Giving Compass' Take:

• Bernard Bull reviews four education books that shaped conversations in 2018 and speculates what types of education books will shape conversations in 2019. 

• How can funders meaningfully engage in community conversations about improving education? 

• Learn more about the value of Mister Rogers’ legacy.

While many people look to news headlines about innovations and promising practices, we are also wise to note several new and substantive books that sparked important conversation over the last year.

The year started with Bryan Caplan releasing his newest book, “The Case Against Education: Why the Education System is a Waste of Time and Money.” Likely resonating with a growing number of people lamenting the cost of higher education, Caplan applied the tools of an economist, striving to make his best case that higher education is often not worth the money. When I interviewed Caplan early in the year about how to address inequities in education, he didn’t join the common argument of removing barriers to a college degree. Instead, he offered the provocative claim that we might actually achieve a better living wage for more people if we reduced college enrollment back to what it was in the 1970s.

Next, with 2018 being the 50th anniversary of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, we witnessed a major thought-provoking documentary about the life and work of Fred Rogers, along with a number of new books; I’m particularly fond of Maxwell King’s “The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers.” Mr. Rogers may not immediately come to mind when it comes to educational technology, but the documentary, biographies and countless conversations over the past year highlighted him as a mission-minded educator who leveraged the cutting edge technology of his day to share positive messages and left a lasting mark on a generation.

Also this year, Rebecca Winthrop, senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, published “Leapfrogging Inequality: Remaking Education to Help Young People Thrive.” Using a global analysis of thousands of educational innovations, Winthrop examines the concept of “leapfrogging,” something more commonly applied in the business sector, to describe important trends. One example is around telecommunications and how some nations have skipped land-based lines right to a robust cellular network. Similarly, Winthrop highlights examples of nations and communities leapfrogging legacy education systems by creating new models that embrace education as a human right.

Last, Stephen M. Kosslyn and Bob Kerrey’s book, “Building the Intentional University: Minerva and the Future of Higher Education,” gained traction this year (though it was published in 2017). The book describes the successes of Minerva, a university touted by its founder as “the first elite American University launched in a century.” In the book, the school’s founding dean and others offer evidence in support of this new and experimental college model, which places students around the world to study remotely while working or apprenticing. The book also provides a blueprint for how others might embrace a similar approach.

Read the full article about education books that sparked conversation by Bernard Bull at EdSurge.