Product Description
On Common Ground provides a valuable tool for educators who are doing the hard work of improving their schools. This resource offers teachers and administrators a coherent conceptual framework and specific, practical strategies for moving forward with their improvement efforts. Any listing of North America s leading authorities on school improvement would include the authors in this book. These authors agree on many of the best strategies for raising student achievement and support the premise that students would be better served if educators: · Embrace learning rather than teaching as their school s mission · Work collaboratively to help all students learn · Use formative assessments and a focus on results to foster continuous improvement · Assume individual responsibility to take steps to create such schools Although they stand on this common ground, clear differences emerge regarding their perspectives on the most effective strategy for making professional learning communities the norm in North America. The differences, however, focus on the means rather than the end. These educational leaders have found common ground in expressing their belief in both the desirability and the power of professional learning communities.
Customer Reviews:
No Silver Bullet, but . . . .......2006-06-11
If you want to read a book that combines brief overviews of the work of many well-regarded leaders in the field of education, this book is a good beginning. Those who work in public education and understand the need for re-structuring and re-culturing our schools will appreciate the authors' laser-like focus on student learning through the development of professional learning communities.
The authors of the various chapters of this book focus on the essential elements that most impact student achievement. Rick Stiggins discusses assessment for learning vs. assessment of learning. Douglas Reeves focuses on curriculum and the importance of power standards and differentiated assessment. Jonathon Saphier stresses the need for high expectations for all students and suggests what educators can do when students aren't learning. And there are more . . .
In these times of student and teacher accountability, all educators must use data to make decisions, including those regarding staff development. Professional Learning Communities provide educators with the structure for collaboration and learning. Teams of teachers and administrators work together in a PLC to create an environment that supports school improvement to result in greater student learning.
Developing a PLC in your school is certainly not the silver bullet. However, the book is a good one to read to gain an overview of what educators can do to positively affect student achievement. If you are already familiar with the work done by many of our educational leaders, you may need to go deeper. In that case, this book is probably not for you.
Mixed Message.......2006-06-05
Rarely do I find a collection of essays by multiple authors to be a great book. Too often the prose is uneven and the authors, despite the assertions of the editors, come off as talking at cross purposes. This book is no exception.
It is not without value. The theme of this book is the importance of professional learning communities in education and I am a supporter of the concept. I didn't need the authors to convince me of this. Perhaps the most perceptive comment made in the book is that teachers already know how to teach well, they know the best practices, we just need to give them an opportunity to work together, develop mutual support and implement them. The problem is that, on a practical level, this is a hard thing to do in an evironment where scheduling conflicts and self-contained teaching is the norm. What would be nice is to have authors who say more than "this is difficult but you must do it" and instead give some practical suggestions on how to do it. There are some here but not enough.
Perhaps the editors would have been better off authoring the entire book themselves. Some of these essays only pay lip service to PLCs as they wander off into theories that are more personal. I respect Michael Fullan's work on sustainable systems but he didn't seem to really fit here, as did some of the other authors with their own axes to grind.
Still, if a reader goes into this book with eyes wide open, then there are things of value to be found. And, in the tough world of education, anything of value is worth considering.
On Common Ground.......2006-05-30
As the processes of school improvement shifts from regulatory compliance to authentic work in schools, it is essential to build a broad understanding of decades of thinking on school reform. This book offers a strong summary of the concepts most likely to bring real change in the only place that matters, the classroom. We have spent decades talking about change and the learning community concept has the potential to be the catalyst of change.
On Common Ground can build a broad foundation of knowledge however; other resources are needed to detail the specifics. The best highlights include:
1) Michael Fullan on building collective capacity.
2) Doug Reeves on anaylsis of student work and feedback.
3) Rick Stiggins on assessment for learning.
4) Jonathon Saphier on motivation.
5) Mike Schmoker on urgency.
6) Larence Lezotte on shared leadership.
If your goal is to building common understanding about contemporary thinking in the area of school improvement, On Common Ground provides a great starting point.
How Many Ways..........2005-11-15
In how many ways are we going to have to hear that the unexamined methods in which our schools have been organized, structured, staffed, and departmentalized work against our best efforts to create real, sustainable learning communities? The following items were a collection of thoughts on behalf of educators working at the Butte County Office of Education that gathered to discuss this book as part of their professional reading series.
This book offers one of the most comprehensive, candid, and clear calls for reforming the ways in which we approach and engage students each and every day in our schools. By combining the ideas and research from today's most prominent thinkers on the development of effective environments for learning, this book serves as a wonderful, concise compass leading those of us in education who pick it up and care to pay attention to its guidance.
