The World We Created at Hamilton High

by Grant

In this wonderfully evocative picture of an urban American high school and its successes and setbacks over the past thirty-five years, Gerald Grant works out a unique perspective on what makes a good school: one that asserts moral and intellectual authority without becoming rigidly doctrinaire or losing the precious gains in equality of opportunity that have been won at great cost.

Grant describes what happened inside Hamilton High (a real school, although its identity is disguised), and how different worlds evolved as the school’s authority system was transformed. After the opening of Hamilton High in the buoyant and self-confident 1950s, the school plunged into a period of violence and radical deconstruction in the late sixties. Grant charts the rise of student power in the seventies, followed by new transformations of the school in the last decade occasioned in part by the mainstreaming of disabled students and the arrival of Asian immigrants. Things got very bad before they got better, but they did get better. The school went from white power to black power to genuine racial equality. Its average test scores declined and then improved. Although test-score means did not return to their former levels, the gap in achievement between the social classes decreased. Violence was replaced by a sense of relative safety and security.

Yet this book is not just a case study. In the second half the author presents a general analysis of American education. He contrasts the world of Hamilton High with other possible worlds, including those at three schools (one public and two private) that exhibit a strong positive ethos. He looks at the way the moral and intellectual worlds have been sundered in many contemporary public schools and asks whether they can be put back together again.

The book is grounded in a creative methodology that includes research by students at Hamilton High, whom Grant trained to analyze life in their school. Later he shared this research with teachers as a means of opening a dialogue about what changes they wanted to make. Grant’s analysis leads to recommendations for two essential reforms, and in an epilogue the teachers who read this hook also tell us what they make of it and offer their own conclusions. Their challenging final words will spur the thinking of educators, policymakers, scholars, parents, and all those who are concerned about our schools today.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, School

295 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Michael Schneider · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone who went to this high school at the time the study was performed and the book was written in the mid-1980s, I have always been curious about this book. I’ve always been aware that many people involved with the school did not like the book, but I never knew why until reading it.

The study in the book comes across as a platform for the author’s conservative views about public education with a thin veneer of scientific language to make it appear to be a proper sociology study. In reality, the study was never funded, and the author engaged in unusual research practices such as recruiting minors in the school as research assistants and drawing conclusions from small sample sizes without adequate assessment of statistical significance. There are some very interesting aspects of the study including an extensive history of the school from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. This highlights some significant changes in how public high schools have been run over the years. However, the author clearly colors that discussion with a racist and sexist viewpoint along with editorial comments about the importance of authority and discipline. This even goes to the extent of suggesting hazing in the school in the 1950s created a beneficial and more disciplined environment and was a reason test scores were higher then.

[Amanda Davenport · Rating 1 out of 5]

nothing to write home about. i guess it's dated, but i definitely have more insightful interteresting things to say about education than this book

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting study of a single high school and how it endured through a pretty big change in American life and schooling between the 1950s and 1980s or 1990s. What used to be an all-white, upper-middle class school is rocked by desegregation, white flight, mainstreaming of special needs children, and an immigration influx. For me, the most interesting thing about this book was its retelling of the period directly following desegregation. I couldn't believe how violent things got in the school. The book's contention that the school had no guiding philosophy or ethos to help coalesce people during this time was really interesting. As with many things in life, I think the ability to define what you are, and make sure all members of the organization know, is very important for ensuring happiness and good results. It made me think more deeply about how you can craft an intentional culture inside of a school, including defining values that mean something.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written, concise, and insightful examination of the history and progress of a "typical" American high from the 1950s - 1980s. The author, Gerald Grant, a professor of education, proposes very insightful reforms that schools can under-take on their own without waiting for the state DOEs or the national government to issue more meaningless mandates. Grant urges schools to examine their current academic and cultural climate and calls for the creation of a common community accepted ethos to help guide students in their development. Similarly, he is critical of the cultural relativism and the related non-judgmental therapy culture that developed from the feel good, direction-less 60s/70s. Student need and value reasonable limits and direction from their parents and teachers. Grant further urges reforms in school governance and teacher training, but these are secondary to his main suggestions for school reform. He understand the nature of public high schools and his suggestions hits the nail on the head, in term of improving the nature of public high schools.