Failure Is Not an Option(TM): Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools

by Alan M. Blankestein

This resource gives you the tools you need to create effective professional learning communities.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2004

Reviews

[Jules]

Book for administrators. Doesn't seem practical to some classroom teachers. Pie in the sky.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and the appendix at the end of the book (and the multiple ones through out) more fascinating and helpful than anything the author contributed. I guess that makes this kind of book successful? At least, easy to read.

There were definitely pearls of wisdom throughout, and I think such pearls could be applied to any school, failing or successful. Ironically, I was given this book during one of hundreds of staff meetings -- one of many efforts to stop the school from successfully continuing to fail. Basically everything the book said NOT to do was EXACTLY what this school did. Have hundreds of staff meetings for example, or even better, hand out books like this for free and make no time for follow up or proper study, likely because the staff rolled their eyes at the thought of another quick "educational reform" fix. And my personal favorite, just copy everything from the book and think of it as your own original thoughts for change. The irony was endless.

It seems to me that the ideas of this book would be better received in the form of specified trainings for school/district wide leaders. I'd rather spend my "how can I be a better teacher" reading time with other materials.

[Kitchengrrl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hallmarks of uselessness: new acronyms every other paragraph, footnotes for EVERYTHING, a whole chapter devoted to "What is courage?" with quotes from everyone since the beginning of time (starting with Aristotle). Please. The fact that it takes 4 chapters to start getting to the practical meat of things really bugged me. A bunch of happy management mumbo-jumbo. In the same chapter, the authors emphasize the importance of data-driven education, talk about how great testing is, talk about how awful grades are, and then expect the whole thing to come out coherent. It doesn't. It just makes it all very contradictory.

And quite frankly, if you're confused about what your mission is as a school, perhaps you don't belong in education.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Work book. I read this to get ready for a six-hour workshop I was creating/conducting. Good of its kind, dry and obvious at times. Useful and instructive at others. The book provides common sense advice on ways to engage organizations in big causes. It takes the efforts of NASA to bring the crew of Apollo 13 safely home after an explosion nearly incapacitated their spacecraft as its inspiration. Might have rated it higher if it didn't trademark the phrase--such hubris, or is it greed?

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall some pretty straightforward concepts here that I think get overlooked too much- for example, the importance of working cooperatively in the staff as opposed to privately or worse, at odds with each other. Definitely worth a read though, for any teacher or administrator who is willing to put in some serious effort to improve their school.

[Mary]

Got this book today from my new district. How's that for a title?

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple but explicit; would help in planning implementation of school improvement strategies

[Anne Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent information written in a very readable style; would make a great book study for a school PLC.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that challenges educational leaders to make the tough changes needed in public education. It is a standard on this topic. Excellent!