Some guiding points of interest included:
Assessing for Learning vs. of Learning
Focus on the Positive Outcomes of Learning vs. the Punitive Consequences of Not Learning
Collaborative Agreement of Essential Learning vs. Individual, Departmentalized Development of Learner Expectations
Modeling Elements of the Learning Community vs. Merely Proselytizing those Elements
It just isn't that good.......2005-09-22
I wanted to like this book. After agreeing to lead a book study for On Common Ground, I *needed* to like this book. I believe in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and think very highly of the work that the DuFours have done in that regard, but I just couldn't get into the book.
The problems are many. Section 1, by Richard DuFour, is nice enough. It gives a good overview of the PLC structure and how it should work, thought chapter 2 was printed earlier in the ASCD's "Educational Leadership" magazine and can thus be found for free. In section 2 we start going downhill in a hurry, particularly in chapter 4 by Rick Stiggins. By the time you get to section 4, where they talk about taking PLCs into a broader, district context, you're completely out of the realm of the schools and into the work of researchers and administrators.
That's the major problem I have with On Common Ground--impracticality. There are good ideas here, but they aren't useable. Many of the authors talk in grand, eloquent language about their topics, but you have to work incredibly hard (believe me, I did) to make the book practical.
If you're looking for a book on PLCs I recommend "Whatever It Takes" or "Professional Learning Communities at Work." They're far more useful.
Average customer rating:
- Poor Index, Missing key concepts, Garbage...
- Who are you writing this book for?
- A good reference book
- Not much different than Crystal's own manual
- Not so great
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Crystal Reports 8.5: The Complete Reference
George Peck
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
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Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide
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Crystal Reports 8 for Dummies
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Crystal Reports Professional Results
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Crystal Reports 8.5 Quick Start Workshop
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Crystal Reports 8.5 Power User Workshop
ASIN: 0072193271 |
Book Description
The most definitive resource on Crystal Reports available! Create presentation-quality reports using the most powerful data analysis tool and this comprehensive guide. Crystal Reports 8.5: The Complete Reference explains in detail how to use the software to analyze and format data, generate reports, and perform advanced interactive reporting from the Web. Also, learn to develop custom applications and incorporate any Crystal Report into your Windows applications.
Customer Reviews:
Poor Index, Missing key concepts, Garbage..........2005-01-18
I frequently use these reviews to select books of all types. I consider myself a power user able to learn rapidly from good texts. This book has not been very helpful for my work in Crystal Reports.
I need to be able to program Crystal Reports to perform a variety of complex reporting on databases that are completely denormalized. Thus, the ability to parse strings and execute stored procedures is critical.
This book completely fails to provide the information about built-in commands that I need. For instance, no information about string commands is present. No discussion of the use of arrays in Crystal Reports is provided.
I was deeply disappointed with this book.
Who are you writing this book for?.......2003-11-13
After reading positive reviews of this title, I decided to purchase the complete reference and was extremely disappointed. The most common problem with crystal books (or any other software application manual-excel, access, etc.) is that the author try's to appeal to all crystal report's users. There are generally three types of software user's out their, 1. database administrator/computer programmers who want reference manuals with excellent indexes. 2. Basic users who can get by with your classic "for dummies" title. 3. User's who don't understand VBA or SQL but want to be able to create reasonably advanced adhoc reports.
This title is to basic for the database administrator who would have to read 4 pages of babble to find the specific piece of information they need. There are no practice assignments for the beginner/intermediate report writer to do just that "practice". And when you do find a title that contains tutorials/assignments they are often to basic and lack real relevance in the business world. With the number of access, excel, crystal, etc. titles on the market you would think that there would be enough room to specifically appeal to the different types of software user's out their.
A good reference book.......2003-03-30
I develop financial reporting applications for various companies using VB and VBA. Recently I have completed a financial reporting system completely within Access 2000 making extensive uses of Access's report objects.
Although the Access report object does its job well, it lacks a lot of power features, i.e., limited grouping capabilities, formula in text boxes is limited to a simply expression unless you make a call to UFD, then you would loss your object encapsulation, etc, The Data Report object is VB6 is still some what of a joke, but let not open this can of worms. Thus, I have chosen Crystals reports for my developing needs.
I find George Peck's Complete Reference series very helpful. The book has 800 pages to teach me every nuance of Crystal. This book does not teach me anything about VB coding nor does it contain a reference to the object model within the RDC or any of the other object models in Crystal. I didn't buy this book to learn how to code. The author noted in page 659 specifically that the book is not meant to teach you Visual Basic.
