The Time Is Now

In this truly pathbreaking research on school dropouts, Louie F. Rodriguez presents the reader with a theoretical framework that positions the concept of recognition - together with individual agency, opportunity, and power - at its center. Without apology, he challenges practitioners, educators, and school leaders to disavow the depersonalizing, power-evasive, and alienating impacts of most U.S. schooling today by incorporating a constructive, consciousness-building politics of recognition into their praxis. Kudos to Dr. Rodriguez for his invaluable contribution to an otherwise stalled articulation of school dropout in both scholarly and public policy debates. (Angela Valenzuela, College of Education, University of Texas at Austin; Author of Subtractive Schooling and Leaving Children Behind) There is no more important issue in education than the lack of achievement and attainment of Black and Latina/o students along all segments of the educational pipeline. This empirical fact is an example of the failure of the U.S. education system to educate all of our youth. One could argue that the high school 'dropout' crisis is the segment of the pipeline where we lose the largest number of our students of color. In The Time Is Now, Louie F. Rodriguez provides convincing evidence from 10 years of research that the talent we lose when we fail to graduate our Black and Latina/o high school students is a devastating loss to the U.S. domestically and globally. The answers that Rodriguez provides are centered on the assets and strengths that exist with these students and their families - assets and strengths that are often ignored by the schools. Those who want to better understand this crisis and work to increase the numbers of students through high school and other segments of the educational pipeline must read the racial justice lessons of The Time Is Now. (Daniel G. Solorzano, Professor of Social Science and Comparative Education, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles) The Time Is Now provides much-needed insight on the critical need to significantly reduce the dropout crisis in the U.S. Simply stated, we can't educate students who are not in an education setting. Our human capital must be one of America's prize assets to progress as a country, democracy, and society in the twenty-first century. With each student we lose, it is a significant debit out of America's economic, social, and moral bank. The Time Is Now highlights the lost opportunities as well as those that still remain to rectify the breaches in the pipeline to provide all students an opportunity to learn. The book is not only informative and instructive, but serves as a compelling call to action and a reminder that the best time to address yesterday's mistakes and today's challenges is now. (John H. Jackson, President and CEO, Schott Foundation for Public Education)