B o o K R E V I E W S

Wikis for School Leaders: Using Technology to Improve Communication and Collaborationby Stephanie D. Sandifer, Eye on Education, Larch-mont, N.Y., 2011, 160 pp. with index, $29.95 softcover

Wikis for School Lead-ers is geared to meet the needs of K-12 school administra-tors interested in using wiki technology as a tool to improve administrative prac-tice, instructional effectiveness and

ultimately student achievement. Administrators will find this text useful

in facilitating the principles of democratic leadership through the use of a wiki to reduce bureaucratic hierarchies.

Author Stephanie D. Sandifer, who is an online educator and a technology coach with the Houston A+ Challenge, helps the reader make connections with real school settings. She uses scenarios addressing issues that commonly arise in schools, peppering her discussion with

references to “Before Wiki” (B.W.) and “After Wiki” (A.W.).

The book includes detailed descrip-tions of wikis, readiness-level assessments, a guide for creating a wiki account and sample agendas for wiki workshops to help school leaders teach others to apply the technology. Sandifer shares evidence of how wikis can improve time management and the quality of meetings.

One of the most important aspects is the explanation of how wikis can engage students to improve literacy skills, not only in reading and writing but also com-puting and problem-solving skills.

Because Web 2.0 is the communica-tion and collaboration medium of the digital generation, Sandifer illustrates how several of the Web 2.0 tools, such as Google Docs, blogs, twitter and Facebook, can be seamlessly integrated into wikis. She shares techniques to ensure privacy while keeping documents intended to be easily accessible to the public.

Wikis for School Leaders uses terms easily understood by those who do not consider themselves technology experts.

reviewed by ronald A. Styron Jr., director, Gulf Coast Instructional Leadership Center, University of Southern Mississippi, Long Beach, Miss.

Labor Relations in Education: Policies, Politics and Practicesby Todd A. Demitchell, Rowman & Littlefield Educa-tion, Lanham, Md., 2010, 202 pp., $34.95 softcover

In Labor Relations in Education, Todd A. DeMitchell, a profes-sor of education and justice studies at the University of New Hampshire, traces the history of collective bargaining from its origins in Wisconsin to the landmark case

supporting the right of public employees to organize and join a union (McLaughlin v. Tilendis, 1968).

In addition to outlining the lineage of bargaining, DeMitchell methodically defines the basic vocabulary, processes, procedures and usable templates inher-ent in labor negotiations, making them

fully accessible.He also discusses the administrative

reality that collective bargaining (1) formalizes relationships between teach-ers and administrators; (2) standardizes teachers’ work because the contract defines the working conditions for all teachers covered under the agreement; and (3) ensures equity when the process is understood as a rule-making activity and enforcement is upheld by both man-agement and the union.

A former superintendent, DeMitchell vividly reminds administrators the first business of the union is to secure material benefits for their members, adding, “(A)t the end of the day of bargaining, there is no magic formula or perfect process that moves everyone to win-win bargaining.”

This book cogently teaches and pre-pares administrators for the nuances, rigors and challenges of collective bar-gaining.

reviewed by Leon T. Hobbs, president/CEO, Hobbs Leadership Team, Flowery Branch, Ga.

Below C Level: How American Education Encourages Mediocrity and What We Can Do About Itby John merrow, CreateSpace, Charleston, S.C, 2010, 458 pp., $19.95 softcover

John Merrow, a veteran education correspondent for PBS, has the exten-sive background in the field to pro-duce this provoca-tive book, Below C Level: How American Education Encourages Medioc-

rity and What We Can Do About It.He tells us in opening his work that

rereading “A Nation at Risk” today is an “eerie and disturbing” experience because so much of what it says still applies. The warnings of the early 1980s remain unfortunately similar. “U.S. economic competitiveness is unsustainable with poorly prepared students feeding into the workforce,” Merrow says.

This book points to Americans’ embrace of mediocrity and its resulting effects on public education in terms of what we expect of students from kin-dergarten to the graduate level and of teachers at all levels. A key reason we have tolerated this educational malaise, Merrow contends, is that many groups benefit from it.

In his search for answers, Merrow looked for Superman. When he did find him, in the forms of individuals such as Michelle Rhee and Paul Vallas, he con-cluded they were fighting an uphill battle. In many of the schools visited, Merrow found a pattern of indifference. As one 7th grader told him: “A lot of students don’t pay attention because I don’t think the teachers are putting forth the effort to make us feel interested in the class.”

Other factors contributing to under-performing schools include a lack of suf-ficient resources, misdirected resources, unclear goals and a failure to invest in technology.

reviewed by John Patrick Closen, assistant professor of educational leadership, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Ill.

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