Smart is Cool: Building a Better Student Through Attitude

by Dom Testa

The most profound effect on education doesn’t happen in the classroom; it happens before the child even enters the building.

For decades we’ve watched student achievement scores drop and proficiency levels plummet. Parents demand better results, but often miss the most obvious problem in their child’s education.

Attitude.

Dom Testa has spent more than 20 years working with middle school students, helping them to understand how their mindset affects not only their test scores today, but the abstract future they can’t yet see.

Smart is Cool explores the history of dumbing down, the impact it has on our children and our country, and sets out practical solutions to help turn it around.

Genres: Education

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2014

About the author

I write fiction and nonfiction, and I publish under a variety of pen names.

My latest is "Let It Be Good: Simple Insights for a Satisfied Life."

Also:
The Eric Swan series of spy thrillers

The Galahad series of young adult sf, published under the name Tyber North

Middle-grade fiction under the pen name Buster Blank

Trivia/fun fact books under the name Billy B. Good

See almost all of it at DomTestaBooks.com.

Reviews

[Srosch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must admit I am a Dom Testa fan. I devoured the Galahad books, I listen to mix100's morning show, I support and try to live by the Big Brain Club's mission whenever I speak to middle school students. When I saw this book I said, "finally someone else who gets it!" And not just gets it in a reaffirming way that I was right. BUT gets it in a way that reverberates with the change I've seen in my 12 years of teaching in a high poverty school. AND gets it in a way that finally, I can explain the dip we see when middle schoolers get to 6th grade, and justifies the decisions we make as a team for our students each and every day.

Our school has gone through the waters of smart is not cool and I hope this book will help us in our mission to become a world class school. Thank you Mr Testa for your marvelous work both here, and there and everywhere.

[Cathleen Bonville · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a first read giveaway I am so grateful to be a winner. Dom Testa is very interesting and his words are making me think about all the things our middle school does to promote Smart as Cool. Throughout the entire book I thought of my middle school age daughters and their friends. I brought the topic up with my niece and her friends (juniors and seniors in high school). I was somewhat surprised to hear how prevalent this thinking is even among well-adjusted students who are considered athletic and smart.

I recommend this book to parents,educators, and students alike. There is a benefit to just starting the conversation about "Smart is Cool". Dom Testa has provided even more with ideas, and a fantastic website. BigBrainClub.com

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dom Testa has made it his mission to make nerdiness cool in schools. Smart is Cool examines how peer pressure, parental influences, and societal influences contribute to the phenonmenon of "dumbing down" within American schools.

Although I'm a high school student myself, I don't see dumbing down in schools firsthand. (I'm one of those people that "doesn't get it") However, Smart is Cool really nailed down all the subtleties that go into shaping the culture of a school, and I definitely recognized some of these elements in my school and even amongst my friends.

All in all, a good read that gave me a new perspective on my school.