Deborah Meier Essay ⋆ Education Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

A former kindergarten teacher, Deborah Meier has worked for more than forty years as a teacher, principal, and activist. Educated at Antioch College and the University of Chicago, Meier spent most of her career working to understand and remedy schooling through educational reforms.

Meier began her career as an elementary and Head Start teacher in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. In 1974, the superintendent of New York City’s schools, Tony Alvardo, asked her to implement her theories in a Harlem school that was known for having extremely low test scores. In response to this request, Meier founded Central Park East, which emphasized active learning. Her school also fostered democratic community, increased teacher autonomy, and encouraged parents’ feedback and participation in their children’s schooling. As a result of her efforts, overall student test scores increased considerably. She documented her efforts and the success of the school in her well-known book, The Power of Their Ideas.

Following this success, she opened two more elementary schools and one secondary school in cooperation with the Coalition of Essential Schools, an organization based on the principles that every child can learn, schools should foster democracy and equity, and school practices should meet the needs of individual students. Her schools have been lauded as models of urban reform and boast high standards, nurturing adults, and high college-going rates for their graduates.

Meier has written extensively on school reform and educational policies from the perspective that all children can learn and be successful. She affirms the importance of democratic community, active student learning, teacher autonomy, and hope in public schooling.

Bibliography:

Meier, D. (1995). The power of their ideas: Lessons to America from a small school in Harlem. Boston: Beacon Press.
Meier, D. (2000). Will standards save public education? Boston: Beacon Press.
Meier, D. (2002). In schools we trust. Boston: Beacon Press.
Meier, D. (2004). Keeping school, with Ted and Nancy Sizer. Boston: Beacon Press.
Meier, D. (2004). Many children left behind. Boston: Beacon Press.

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