• education
• testing

I'm reading a lot about Geoffrey Canada these days. I've heard stories about him on This American Life and Terry Gross, and I'm now hearing about a book that features him called Whatever It Takes. Canada completely transformed a section of Harlem with afterschool programs, parent training, and a slew of other programs.

Aaron Swartz calls Whatever It Takes "the big book right now in liberal education circles." I'm fairly certain that he's talking about "liberal" as in "lefty" and not as in a liberal education. Swartz makes some sweeping claims with regard to the tendency of liberals to tolerate standardized testing when it comes to the poor while vigorously opposing it in their own backyards. (Is anybody who's not a politican really cool with standardized testing?) Still, I share Swartz's concerns about standardized testing, and it sounds like Canada's entire scheme (one that has been lauded by Barack Obama) is build on testing.

Has anyone read this book?

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