Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America by Jay Mathews (Unabridged Audio CD)
Publisher: HighBridge Company; 10.5 hours on 9 CDs (April 8, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1598879056
Back-of-the-box blurb: When Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin signed up for Teach for America right after college and found themselves utter failures in the classroom, they vowed to remake themselves into superior educators. They did that—and more. In their early twenties, by sheer force of talent and determination never to take no for an answer, they created a wildly successful fifth-grade experience that would grow into the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), which today includes sixty-six schools in nineteen states and the District of Columbia.
She is Too Fond of Books‘ thoughts: I thought I would love this audiobook. I have an interest in pop-sociology, and the evolution of of education systems fascinates me. I took classes on the history of American education in college, did practical work at a reading laboratory, and volunteered as a tutor in an adult literacy program. Now, as a parent, our public school curriculum and the state testing required by “No Child Left Behind” affect me and my family on a very personal level.
Unfortunately, the audiobook didn’t meet my expectations. While the sections about Teach for America and the early days of KIPP were very interesting, these parts were overwhelmed by the frank minutiae of the personal lives of Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin. Jay Mathews goes into far too much detail about their day-to-day lives, and loses focus on the genesis and evolution of KIPP. Perhaps if I were reading a hardcopy I could have skipped these sections, but I was at the mercy of my iPod, a format which doesn’t really lend itself to skimming.
My reaction to Work Hard. Be Nice. is much the same as my reaction to Three Cups of Tea. Both books chronicle great initiatives with wide-reaching positive consequences. Both, in my opinion, are so poorly written that they don’t hold my interest. In fact, after 4 long hours of listening, I gave up and didn’t finish listening to the audio of Work Hard. Be Nice.
I’m sending the audiobook to my sister-in-law, who at one time worked for Teach for America and is now a teacher in the New York City public schools. I’ll post her thoughts as an update to this review.
FTC disclosure: review copy provided by the publisher via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program
I too was surprised at all the personal stuff. I stuck through it however, since I was reviewing it for Library Thing. And I liked hearing about the program. But if you listened at the beginning, you didn’t miss much. Most of the rest is just bureaucratic details about expanding the number of schools, and more on Personal Details of Mike and Dave. (I don’t know if you put yourself through their one-on-one basketball challenge, but it was as painful to listen to – on and on – as it must have been to play!)
Too bad this isn’t written better because it does sound like a fascinating subject matter. I have to admit that I am so glad to have Vance in college, so I don’t have to deal with school, standardized tests, etc.
Bummer. And it sounded like such a promising book with great ideas.
And I found 3 Cups of Tea to be an agonizing read.
Nothing is worse than a great premise in the hands of a bad writer. Because it has the potential to postively affect those who read it. Too bad really.
That is the downside of audios. Hard to skim. I also almost never had any good quotes from audios because it is hard to capture them!
I read the synopsis on Library Thing and really wanted to know more. I didn’t win the book and was disappointed. I still want to know more on the program. Too bad it’s poorly written.
I often find this to be the case — just because someone is an expert in some area or has come up with an inspiring idea or program doesn’t mean he or she is a good writer.
It does sound promising … too bad it lost focus. And I’m just beginning to discover the mess that seems to be “No Child Left Behind” as my son enters kindergarten. Ugh.
to all – please note that these thoughts pertain to the audiobook format. Because there was so much that I considered unrelated to my direct interest in KIPP, I was frustrated by the inability to skip these sections and focus on the education program. The book may be much more bearable, even enjoyable, in hardcopy, where one can skip/skim.
rhapsody – Yes, I listened to the basketball game shakedown. I’m glad neither Dave nor Mike collapsed on the court! Glad I got the most benefit out of the parts I listened to.
Kathy – argh! Don’t get me started on the ‘teaching to the test’ issues …
softdrink – I’ll report back what s-i-l has to say. As someone who has lived thru a developing program, she may connect more with it.
Sandy – I save my audiobooks for treadmill only; that’s my incentive to get on the machine. This was actually keeping me off, that’s why I decided to abandon it.
Margot – if you can get the hardcopy of the book at a library, try that. You’ll be able to pass over the day-to-day details (or, they may be more tolerable in written format)
Beth – is that the old ‘physician heal thyself’ adage at work?
Jenners – ‘No Child Encouraged to Thrive’ either!