Source: This American Life
Release Date: March 22, 2013
Hale County, Alabama, has a surprising secret: nearly a quarter of its population is living off of disability. What this means, why it is happening, and what it says about the state of the nation, are surprising answers.
Logo Image Source: This American Life
Title: No Excuses: Lessons from 21 High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools
Author: Samuel Casey Carter
Published: April 2000
Book Summary:
Debates about education and education reform have long been tense, passionate, and even cacophonous. This is particularly true when the question of why education falls short, and dozens of excuses have been made. As persuasive as these excuses and the challenges they reference may sound, Samuel Casey Carter contends these are, by-and-large, simply wrong. He demonstrates this through a lively and thorough investigation of the examples set by high performing, high-poverty schools across the nation, making the organizational, innovative, and philosophical shortfalls of much more advantaged schools shockingly apparent.
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: Amazon
Title: How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character
Author: Paul Tough
Published: July 2013
Book Summary:
Paul Tough challenges prevailing ideas about intelligence and success by drawing a contrast between the current main focus of education — cognitive skills, knowledge, and experience — and frequently neglected “non-cognitive” skills. When children succeed, it’s often because they have mastered such non-cognitive skills as persistence, grit, self-control, and curiosity.
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: Amazon
Title: The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way
Author: Amanda Ripley
Published: August 2013
Book Summary:
As more and more data is collected about the growing divide between America’s education system and other nations in the developed world, the question arises: “what are other countries doing so much better than we are?” Seeking answers, Amanda Ripley followed three American students on their adventures in overseas education and has uncovered the secret of their success: there is no secret. They follow a deceptively simple, even intuitive formula: rigorous training for and robust evaluation of teachers, the informed participation of parents, and the cultivation of trust and engagement of students. Fortunately, all of these things are within our reach, and by embracing them, we can transform our nation.
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: Amazon
Title: Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard
Authors: Dan and Chip Heath
Published: February 2010
Book Summary:
We have all struggled at some point or another with changing ourselves. Anyone who has ever tried to change the world around them, either at home, at work, or even what we see in the nation at large, has encountered frustrations. Few of us can trace the source of these difficulties, which is often the conflict between our emotional systems and our rational ones. Laying out countless case studies, research findings, and fascinating stories, the Heath brothers explore these systems and break down the most effective ways to achieve transformative change, whether it is in ourselves, at work, or in the country as a whole.
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: Amazon
Title: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
Authors: Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
Published: February 2009
Book Summary:
We make poor decisions every day, despite our best efforts. As tempting as it is to simply accept this as a natural inevitability, one we can neither understand nor prevent, Thaler and Sunstein believe we can encourage better decision making by making better choices easier. They present an analysis of “choice architecture” to identify the roots of poor decision making and suggest strategies for “nudging” ourselves towards making healthier, better informed, and more rational decisions.
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: Yale.edu
Title: The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement
Author: David Brooks
Published: January 2012
Book Summary:
David Brooks takes us on a journey following the statistically typical couple, “Harold” and “Erica.” Through their imagined lives he lays bare the true nature of the unconscious, habit, and culture, but most importantly, “success.” Our unconscious is the heart of much of who we are, and drives our decision making to an astounding, even alarming, degree. In light of this revelation, Brooks argues that prevailing ideas and assumptions about what success is, and how we encourage it, turn out to be flawed and unrealistic.
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: Amazon
Title: The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cites and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy
Authors: Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley
Published: June 2013
Book Summary:
Communities across the nation face monumental challenges: some old, some new, but all amplified by economic downturn. Where the federal government is unable or unwilling to address growing needs in communities across the country, state and local governments have stepped up to the plate with impressive vigor and remarkable track records. Many of these communities should be suffering from failing infrastructures, a lack of jobs, and an underskilled workforce, but the efforts of their local leaders are turning the tide and creating new models of metropolitan success.
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: Amazon
Title: What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
Author: Michael J. Sandel (check him out on the TED stage!)
Published: April 2012
Book Summary:
Among the many ways the United States has evolved in the last decades, Michael Sandel catalogues a shift from a market economy to a market society. Many of the services, challenges, and needs that were once met with non-market solutions and norms — from health care to education, the arts to family life — have gradually been replaced by market values. This change inspires many troubling questions, chief among them: what are the moral limits of markets?
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: Amazon
Title: Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
Author: Robert Putnam
Published: August 2001
Book Summary:
Using an extensive body of evidence, Robert Putnam chronicles a growing chasm between the average American and his neighbors, friends, and even family. Civic engagement hinges on being in touch with one’s own community, but unfortunately, the modern neighborhood has become much colder and more solitary than its counterpart from just a few decades ago. Putnam sums up the many reasons this should be concerning for us as a nation, why this change is not merely an evolution, but a worrisome trend, and shows us how we can reconnect.
Available on Amazon.
Book Cover Image Source: bowlingalone.com