Overall, this book gets me up to speed quickly and it's a good reference source for my future needs. Personally, I don't find the crystal help files very helpful.
Not much different than Crystal's own manual.......2003-03-15
I purchased this book as a reference. Fortunately, I had a separate training course for learning the Crystal application. And I now teach the product.
It's a good reference. I truly haven't had a question yet regarding basic or advanced procedures in the application that I couldn't find. But I would not recommend it for learning the application. It is dense.
I'm also disappointed that it is not very different from the CR 8.0 manual published by Crystal Decisions. The layout and procession of the book are virtually the same! It could have included more tutorials, too.
One thing that I would love for any CR reference/manual to include is a list and description of all the formulas in the system. To my knowledge, this does not exist anywhere, even in Crystal's own documentation.
PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION
If you need a solid reference and didn't purchase manuals with Crystal, this will work. If you need to learn the product, get something else.
Not so great.......2002-12-11
As you become more and more proficient, this book is more and more frustrating. There are so many things just touched on and not explained or not in the book at all!
Book Description
It is best to travel slowly along the roads and highways of Texas. Not because of speed traps, though they are there. But because if you travel slowly, you are less likely to miss the turns that will take you to the heart of this great state. Take these turns, and they will lead you to stories and places of faith.
The Amazing Faith of Texas is an exploration in words and pictures of people and places that represent the strong, abiding belief that sustains faith-filled Texans. A belief that transcends the boundaries of religion. Transcends the dogma. Transcends the differences.
We have heard all we need to hear about what divides us.
The Amazing Faith of Texas is about what unites us. From tiny churches on dusty back roads to the mega churches along our cities' highways, from temples, mosques, and synagogues—
Amazing Faith is a look at our places of worship and a listen to the stories that bring Texans to their faith. From the desert of West Texas to the pines of East Texas, from the Panhandle to the border,
The Amazing Faith of Texas is an exploration of common ground on higher ground.
Customer Reviews:
The photographer makes it happen........2007-02-28
The photographer, Randal Ford, is amazing. He captures the essence of everything he shoots -see his website and no, I'm not related... I can't judge the stories, although they seem pretty good to me.
Just the photos are worth the price of this book. For a little bit more of Texas check out books by Wyman Meinzer and John Graves. Texas - it's a big place.
Beautiful photos, inspirational text.......2007-01-10
I thought this was going to be primarily an art book. I purchased it as a gift for my in-laws, but of course I had to glance through it before I gave it to them. I loved it - the stories that go with the lovely pictures are short and well-written - I couldn't put it down. My in-laws loved it, too. Now I want one for me!
Regular reader of books.......2007-01-05
It is amazing, with all the different faiths, that we all are working for the same thing: higher ground. Pictures in the bok are great.
The Amazing Austin Area and a few strangers.......2006-12-18
This book proves that if you have enough money, you can publish a book that includes your family and friends. Add to that a few more of the rich and famous of the Austin area, throw in a few out-of-town strangers for authenticity (unbeknownst to them), then call it art. Mike Blair wrote that he "crisscrossed the state, searching for stories of faith..." And the book is by "Roy Spence with the People of Texas." Hmmmmm... The photographer's work is incredible, but many of the stories are not. This is a good example of what Chogyam Trungpa calls spiritual materialism at its best. I'd be curious to find out the number of people who are native Texans--since it seems that many are not. C'mon. Don't Mess with Texas.
A buddy of mine also loves this book..........2006-11-21
This book will fill you with hope for the future! The absolutely breathtaking photos of holy men and women were taken by Randal Ford, and the stories were collected and edited by Mike Blair. Some motivational pieces are as follows: A quote by St. Ignatius Loyola, "For those who believe, no explanation is needed, for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible" is positioned opposite a photo of a stark white metal cross in a Texas field. Sister Angela, a Catholic nun who lives in a monastery and raises miniature horses, says, "God is the boss, and I'm just an employee." There is a great photo of Gerald Mann, who was the founder of Riverbend Church, and he is quoted, "The dirtiest word in the English language is they." Alan Graham of Mobile Loaves and Fishes in Austin, is pictured on the streets with a homeless friend and he states, "When you walk through the wall of prejudice, you will find that we are all indeed children of God." Carol C. Walker, Ph.D., is listed as "Missionary, Humanitarian, Texan" and her words quoted are, "We need to always be able to step back and say, 'There might be another way of thinking than mine.'" If you need a spiritual boost as I did, leaf through these pages and know that God is with us.
