The Battle for Room 314 : My Year of Hope and Despair in a New York City High School

Title:

Author:

Summary:

"In the tradition of the classic Up The Down Staircase comes an unforgettable book about a year inside a troubled New York City school. In a fit of idealism, Ed Boland left a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive to teach in a tough New York City public high school. But his hopes quickly collided headlong with the appalling reality of his students' lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them: Jay runs a drug ring for his incarcerated brother; Nee-cole is homeschooled on the subway by her brilliant homeless mother; and Byron's Ivy League dream is dashed because he is undocumented. In the end, Boland isn't hoisted on his students' shoulders and no one passes AP anything. This is no urban fairy tale of at-risk kids saved by a Hollywood hero, but a searing indictment of reform-minded schools that claim to be progressive but still fail their students. Told with compassion, humor, and a keen eye, Boland's story will resonate deeply with anyone who cares about the future of education. "-- Provided by publisher.

Edition:

First edition.

Contents:

Prologue: Chantay -- The good ol' days -- Best practices -- Nemesis -- Nowhere over the rainbow -- Powers of ten -- Sweet Jesús -- Lord Byron -- Free Freddy! -- My funny Valentina -- Old school -- Lil' Mickey, a disciple of soul -- The ivy curtain -- Massacre of the innocents -- Point of no return -- Pomp and circumstance -- Epilogue: A message to Charles.

Physical Description:

viii, 243 pages ; 22 cm

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Personal Subject:

Boland, Ed.

Subject Term:

High school teachers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Biography.

Public schools -- New York (State) -- New York.

Education -- New York (State) -- New York.

Publisher:

Grand Central Publishing,

Publication Date:

2016

ISBN:

9781455560615

Publication Information:

New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2016.

Call Number:

373.11 BOLAND

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003133678	Adult Nonfiction	373.11 BOLAND	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

In this insightfully honest and moving memoir about the realities of teaching in an inner-city school, Ed Boland "smashes the dangerous myth of the hero-teacher [and] shows us how high the stakes are for our most vulnerable students" (Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black).
In a fit of idealism, Ed Boland left a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive to teach in a tough New York City public high school. But his hopes quickly collided headlong with the appalling reality of his students' lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them. Freddy runs a drug ring for his incarcerated brother; Nee-cole is homeschooled on the subway by her brilliant homeless mother; Byron's Ivy League dream is dashed because he is undocumented.
In the end, Boland isn't hoisted on his students' shoulders and no one passes AP anything. This is no urban fairy tale of at-risk kids saved by a Hollywood hero, but a searing indictment of schools that claim to be progressive but still fail their students.
Told with compassion, humor, and a keen eye, Boland's story is sure to ignite debate about the future of American education and attempts to reform it.

Author Notes

Ed Boland has dedicated his entire professional life to nonprofit causes as a fundraiser and communications expert. He has worked for predominantly educational institutions but also for arts and social service organizations. Boland was an Admissions Officer at his alma mater, Fordham, and later at Yale, and lived in China as a Princeton in Asia Fellow. He is now a senior administrator at the nation's premier educational access program, which places gifted students of color at leading private schools. He lives in New York with his husband.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In 2006, Boland left behind a rewarding 20-year career in fund-raising to teach at a New York City public high school. He lasted only one year on the job, but the experience was enough to supply him with a book's worth of stories and insights. In this enthralling memoir, Boland spends most of his time in a classroom at Union Street, an innovative, reform-minded school, struggling to maintain control of his charges. "In room 314," he writes, "my roles of ineffective cop and feckless social worker always trumped my job as a teacher." Throughout, Boland introduces us to some of the memorable students who gave him fits. There is Jesús, the tough guy menace; Byron, the bored, out-of-place genius; and a fearsome rabble-rouser nicknamed Nemesis. Like most real-world education policy, the advice for improvement that is given to Boland is extremely contradictory. Despite his relative inexperience, his bold call to action at the end of the book is right on the money: it perfectly summarizes what is wrong with public education in America, and how we can fix it. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Boland's memoir is a deeply human story about the power of teaching. Agent: Jim Levine, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Boland, a 20-year veteran-executive for educational nonprofits and former admissions officer at Yale University and Fordham University, flirting with a mid-career change and desiring to be closer to the success stories the nonprofits he worked for achieved, took the plunge and became a certified teacher. After completing a master's program in teaching, Boland, awash in new-instructor jitters and idealism, found himself teaching history in room 314 in an inner-city New York high school with more than 30 ninth-grade students. This memoir is his gritty, self-reflective, sometimes humorous account of his first year. Boland's colorful descriptions let the reader share his experience, living his successes, his growing understanding of his craft and his students, his dissections of days that did not go well, and his efforts to maintain hope. The epilog summarizes his journey and includes specific advice to prospective teachers as well as a roadmap for educational reform. VERDICT Captivating, insightful, and instructive, Boland's first-person account and authentic struggle to understand the broken elements of the education system will appeal to students of education, educational leadership, and social work.-Jane Scott, Clark Lib., Univ. of Portland, OR © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Prologue: Chantay	p. 1
Chapter 1 The Good Ol' Days	p. 5
Chapter 2 Best Practices	p. 17
Chapter 3 Nemesis	p. 42
Chapter 4 Nowhere Over the Rainbow	p. 55
Chapter 5 Powers of Ten	p. 74
Chapter 6 Sweet Jesús	p. 87
Chapter 7 Lord Byron	p. 100
Chapter 8 Free Freddy!	p. 116
Chapter 9 My Funny Valentina	p. 128
Chapter 10 Old School	p. 143
Chapter 11 Lil' Mickey, A Disciple of Soul	p. 150
Chapter 12 The Ivy Curtain	p. 164
Chapter 13 Massacre of the Innocents	p. 182
Chapter 14 Point of No Return	p. 193
Chapter 15 Pomp and Circumstance	p. 207
Epilogue: A Message to Charles	p. 220
Acknowledgments	p. 240
About the Author	p. 243

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents