Kahlenberg searches for a job and dogmatically asks each interviewer about the firm's pro bono work (he is interested in little more), he occasionally comes across as an elitist; his sense of noblesse oblige is mildly nauseating.Throughout the book, Kahlenberg operates on the assumption that class-action lawsuits are morally right, that cases brought by poor people are just, that all big corporations are evil, that people have to sell-out to earn big salaries and that "conservatives" are willing to do anything to guarantee the rights of the rich.

However, don't let these relatively small negative aspects of the book deter you from reading it, even if you identify yourself as a conservative.His larger point is this: "since each of us struggles daily with good and bad impulses, we might want to restructure our social institutions in order to make it a little easier to do good" (235).This book does not target a certain ideology, except perhaps greed.Kahlenberg does not pull any punches and the targets of his criticisms span the ideological spectrum (although he does let a few more land on the right side of the spectrum).

Broken Contract rates a full four and a half stars.Broken Contract challenged me to think critically about my motivations for attending law school and broadened my perspective on life in general and on the legal community in particular.

Whiny limousine liberal
If you want to read the story of a guy who thinks it would really be nifty to do important public service work while still pulling down six figures, this is the book for you.Kahlenberg makes law students like myself who are legitimately dedicated to public interest law look like idiots.From tacky comments about distinguished lawyers he labels "sell-outs" for their choice to move to private work to the hilarious account of his (very sincere, I'm *sure*) questioning an interviewer at Arnold and Porter about whether a liberal would feel comfortable at the firm (like they're going to tell you no) the book is pretty useless.Kahlenberg wants you to think he's really upset that he just tried and tried and couldn't get a public interest job, but let's face it -- he went to Harvard Law.If he was the least bit honest at any time, the book would be worth reading.There's no way Coles read this book before agreeing to write the foreword. ... Read more