A recent L. A. Times news story by Howard Blume stated, "The No Child Left Behind law had an ambitious goal to reform America's public schools 16 years ago: Every student, everywhere, would be academically successful by 2014. That hasn't happened, and the vast majority of schools that receive federal funds are now labeled as failures under the law."
In a recent article published on his site, Brian Aull said that the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act focused on standardized testing as the measure of school improvement, and punished schools that did not measure up. This created powerful incentives to reduce the classroom to a test prep center, manipulate tests, lower standards, and otherwise game the system. Congress is now ironing out new legislation to update the No Child Left Behind Act. The current bills in both houses give states more latitude in determining learning goals and deciding what to do about schools that are failing by standard measures.
However, in Brian's opinion, "Fresh thinking is needed about the role of both state and federal governments. How can government be a resource rather than a regulator, helping struggling schools learn from success stories, and providing the right kinds of funding to enable them to adopt best practices?"
Americans sense it. Something is not right. Divisiveness and hostility in public debate. Politics manipulated by moneyed interests. Dysfunction and gridlock in Congress. Broken school systems. High incarceration rates. Decaying infrastructure. A widening gap between the social classes. Growing national debt.
The best political science books have documented the ill health of American democracy. Building on these works, 'The Triad' focuses on what each and every American can do to bring about the cure.
Sometimes the best books on politics come from authors who are not “experts.” 'The Triad’, authored by an engineer, is a case in point. Aull's vision offers solutions to the problems of partisan gridlock, money in politics, and growing economic inequality in the United States. Bridging the divide between liberals and conservatives he advocates three civic virtues: service, learning, and community building. He calls for civic engagement based on these virtues as the key to changing the perverse incentives that lead to gridlock, media bias, and corruption, and creating a culture of collaboration. Applying these insights to specific issues, he points a path to widely shared prosperity, universal quality education, progress on race in America, the healing of the rift between science and religion, and American leadership for human rights and democratic values worldwide.
'The Triad' has received praise from a number of reviewers. Terrence Metz, Founding Principle and Partner at Morgan Madison and Company said the book is, "A wonderful approach about how to live in a democracy . . . any democracy." Peter Levine at Tufts University stated that 'The Triad' is "movingly and impressively written."
Brian Aull is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at bfaull19@gmail.com. 'The Triad' is available at Amazon. More information is available at his website at http://www.AwakenDemocracy.com.
About Brian Aull:
Brian Aull is from Indianapolis, Indiana. He studied electrical engineering at Purdue University and then at MIT, earning his Ph.D. in 1985. Since then, he has worked as a staff scientist at MIT developing solid-state image sensors. He is also a passionate educator, teaching electrical engineering courses at Tufts University. He spent one year as a visiting professor at the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan.
A resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is active in the local community. He served on the boards of the Cambridge Peace Commission and the Coalition for a Strong United Nations. He has taught spiritual education classes for children living in Cambridge. The Triad was inspired in part by his many conversations with residents and local activists.
Contact:
Brian Aull
bfaull19@gmail.com
http://www.AwakenDemocracy.com
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