Start over! Do it a new way. Stop and think before you mess up all education and all students.
     You’ve been doing it this way for so many years and still so many kids are failing.
                                                                                                     ~ Ben, High School Student

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Why are our educational institutions and practices such a poor fit for so many students?

​A Prison Called School addresses the complex issues that place many students at a disadvantage as they try to survive yet another hurdle in life—school. Although some students are able to navigate and succeed in the current system, other students struggle to survive a system that is unable to meet their needs. For those students, school can feel like a twelve-year prison sentence. 

Students who cannot fit the outdated, one-size-fits-all model, are further penalized by a system that blames the struggling student rather than holding the institution accountable. For students to thrive in school, the system, not the students, must change in deep and substantial ways. A Prison Called School is a powerful catalyst for much-needed change in our educational systems. This book can transform how educators view and work with young people. It can also help educators create the kind of learning opportunities that will empower, engage, and prepare all students to succeed in school and life.

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Andrew: A Cookie Cutter Approach

Charlie: What Teachers Don't Know

Andrew: The Power of Empowerment

Charlie: Remove the Boxes

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Editorial Reviews

A Prison Called School provides a comprehensive road map for school transformation for all students including the complex and frequently unmet needs of the most disempowered, disadvantaged and at-risk learners. Dr. Metzger identifies a variety of critical and empirically supported components of effective educational reform that are currently missing in many of the current school reform movements. Dr. Metzger weaves the powerfully true stories of disempowered and underserved students with her extensive experience in schools and comprehensive research-based paradigm for school transformation that will profoundly impact schools, educators and students.
~ Doug Anderson, PhD, LP, consultant, keynote speaker, professional coach and founder of Solutions and Strengths, LLC

I know of no other book about schooling so readable, grounded in research and practice, and thoroughly documented. An absolute must read for educators and the public.
~ Wayne B. Jennings, PhD, director, International Association for Learning Alternatives
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A Prison Called School is a must read book for anyone interested in wanting to make school a safe non-corporate inclusive space for all students and end the school to prison pipeline.
~ Anthony J. Nocella II, PhD, co-editor of From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline

A Prison Called School is a call to action from young people to educators, policy makers, 
community members, and society at large to empower youth and transform our schools.

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It's a Woman's World: A Prison Called School and a Cool Performance