Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — Business, Management & Labor

Historically, African Americans have been negatively characterized with the images of absent fathers, dysfunctional families, uninterested parents, and underperforming students.  Mazama (African American studies, Temple) and Musumunu (sociology, Montgomery County Community College), however, reveal that one of the most extensive forms of parentingnamely, homeschoolingcontradicts the aforementioned myths about African Americans.  The book is based on 74 interviews in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and other metropolitan areas.  After offering a history of African American educational exclusion, the authors detail some of the main reasons why black families homeschool.  They argue that African American parents are concerned about the quality of education, racism, safety, and religion in traditional schools.  They also believe that homeschooling provides better education from religious, moral, and racial/ethnic perspectives.  Although some of the concerns, such as the quality of teachers and the emphasis on religion, are common across racial groups, some others are unique to African Americans.  Some parents, for example, argue that school curricula are not culturally relevant to African Americans.  The books strength is not only in its authors extensive familiarity with scholarships in education and African American studies, but also in the use of direct quotes from their interviews.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

In commemoration of the 60th anniversary ofBrown v. Board of Education and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, 26 scholars have produced a series of first-person narratives examining and reflecting upon discrimination and racism.  As the student population in American public schools has become a minority majority, considerations of how discrimination and race shape childrens learning are more important than ever.  The book engages readers with discussions of law, education, and reform initiatives that are pertinent and persuasive.  Organized around major eras in civil rights litigation, the book has parts relating to the foundational bases for this struggle, more recent clashes as desegregation unfolded, and future issues and topics.  The essayists Bowman (law, Michigan State Univ.) collected examine backstories that undergird many of the more significant cases, but contributors also question much of the isolation based on race and class that affects the United States and its schools today.  Arguing for a return of the social and civic missions that schools traditionally pursued, the book could serve as a main text for introductory or graduate-level classes in fields as diverse as education, history, political science, or sociology.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates through researchers and faculty; general readers.