Dr. Jonathan Kozol
Death At An Early Age, a description of his first year as a teacher, was published in 1967 and received a National Book Award. Now regarded as a classic by educators, the book has sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S. and Abroad.
From the start, Kozol combined teaching with activism. He taught at South Boston High during the city's desegregation crisis. Working with black and hispanic parents, he helped set up a storefront learning center that became a model for many others. Kozol described his experience during those years in three books: Free Schools, The Night Is Dark and I Am Far From Home, and On Being A Teacher.
Following these years, Kozol became haunted by the large number of adults he had met who simply couldn't read. In 1980, the Cleveland Public Library asked him to design a literacy plan for the nation's large cities. His plan won support and became the model for a major effort sparked by the State Library of California.
The book that followed, Illiterate America, was the center of a campaign to spur state, federal, and private action on adult literacy.
His next book, Rachel And Her Children: Homeless Families in America, was based on his lengthy visits to a New York City homeless shelter. The book was the subject of two special editions of "Nightline” a New York Times editorial, and several congressional investigations.
Two decades after the publication of his first book, Kozol revisited America’s schools. He went to rich and poor schools in over 30 communities. What he saw stunned and sickened him.
"I traveled through a country that was more segregated than ever, but cared less about it," Kozol says. "I saw school after school in ruins, much worse than anything from the 60's. I talked to countless children who had lost, or were about to lose, the only thing they ever had - hope."
Out of that journey of despair came Savage Inequalities: Children In America’s Schools, Kozol’s most vivid and comprehensive attempt to make Americans look hard at what is going on in our classrooms.
The book was a nominee for the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award and was awarded the New England Book Award in nonfiction.
Death At An Early Age, a description of his first year as a teacher, was published in 1967 and received a National Book Award. Now regarded as a classic by educators, the book has sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S. and Abroad.
From the start, Kozol combined teaching with activism. He taught at South Boston High during the city's desegregation crisis. Working with black and hispanic parents, he helped set up a storefront learning center that became a model for many others. Kozol described his experience during those years in three books: Free Schools, The Night Is Dark and I Am Far From Home, and On Being A Teacher.
Following these years, Kozol became haunted by the large number of adults he had met who simply couldn't read. In 1980, the Cleveland Public Library asked him to design a literacy plan for the nation's large cities. His plan won support and became the model for a major effort sparked by the State Library of California.
The book that followed, Illiterate America, was the center of a campaign to spur state, federal, and private action on adult literacy.
His next book, Rachel And Her Children: Homeless Families in America, was based on his lengthy visits to a New York City homeless shelter. The book was the subject of two special editions of "Nightline” a New York Times editorial, and several congressional investigations.
Two decades after the publication of his first book, Kozol revisited America’s schools. He went to rich and poor schools in over 30 communities. What he saw stunned and sickened him.
"I traveled through a country that was more segregated than ever, but cared less about it," Kozol says. "I saw school after school in ruins, much worse than anything from the 60's. I talked to countless children who had lost, or were about to lose, the only thing they ever had - hope."
Out of that journey of despair came Savage Inequalities: Children In America’s Schools, Kozol’s most vivid and comprehensive attempt to make Americans look hard at what is going on in our classrooms.
The book was a nominee for the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award and was awarded the New England Book Award in nonfiction.
