The Quality School | 
 enlarge | Author: William Glasser
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy Used: $1.75
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 13265
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3 Sub
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.5
ISBN: 0060952865
Dewey Decimal Number: 371.200973
EAN: 9780060952860
ASIN: 0060952865
Publication Date: September 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Horrible Condition: Exposed to humidity midwest storage. Still perfectly readable.
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Product Description
"This should be required reading by every school administator, every teacher, every board member and all university faculty involved in the training of teachers. There is no doubt that we need to squeeze all blame, all coerion and all criticism out of any people-related business. Not until we realize that schools are in a people business will we ever be able to make meaningful changes."
--Dr. Albert Mamary, former superintendent of schools, Johnson City, New York
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
A Quality Read May 13, 2008
I've used Glasser's work in my middle-school classroom to establish what's acceptable work, and I've used it to broach discussions of why we even mandate schooling. Few books on education that I've read have had the impact on my teaching that this book and The Quality School Teacher: A Companion Volume to The Quality School, Glasser's other tome on applying Choice Theory to education, have had. If you want an approach to dealing with people that will work, then read this book. If you're looking for a tome on how to fill students' heads with information--which is, admittedly, something all teachers ought to be concerned with--then you should have already read this book, for the information herein will make you all the more successful.
 Change is hard to do. May 20, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
As I see many of the reviewers here question and doubt the idea of quality schools and choice theory. It has been a few years since I read Choice Theory and Reality Therapy, but I have put the theories into practice in my own life. It is very difficult to let go of the old external control psychology, but it is very possible to make Choice Theory a new habit. Changing the school systems seems like such an enormous task, an almost impossible one. But I think most parents would agree that we need to do something new. There is a reason why Dr. Glasser doesn't go into deep explaination as to how to bring about a Quality School in his book, because he wants teachers and principles to take his classes to learn the theory.
This book is an introduction to the theory not a course in how to practice it. And the one reason I don't think he has a lot of statistical information in his book is because at the time of writing it, there wasn't much to give. I believe it is hard for people to admit what they are doing now might not be the best way to do it, thus they resist anything that might suggest to them change. But if you are looking for some way to change your outlook on life, your happiness level, or you child's schools this book and his others are good investments. These books are unlike any other book you will read in the field of psychology.
Great theory on educational reform May 15, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
An educational consultant recommended this book for me as I was looking at some ideas for changing processes at my school. I think Glasser presents some great ideas, however, I found that one fundamental piece was missing, parental responsibility. Schools can not be solely responsible for the rearing and education of children. While I think Glasser's ideas are excellent for working with motivated children, I'm not convinced that behavioral suggestions would work with children from all backgrounds.
 It's All Theory, So.....Who Knows. July 4, 2006
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
For many decades now, Dr. William Glasser has been espousing both choice theory (his theory of human motivations) and the "quality school" (the education model based on choice theory). This book goes a long way in not only describing the "quality school" education model, but in showing how it ties to choice theory.
The basic premise behind choice theory that applies to the "quality school" is the idea that people inherently desire control over their lives. Glasser criticizes "tradidional" schooling for failing to give kids any sense of control over their education or lives. They are given work that they cannot see the relevance to for their lives, told to do it, and given grades as rewards or penalties.
Glasser's solution? The "quality school" is designed as a more cooperative, rather than adversarial, venture between teacher and student. Teachers ask students how they want to learn a particular subject, deadlines become somewhat obscelete (the student turns in her work when she feels it is "quality"), etc.
Now, while it may be a truism that students learn best when working at their pace on their terms - that's what makes this a 'feel good' book - the astute reader will want to see evidence that such a model of education works. It is no exageration to say that these readers will be disappointed when they find absolutely no statistical evidence of the kind in this or any other of Glasser's books.
In the end, that is what makes this book, and so many of Glasser's books, diappointing. First, he adoptes the tone of a salesman througout. He is certainly trying to "sell" us a product. And, like a good salesman, he sways by rhetoric rather than statistics and numbers. Most strangely, he even "feigns" figures. At certain points in the bookk, he will say, "80% of students..." or "20% of teachers..."; surely this beckons a citation. After quoting these "figures" thouugh, Glasser offers no statistics. (The few times he does cite sources to back his claims, he is prone to citing New York Times articles and such - hardly peer-reviewed journals.)
While it may be interesting to read this book and entertain the ideas - I still think there may be something to them - the reader should be reminding herself that all of Glasser's salesmanship amounts to gross speculation and nothing more. This book has a "feel good" approach that (whether consciously or not) was likely designed to have us forget or overlook this dearth of factual analysis. Read the book, yes. But do not forget that Glasser still owes us some numbers.
 The Quality School June 20, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Good overall concept. Rather redundant and begins to feel like overkill after awhile. This book doesn't offer much in the way of example - has it really been put into practice with success? Not sure because it's more preaching than showing.
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