City Teachers: Teaching and School Reform in Historical Perspective

Does school reform make better schools? City Teachers: Teaching and School Reform in Historical Perspectivevividly recreates teachers’ work in urban (New York City) schools in a period of intense school reform (the 1920s), as teachers and schools coped with an ever-larger and diverse student body. Rousmaniere depicts how New York City teachers experienced citywide reform initiatives in their already stressful workday, and how they resisted, undermined, and adapted school reform policy. Drawing on extensive interviews with teachers of an earlier generation, Rousmaniere lets readers see the complexity of teachers’ work, their problems with reform implementation, and the conditions they believed were necessary for real change. This is an important book because it raises questions about teachers’ historical work culture and the effects of teachers’ working conditions. It will be invaluable reading in graduate courses in the history of education, urban education, and teacher education and for professors, researchers, and general readers in these fields.