Book Description
When it comes to reaching the new generation for Christ, are believers truly sowing for the future-or just reaping the benefits of past evangelistic efforts? Tim Downs suggests practical ways for today's Christians to cultivate fruitful relationships in our communities, and bring our troubled culture the healing it needs so much.
Customer Reviews:
A Step-by-Step View of the Long Journey Ahead.......2006-03-27
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." What a profound insight for Christians to bear in mind as we seek to change a generation, a world. Many authors have offered us elaborate, inspiring ideals (the journey), but when the ideals have been explained and embellished, we are left with no idea what the first step toward reaching those ideals could be.
Downs will not leave you in this lurch. "Finding Common Ground" is a no-nonsense read full of practical application, driven by some of the best ideals Christianity has emphasized in the past ten years. It is evident that Downs
1. values the privacy, feelings, and true eternal destiny of each and every person his readers will approach after reading this book.
2. is deeply concerned for those who will be inspired to reach a decaying culture; he has not advocated "weird evangelism" using what I call TnL ("Tract and List") methods.
3. speaks from a long history of personal experience, a thoughtful perspective on the culture we inhabit, and most importantly, a high view of the biblical text.
Such works are few and far between, but greatly needed in a Church full of well-intended but sometimes awkward evangelists and outreachers.
It seems undeniable that evangelism in the coming century will not hinge as much on proclamation as it will on persuasion. How do we begin? By finding common ground.
ALong
Excellent, accessible work!.......2005-05-28
Here's a book that all new Christians should read (before they develop severe insecurities because they can no longer relate!) don't get me wrong, this one is for all Christians, but I just wish it had been available to me 20 years ago. Very insightful into the condition of a believer who really cares about those he/she comes into contact with on a daily basis. Mr. Downs points out that we (as believers) often only see the non-Christian as a potential believer, never accepting them for who they are (unless of course they were to recite the four spiritual laws!). This is an extremely helpful book and I recommend it to everyone! Could be retitled "How to be normal, even when everyone thinks you're nuts". The best point Downs makes is that we see the unsaved as potential harvests, and that's damaging because we can only harvest that which has been sown. Tim challenges us to attend to sowing the Gospel, and allowing the Holy Spirit to do the harvesting (since that's His function anyway).
Read this once a year!.......2003-09-20
Go with me on a little imaginary journey. Imagine you've decided to "bite the bullet" and join a friend for some street-corner evangelism. Close your eyes. What do you imagine? Are you clutching your pamphlet-of-choice with sweating, trembling hands? Muttering an incoherent prayer to the Holy Spirit to "be with you" as you walk out your door, as your stomach tries to reject the notion that it's responsible for your digestion? Breaking out into a cold sweat as you approach your first person?
When author Tim Downs was in college, he had this experience ... and worse. He and a friend approached a young man on campus, who listened to their opening line, averted his eyes, and began walking away. They dogged him all the way to his dormitory, all three now at a dead run, trying to get through The Four Spiritual Laws while in breathless pursuit. In for a dime, in for a dollar! Needless to say, the door was slammed and the young man's impression of Christians was not improved.
In Finding Common Ground, Downs bucks standard evangelical thinking. He believes we are so certain we are living in the end times, that we are trying to "harvest" without first "sowing". When we rush evangelism, we are engaging with others in such a way that it's really more about us than about them. And in the process, we are needlessly driving others away from engagement in issues of faith.
He argues that recent growth in the numbers of people coming to faith are the result of those in previous generations who created a culture where faith was possible. They were sowers. And if we don't learn to sow, we will be like farmers gathering all the harvest without doing any planting. There will be no harvest for future generations.
In talking about what it means to be a sower, Downs gives many examples from his own life and others, which I always find so helpful. One section that I especially appreciated was the one where he described a day in the life of a sower, all the folks he made contact with who are in varying places spiritually, and how he interacted with each of them. A notion he holds very strongly is that talented, devoted individuals in the workplace who ask the question "should I be doing full-time ministry?" are too often encouraged to come out of the workplace, get some seminary training, and then return to try to leverage their contacts in their former workplace. His contention is that they are most valuable where they are, and most credible without the specialized training.
Downs also lays down some helpful fundamental principles, such as asking good questions that provoke thought rather than defensiveness, hearing the underlying world view in a person's statements so that you can respond to that rather than the statement itself, finding points of agreement as a means of lowering walls, balancing love and justice (love: only telling them the truth when I feel they're ready to hear it [Jn 16;12]; justice: the times when it's just important to tell the truth, whether we feel they're ready to accept it or not), recognizing the value of indirect communication, and more.
