In Up Where We Belong, Gail Thompson asked the students in a low performing school to be candid about their high school experiences. Using this information and relying on data from questionnaires and focus groups, Thompson discovered a huge gap in perception between how teachers and students view their experience of school.
Praise for Up Where We Belong
"Up Where We Belong is in a special category of books about instructional improvement that have the ring of reality about them. The writing is clear and compelling. The text is illustrated richly, with the authentic voices of students. It focuses on key aspects of school structures and processes. The comparison of students' voices with adult voices is a fresh approach to data gathering, which enables discrepancies between the two to be analyzed, with extremely revealing results. The author provides an excellent variety of substantive suggestions for improving educational achievements, lists of things that I regard as valid pragmatics. The author makes excellent use of supporting literature. This is an excellent contribution to the literature on raising student achievement."
--Asa G. Hilliard III, Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Urban Education, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
"Dr. Thompson has done it again, with another excellent book. What I enjoyed most about the book were the responses from students about their teachers. Every educator needs to hear how our students feel. Every teacher needs to read this book."
--Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, author, An African Centered Response to Ruby Payne's Poverty Theory
"Gail Thompson is an important voice in the struggle to achieve equal educational outcomes for children of color. Her passionate commitment to our children and families springs forth from these pages. This book is filled with valuable information and solutions. It is 'must reading' for all educators."
--Janice E. Hale, professor of early childhood education, Wayne State University, and author, Learning While Black
