Working-Class Kids and Visionary Educators in a Multiracial High School

Why do many of the graduates report that this California working class high school saved their lives? Karen Hansen brings her unique perspective as a graduate, as well as a sociologist, to enable us to understand the challenges and powerful interactions among students and faculty. This is a book worth reading. – Marya R. Levenson, Harry S. Levitan Emerita Director of the Education Program, Brandeis University[Dr. Hansen and Monroe rely] on a remarkably taut writing style to tell a story of Sunnyvale High School in which they literally bring the school to life. The reader painlessly acquires the basic structural information about the institution, ranging from school district standards, annual budgets, and demographics of the city and county. These necessary skeletal elements are seamlessly tied to a riveting story of both group and individual lives, choices, and consequences within the campus and community. This is not a polemical or boisterous work, and yet it commands sustained attention. It is a model of significant and interesting writing and research about how public schools work—and how students, teachers, administrators, parents, and neighbors—interact. This book confirms the importance of high school as a central feature of ‘coming of age’ in the United States. – John R. Thelin, University of KentuckyWhat makes an effective school? Hansen and Monroe’s book gives us a uniquely intimate portrait of a California high school that had a magical impact on its diverse working-class students during the turbulent 1970s. We see the secret sauce in vivid oral case histories of teachers and former students, an analysis of the path-breaking curriculum and pedagogy, and descriptions of how educators connected with students in counseling, athletics, cheerleading, marching band, and more—culminating in a list of ten school-effectiveness factors that’s as helpful as any I’ve seen. – Kim Marshall, former principal of Mather Elementary School and editor of The Marshall MemoSunnyvale High in California had none of the advantages of many schools. In a middle-class district, this school—with racially-diverse students from blue-collar families—was widely disparaged. Yet, in this remarkable book, many graduates offer a different picture as they reflect on the gifts teachers gave them decades earlier. Educators encouraged participation in meaningful extracurricular activities, and helped the students feel as if they belonged. In short, educators centered relationships. Easy to read and deeply interesting, Working-Class Kids and Visionary Educators in a Multiracial High School is an inspirational story of a high school which helped students succeed against the odds. – Annette Lareau, Author of Unequal ChildhoodsAn impassioned, well-researched history of a groundbreaking California public school. * Kirkus *

Karen V. Hansen is Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University.

Nicholas Monroe holds a PhD in sociology and works at Gartner.