Early Ed Watch Q&A

Yesterday on Early Ed Watch, a blog about early education from the New American Foundation, Lisa Guernsey, the director of the foundation’s early education initiative, published a Q&A that she did with me on early education, my new book, the Harlem Children’s Zone, and “Waiting for ‘Superman,'” among other topics. An excerpt:

I’m working on a new book that has me back out visiting a lot of schools, and I’m interested in the so-called non-cognitive aspects of persistent poverty and educational opportunities that help people escape from poverty.  I’m looking at how – both at the preschool level and also the high school level – interventions may focus on aspects of character or personality or executive function. For me personally that’s the most interesting thing going on out there. It’s really early and less connected and less well-formed as an argument than what I was writing about in Whatever it Takes, but it contains the germ of having new ways of thinking about poverty and what is going on in the lives of poor kids and what kinds of interventions might get them out of poverty.

Bill Gates Q&A

Last weekend, Parade magazine ran a Q&A that I did with Bill Gates in September on teaching, schools, and “Waiting for Superman.” This week in the magazine, there’s a response from the president of the National Education Association.

Durham Q&A

From today’s Durham News, a fairly stream-of-consciousness Q&A about my talk in Durham this coming Sunday, in which I say things like:

I think my one worry about the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone is people are going to think it is easy. They look at how the Harlem Children’s Zone is now, and don’t see all of the hard work, wrong turns, and dismal failures that went into making it the success that it is today. What I think any community will need if they are going to try to do this is persistence, dedication, faith, a long term vision, and a sense that they are going to do whatever it takes.

Firedoglake Book Salon

Readers discussed Whatever It Takes (and fired questions at me) this afternoon as part of the Firedoglake Book Salon. Here’s the transcript.

Firedoglake Book Salon

This Saturday, November 14, at 5 p.m. Eastern time, I’ll be answering questions from readers of Firedoglake, which describes itself as a “leading progressive blog,” as part of the site’s regular book salon. Please come by and ask questions!

Alberta Magazine Publishers

This Friday, October 23, at 2 p.m., I’ll be speaking to a group of magazine publishers and editors at the Stanley Milner Public Library in Edmonton, Alberta, in a speech/Q&A organized by the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association. AMPA interviewed me about being a magazine editor for the most recent issue of their newsletter. I’ll be in Edmonton as part of the city’s International Literary Festival.

Minneapolis reading and talk

On Sunday, October 18, at 5 p.m,  I’ll be reading and speaking and answering questions at Magers and Quinn Booksellers, a Minneapolis bookstore located at 3038 Hennepin Avenue South.

Dwyer Center event

On Thursday, October 8, at 6 p.m., I’ll be answering questions and meeting readers at a reception at the Dwyer Cultural Center in Harlem to celebrate the release of the paperback edition of Whatever It Takes. The Dwyer center is located at 258 St. Nicholas Avenue, at 123rd Street. Here’s the announcement.

Amazon Blog

Today on Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog, notes on “Whatever It Takes,” plus a Q&A with me and Geoffrey Canada.

When I saw this summer that Tough had written a book about Canada, my radar screen lit up like the Fourth of July. And the book, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America, turns out to be excellent: a well-told distillation of a very complex story, and an admiring but level-headed profile of a remarkable man. Canada’s project, the Harlem Children’s Zone, is an incredibly ambitious attempt to make sure that no child really is left behind in the 97-block neighborhood it serves, working with everyone from expectant parents to hard-to-steer adolescents to foster an entire culture that supports the basic task of educating poor kids and breaking the cycle of generational poverty. As the book shows, the project has had some remarkable successes in its first few years, but they haven’t been uniform or easy.

USA Today

Here’s a Q&A from today’s USA Today, on Geoffrey Canada, the Harlem Children’s Zone, and Whatever It Takes.

Q: The book is as much a primer on poverty as it is a book about education. What’s the most important insight you took away?

A: Poor children turn into poor adults for one simple reason: They lack the skills and the knowledge to compete at a high level. It’s not about a lack of will or native ability, it’s not about a lack of opportunity, it’s about a lack of training. Because of a variety of problems in their homes and their schools and their communities, disadvantaged children never get a chance to learn the skills they need to succeed. The good news is that if you find a way to teach them those skills — and that’s entirely possible, though it takes an innovative approach and a lot of hard work — they’re going to have a much better shot at a successful life.