Review by New York Times Review
FOUR YEARS AGO, the New York Times Magazine journalist Paul Tough published a book titled "How Children Succeed," which argued that the modern obsession with increasing student scores in reading and math misses most of what matters in education. Instead, character traits like grit, curiosity, persistence and self-control are the keys to success in school, college and life. Test-weary parents and teachers embraced the message, and Tough spent the next few years speaking, traveling and reporting on programs laboring to put these ideas into practice. But in doing so, he noticed a "paradox" - many of the educators who were unusually good at teaching grit and self-control didn't use those words to describe their aims. Often, they weren't even aware that they were avatars of what Tough believed was a groundbreaking new approach to education. Why? And what did that mean? Tough's new book, "Helping Children Succeed," describes his attempt to find out. Less a full-length sequel to "How Children Succeed" than a short companion, "Helping Children Succeed" argues that skills like emotional regulation and stick-to-it-iveness can't be taught in the same way children are trained to decode phonemes and solve quadratic equations. "No child ever learned curiosity by filling out curiosity work sheets," he notes. Instead, character is the product of environments in which children form strong, secure attachments to teachers and caregivers, and are taught in ways that stimulate their autonomy and ability to solve problems. For young children burdened by the mental scars of toxic stress and impoverished childhoods, this approach can break a pervasive cycle of failure. "Neurocognitive dysfunctions can quickly become academic dysfunctions," Tough writes. "As they fall behind, they feel worse about themselves and worse about school. That creates more stress, which often feeds into behavior problems, which leads, in the classroom, to stigmatization and punishment, which keeps their stress levels elevated, which makes it still harder to concentrate - and so on, and so on." Tough is adept at translating academic jargon into precise, accessible prose. "Helping Children Succeed" employs the standard heroic narrative of progress in the sciences - social, cognitive, neuroand more. New research findings are usually some flavor of groundbreaking, counterintuitive or revelatory. Addressing early childhood, where American social policies are particularly weak, he sees great opportunities to help distressed parents improve their parenting, uncomfortable as the judgment implied in that may be. Affordable early learning centers for the children of working parents - that is, most children - can help low-income students catch up to their more affluent peers. But Tough acknowledges that the early years pass quickly. Most of the hard character-building work will need to happen in "profoundly broken" public schools. To find examples of how schools could be better, he looks mostly to national school networks like Expeditionary Learning and Achievement First. Tough knows this is complicated, and complicating, because charter schools like Achievement First are often seen as relentlessly focused on improving student test scores in reading and math - the very "cognitive" skills that his prior book argued are overemphasized, to the detriment of character. Many charters, Tough explains, have moved to a more balanced approach, with less harsh discipline and more willingness to let students struggle, fail and learn from the experience. Otherwise, their expert test-takers will founder in college and beyond. The larger lesson seems to be that while character traits are educationally and neurologically distinct from traditional academic expertise, the kinds of schools that best teach both sets of skills may be one and the same. HOW TO CREATE more such schools, which remain few and far between? "Helping Children Succeed" leaves that question, the great unsolved puzzle of modern education policy, unanswered. Which means that teachers, lawmakers and school leaders will need plenty of the qualities that Tough promotes so persuasively: grit in the face of rising economic inequality, curiosity to look beyond settled educational dogma, persistence and self-control when budgets shrink and attentions wane. The science of character has become a valuable new window on what education should be. But building great schools remains an old challenge, still unresolved. KEVIN CAREY is the author of "The End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 12, 2016]
Review by Library Journal Review
Tough (contributing writer, New York Times Magazine) builds on the research he outlined in his book How Children Succeed to address at great depth the ways adults can build success for children who face the greatest adversity. Contending that it is the environment that shapes children's ability to develop significant noncognitive skills such as perseverance and optimism, Tough presents research that shows success in these areas is possible for all children. Diving into studies and supporting their conclusions by defining real-life examples, Tough convincingly argues that classroom climate is what needs changed in order to shape students' experiences. While advocating for transformation to a broken system that could turn disadvantaged kids' lives around, the author also acknowledges the small things that make a difference. Tough calls upon individuals to make those small steps and shows that by looking through a different lens it is possible to see how education can be better structured for the future. VERDICT For readers concerned with finding practical ways to engage with and improve education for those children with the most to lose.--Rachel Wadham, Brigham Young Univ. Libs., Provo, UT © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Straightforward advice on how to help children overcome adversity at home and in school.In this sequel to How Children Succeed (2012), Tough moves beyond the question of why children from affluent families fare better than those who grow up in poverty. The author discusses the ways in which parents, teachers, and other adults can help children succeed despite their backgrounds. Poor health, neglect, abuse, and deficiencies in early cognitive stimulation are just a few of the reasons why children fail to thrive. Backed by his intensive research, Tough outlines many simple and effective methods currently in use at day care centers, preschools, and schools that counteract the effects of an environment that is unstable, chaotic, and unpredictable. Beginning with infancy, children need positive face-to-face time with their parents. Strong bonding between parents and child before age 1 enables the child to learn that his or her environment is safe. Once a stable home life is established, children can then enter the school system, where they need to encounter teachers who have positive attitudes, work toward establishing strong relationships, and truly enjoy teaching in a creative manner. "In the same way that responsive parenting in early childhood creates a kind of mental space where a child's first tentative steps toward intellectual learning can take place," writes the author, "so do the right kind of messages from teachers in school create a mental space that allows a student to engage in more advanced and demanding academic learning." By helping children be engaged in learning that, even when challenging, is meaningful, informative, and fun, children drop their fight-or-flight stress responses and perform better on all levels: academically, socially, and emotionally. Tough's research demonstrates that all children have the capacity for self-control, grit, and success if given the right tools to work with from birth. Informative and effective methods to help children overcome issues and thrive at home and in school. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