I found this to be one of those books with such a rich "harvest" of thoughtful ideas that I had to go back and highlight it and read it through several times. I just may make it the first book ever on my "Read Every Year" list.
Changed the way I live my daily life!.......2003-02-11
This book is the best book i have ever read on how to share your faith in a real, relavent, non threatening way with the people you work and live around that are not open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ! This is a must have for any believer who is serious about their faith.
An evangelism must read.......2003-01-16
If you are an evangelical Christian, this is a book that comes highly recommended.
I purchased this book at a conference after a friend of mine (who hadn't even read it!) suggested it to me. It is perhaps the best book on evangelism that I have read (with Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels a close second). Any Christian could share with you the importance of evangelism, and most could probably offer a suggestion of "how to". But this book breaks out of the box that so often limits our evangelism efforts.
As someone trained and practiced in the use of the Four Spiritual Laws (a gospel presentation frequently used by Campus Crusade for Christ, the organization of which Tim Downs is a part), I am relatively comfortable in "random" evangelism. But I have often struggled with reconciling such evangelistic attempts with being a "real" person. This book has helped me (and continues to, along with prayer and Scripture) to bridge that gap. Mr. Downs goes far beyond just a gospel presentation, but instead points readers in the direction of allowing their Christianity to spill over into every area of their life, thereby breaking the limits we so often place on our own evangelism efforts.
But beyond that, he also focuses on how to communicate with those who don't share the same worldview that we have become indoctrinated in. Many times, I've found that outreaches offered around me have been appealing to those who have grown up in the Bible belt and share this worldview, though don't actually consider themselves believers. But these often don't appeal to people who specifically disagree with elements of my worldview. How, then, do we reach out to these people?
This book is full of relevant, scriptural insight. It is worth every dollar you spend.
Book Description
Question: Who made us?
Answer #1: God made us.
Answer #2: Evolution made us.
Which is it? What is the true answer to the age-old question of where we came from? Is it even possible to know for sure?
In Finding Darwin's God, Kenneth R. Miller offers a surprising resolution to the evolutionism vs. creationism debate.A distinguished professor of biology at Brown University, Miller argues that the genuine world of science is far more interesting than either the scientific mainstream or its creationist critics have assumed. He begins by systematically demolishing the claims of evolution's most vocal critics, showing that Darwin's great insights continue to be valid, even in the rarefied worlds of biochemistry and molecular biology. As he puts it, evolution "is the real thing, and so are we."
Does this mean that evolution invalidates all worldviews that depend upon the spiritual? Does it demand logical agnosticism as the price of scientific consistency? And does it rigorously exclude belief in God?
His answer, in each and every case, is a resounding No. Not, as he argues, because evolution is wrong. Far from it. The reason, as Miller shows, is that evolution is right.
In this lively, fast-paced book, Miller offers a thoughtful, cutting-edge analysis of the key issues that seem to divide science and religion. As his narrative shows, the difficulties that evolution presents for Western religions are more apparent than real. Properly understood, evolution adds depth and meaning not only to a strictly scientific view of the world, but also to a spiritual one. Miller's resolution of the issues that seem to divide God from evolution will serve as a guide to anyone interested in the classic questions of ultimate meaning and human origins.
Customer Reviews:
Great science but makes the same philosophical errors as creationists.......2007-09-23
Miller is an EXCELLENT defender of evolution. His presentations are some of THE best I've ever seen, stronger than even Dawkins'.
Yet he makes the incredible blunder of providing no evidential basis for God yet claiming God's existence with as much certainty as he claims evolution. Evolution has a clear evidential basis, which he provides strongly in the book and so is justifiably adamant about it. God has no clear evidential basis, he does not provide it in the book (he just assumes it) and yet is also very unjustifiably adamant about it. He sets evolution and God on equal grounds as ideas, yet provides no justification for the latter.
Miller seems completely blind to this philosophical error. I attended a talk of his at the University of Kansas. The next day after the talk, he held a Q & A session. Some friends of mine presented him with the above error and he had no response to it aside from something like "well religion is important and something we need". Yet another claim that we AGAIN have no evidence for believing.
Miller's religious arguments make you think.. a very small amount. They made me think for about 2 minutes until I realized that he was just making the same gap argument for God that the creationists are. He is just moving the gap from [God created life] to [God created evolution which then created life]. He is still claiming that behind this universe, a place that science can never go (so he assumes), we will find a God who created all universal processes. It is exactly the same type of argument the creationists make. He is still contending that God is somehow necessary to make it all work (but he claims this with no justification).
