Schooling for the Real World: The Essential Guide to Rigorous and Relevant Learning

"Schooling for the Real World offers many practical ways for teachers and schools to provide young people a genuine education that gives them experience in the world. Such experience adds considerable value to what is studied in school and helps young people see themselves as citizens of their places, persons who are highly valued for their seriousness of purpose and hard work by adults in their communities."
--Vito Perrone, director of Programs in Teaching, Harvard Graduate School of Education

"Schooling for the Real World provides a series of snapshots demonstrating the progress of schools towards the genuine integration of schooling, the work place and the larger community. It explores the myriad dimensions of program, curriculum, standards, assessment, culture, staffing, and support--all of which a school must consider seriously as it attempts to commit to new perspectives on teaching, learning, and the larger purposes of education for the twenty-first century."
--Paula Evans, principal, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Massachusetts, and former director of professional development, Annenberg Institute for School Reform

"Thought-provoking and practical, Schooling for the Real World calls upon educators to rethink the relationship between school and other institutions in society. I highly recommend it!"
--Sheila Jordan, superintendent, Alameda County Office of Education, California

In today's workplace, the "knowledge worker" has become key to high performance. This person must have not only multiple talents and skills, but a sound understanding of what works in the real world. This incisive book argues for schooling that combines rigorous academic instruction with learning in real-world settings. It offers practical strategies for designing effective learning programs, developing a strong curriculum, setting standards and goals, assessing student work, supporting rewarding internships, and much more.

In clear and straightforward language, the authors dispel the myth that work-based learning is restricted to leading students down rigid vocational paths. They present inspiring examples of successful schools from such organizations as the Coalition of Essential Schools, Jobs for the Future, and New Urban High Schools to show how work-based learning can become a schoolwide effort--and not simply a specialized program. Throughout the book, there are examples offering important lessons and tools to administrators, teachers, policymakers, and community leaders. Schooling for the Real World heralds a future in which the knowledge worker is not the exception, but the rule.