He just thinks it is safe to retreat with God to the outer universe and that the oncoming rush of science will not reach such a distant target. This may be a bold claim, but I think, as history has shown us (and as Miller himself claims), science will find him. So Miller believes in the principle of science filling the gaps but makes the logical error of not applying this principle to his own ideas after using them to dismantle the creationists'. Religious people do this a lot. They put their own pet ideas in a vacuum, safe from logical criticism yet use logic to ferociously dismantle anyone else's who conflict.
Finally, Miller also makes the philosophical mistake of thinking there is no meaning in life without God. This is again the same philosophical mistake that his creationists make, just on a higher order.
How this works: creationists assume that since evolution is true, God cannot be. The logical fallacy here is argument from lack of imagination. I.e. "I cannot see how there could be a God if evolution is true therefore there couldn't be." Miller refutes this strongly: of course there could be; God still could have created evolution. This still has the gap problem above, but I've already covered that.
Now here is Miller's analogous logical error: "I cannot see how there would be morality and meaning in life without God, therefore there can't be." But philosophers over the ages and just normal every day people have shown that life continuously has meaning and is infused with morality whether there is a God or not. The fact is, we want meaning and we have morality. There is no cosmological worldview that can take that away. People feel sick when they think of a life without meaning or morality. There is a reason for this: these things are naturally important to us. We don't need a God to feel that way. The very fact that people want to keep God around to protect meaning and morality is proof that it does not depend on God. It is proof that these things matter to us no matter what. And we will believe the most ridiculous absurtities to justify believing in them. But the funny and obvious step that it seems no religious person chooses to take is to simply believe in meaning and morality as ends in themselves without the ridiculous justifications. We don't need a God around to think they are important.
So in conclusion, Miller makes the same philosophical mistakes that he criticizes creationists of making; he just makes them on higher order ideas that creationists have not yet evolved enough to have. These mistakes are claims without evidence, God of the gaps, and argument from lack of imagination.
His evolutionary arguments are sound and make the book valuable. His theological arguments are an erratic philosophical nuisance polluting an otherwise cogent presentation of ideas.
Hella cool.......2007-08-17
You shouldn't care so much to even bother to rate, but I just wanted to say please be careful when you read "literature," there's a lot of people making a lot of money... if your local library doesn't have this book, think about why not. Or just order anything by Rush Limbaugh, hell, you've got to do something, right? I'm sure he can give you an opinion about the common ground between god and evolution.
A Christian Evolutionist??.......2007-08-06
I am a Christian who wants to learn about evolution but after buying "Not By Chance" by Dr Lee Spetner and being criticised that he didn't understand the theory and I was mislead I was confused and frustrated. There is so much misinformation on both evolution and creation that its so easy for one to be mislead. I did my research on this book and found from my biologist friends, the internet that this book's biology is flawless. Miller teaches Biology like Richard Dawkins and in his book "The God Delusion" he recommends Miller's book which is how I came across this title. Miller's position is that God used evolution as the mechanism by which he created all plants and animals. He has a prejudice and bias towards science which results in him having to water down the Genesis account which some religious readers my find disturbing. It could be argued this book isn't really a common ground but more a book that shows creation and evolution can co-exist and how one might reconcile the two. I would've taken the approach that evolution was the physical process used by God and the biblical account outlines the meaning, purpose and intent of evolution and what God was aiming at for that would've been a more common ground.
Miller argues that God created evolution to do his creating and then more or less sat back and watched the show. He argues, evolution and creation do not conflict or contradict each other they actually supplement each other. Miller doesn't argue for God's existence so if you're looking for that sort of book sorry, this is not it! Miller takes a faith based approach to God using the Uncertainty Principle of quantum mechanics to argue God can't be proved or disproved. Victor J Stenger on his website has a essay where he shows the problems with Miller's God for the Uncertainity Principle only goes so far. Miller argues that one species would've eventually surfaced through evolutionary processes where God could have a relationship. What I find Miller doesn't seem to explain is why the bible says Man was a separate creation? God created man in his image if we evolved from primates then God is an ape? I don't mean to offend anyone with that statement but that's the impression Miller gave me. Miller's interpretation of Genesis is that its analogous and God used the terminology of those at the time he chose to reveal himself to explain creation to them. He supports Augustine's view that the bible should not be taken literally and I tend to agree. I do like how Miller goes through the evidence that supports evolution and why this evidence argues against the common conception of God. He does address certain groups in this book such as proponents of Young Earth Creation (YEC), Creationism, unbelievers who take science beyond its limits, God of the Gaps arguments, Micro & Macro Evolution and why the fossil record supports evolution not creation.
I learnt a lot from this book and I enjoyed reading it for its one of the few title's on this subject I've read that's not full of hostility towards their opponents. I believe this book should be purchased for the biological information included for its written in a language that anyone can understand and its accurate. I do believe that Miller's common ground is not really common it does have a prejudice and bias toward science and does slightly undermine the biblical account. But its good to know that evolution and creation can co-exist and this evolution vs creation debate can be reconciled I just don't agree with Miller's position on it.
Solving the conflict.......2007-06-27
Miller offers essential keys to show that Darwin's ideas do not preclude the existence of God. He is a fantastic thinker and scientist.
Great science, poor philosophy.......2007-06-20
One could only expect sound evolutionary science by the co-author of the textbook "Biology." Dr. Miller's refutation of creationism, including intelligent design, is excellent and merciless. Yet this book does not deliver in its main goal: to find common ground between God and evolution.
Miller's argument, briefly stated, is that God (spiritual and infinite) created the universe (material and finite) where he acts in concordance with scientific laws. The material world, however, is not absolutely deterministic. Quantum uncertainty renders the very fabric of existence inherently unpredictable. As a result, mankind is contingent, that is, it did not *have* to emerge from the evolutionary process. When it did, it had (and has) truly free will. We are free to love or reject the God who has chosen a material universe, including evolution, to shape us.
This argument sounds fascinating at first, but truly has a number of flaws:
--- The relations among quantum uncertainty, freedom of will, and determinism are foggy. Miller himself realizes that quantum mechanics is unpredictable but not random (that is, it's statistically significant), yet claims it undermines determinism. His very idea of determinism is unattainable and indefensible, and no one really tries to defend it. It is a mere straw man that's easy to burn down. If determinism rules out God, I fail to see how a probabilistic universe gives it back. Likewise, if absolute determinism would exclude freedom of will, I fail to see how quantum uncertainty would give it back to us.
--- Miller criticizes deism (the idea that God created the universe but is now absent or dead) and affirms that evolution is compatible with the great monotheistic religions... but his idea of "quantic God" who assigns laws to a material world and then waits for the outcome is distinctly deist in nature. Miller never tackles serious apologetic questions such as prayer, the nature and existence of Jesus Christ, or the presence of thousands of other religions, so there is no reason to favor the Judeao-Christian god over any other deity.
--- Miller automatically ascribes ethics and purpose to religion, showing great ignorance in moral philosophy, where the identification of moral principles with religious faith is laden with issues.
--- Part of Miller's argument in rejecting determinism is based on a dichotomy of faith and reason, which most materialists inherently reject. His discussion of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology is incomplete at best.
--- Concepts such as God's love, God's gifts to humanity, God's grace, and divine purpose are seldom explained and poorly employed. It's not so much that they do not belong to serious philosophical inquiry, but rather that Miller uses them in an almost random, doctrinal sort of way that reminds the reader of preachers' and televangelists' cheap apologetics. Some paragraphs are very well informed and even enlightening, while others fall into the same category as Sunday school sermons.
The overall feeling while reading the (well-written, if a bit redundant) book is that Miller has tackled a titanic but hopeless apologetic task. He seems to be struggling to find a bridge between two hemispheres of his brain--the scientific mind and the spiritual area--where a bridge might just not exist. His refutation of one extreme, creationism, is well done. His refutation of the other, materialism and determinism, presents serious unsolved problems. Miller has good insights, and his discussion of divine purpose and contigency of humanity is brilliant, but ultimately he fails to deliver exactly in the area where the debate could use fresh air: the common ground between religion and scientific materialism.
Exactly like John Haught's "God After Darwin," this book is another failed attempt at reconciliation of Christian thought and evolutionary theory. The point is not that religion and science collide: it's that Christianity (monotheism in general) and evolutionary science collide. Deism has no issue with Darwin, while Christ does, and Miller, like many others, will not or can not face the issue.
Book Description
Featured on the
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. See
Will Homework Ban Ease Student Stress?
"An excellent resource that provides research-based information as well as practical information. Administrators, teachers, and parents will find Cooper's book to be an indispensable resource."
—Mary Johnstone, Principal, Rabbit Creek Elementary, Anchorage, AK
"An easy-to-read, comprehensive resource for teachers, administrators, district staff, and parents interested in best schooling practices around homework."
—Barb Keating, Principal, FW Howay School, British Columbia, Canada
Does homework work?
Homework is the cause of more friction between school and home than any other aspect of education and becomes the prime battlefield when schools, families, and communities view one another as adversaries. This comprehensive third edition tackles all the tough questions: What's the right amount of homework? What role should parents play in the homework process? What is the connection between homework and achievement?
Harris Cooper provides educators with terms, definitions, and updated research to hold constructive conversations with students, their families, and the community. Administrators, teachers, and parents can collaborate to make sound decisions about homework policies and guidelines as they learn to evaluate:
- Variations in homework that can influence achievement
- Appropriate assignments for different grade levels
- The influence of parents in the homework process
- Recent research findings, best practices, and updated policy guidelines
This essential reference offers all stakeholders the opportunity to end the battle and turn homework into a cooperative effort to promote student learning.
Customer Reviews:
Great Resource.......2005-10-16
This is a great resource for teachers looking to perfect their homework program.
Book Description
Written in a highly accessible (and often witty) style, this groundbreaking book addresses a number of generational issues. Deal provides a description of each issue, a summary of the relevant research results, a principle that can be applied to resolve (or at least mitigate) the issue, and practical advice for applying the principle in the workplace. Applying these principles will help everyone to work with, work for, attract, manage, retain, and develop leaders of all generations.
Customer Reviews:
Solid tactics for conquering the generation gap at work.......2007-07-19
This ambitious book, based on a seven-year survey of more than 3,200 employees, examines how different generations view the workplace. Author Jennifer Deal handles the difficult task of presenting, distilling and interpreting the data according to age group and worker status. Her use of applicable real-life scenarios is effective in helping managers implement these findings, but the presentation of research data makes for weighty reading. We recommend this book to managers who have problems with intergenerational tensions at work, though Deal concludes that the generation gap is overrated and employees of all ages desire many of the same things.
Amazon.com
The climax of this humane account of 10 years in Boston that began with news of Martin Luther King's assassination, is a watershed moment in the city's modern history--the 1974 racist riots that followed the court-ordered busing of kids to integrate the schools. To bring understanding to that moment, Lukas, a former New York Times journalist, focuses on two working-class families, headed by an Irish-American widow and an African-American mother, and on the middle-class family of a white liberal couple. Lukas goes beyond stereotypes, carefully grounding each perspective in its historical roots, whether in the antebellum South, or famine-era Ireland. In the background is the cast of public figures--including Judge Garrity, Mayor White, and Cardinal Cushing--with cameo roles in this disturbing history that won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.
Book Description
Winner of 3 different awards, this is a story of the busing crisis in Boston.
Customer Reviews:
Best Modern History of Boston Ever.......2006-11-02
In you are interested in modern Boston history, and why Boston is the way it is, there is no better book. The subject of this book is busing, but that is only one (important) element of the book. Excellent, well-researched overview of Boston's different ethnic clans, geography, religious groups (the most fascinating history of the Boston Roman Catholic Church I have ever read), and Boston culture. Extremely well-written.
I've lived in Massachusetts/Boston my entire life. I regret not reading this book earlier.
one of the best political books I ever read - 6 stars!!!!.......2005-05-07
This book is an absolutely magnificent tableau of American politics in all its complexity and ambiguity. Lukas investigated the lives of three families in a fundamental controversy on the future of America: forced school busing.
The first family are brahmans, from Harvard Law and straight into the Mayor's office in a moment of idealism that would forever change his career. He is a mechanic of political change, who is trying to lead a good and honorable life. Then there is a working class Irish family, from the other side of the tracks. The widowed mother becomes a great adversary of the process underway, in no way racist but opposed for very practical and personal reasons to forced busing. Finally, there is a black family, struggling to get by amidst dashed hopes and pathological mental illness, the supposed benificiariers of a great social experiment. The portrayals of these lives - all real and thoroughly investigated by an absolutely first-rate investigative journalist - are beyond novellistic realism. The personalities are so vivid and well drawn that it is simply astonishing.
Then there is the wider political/historical milieu, Boston in the early 1970s. Lukas stops at nothing to create a composite picture: there is the mayor Kevin White (whom I was astonished to learn was considered by Jimmy Carter as a running mate in 1976), Ted Kennedy, and scores of others including the archdiscese and various minor politician-demagogues hoping to make a career out of the crisis. The portrait is as beautiful and detailed as the Sistine Chapel, exposing the best, the worst, and the unexpected in American politics of the period. Lukacs' talent to do all of this is simply extraordinary. Late in the writing, I learned, he had to throw out one of the three families and begin the entire process over again in the name of thoroughness. No wonder he won a pulitzer.
This book also spoke to me personally. I was in Boston for part of the time, in the very neighborhood where the brahmans lived as a personal social experiment, and I witnessed many of the events as they unfolded. Lukacs' evocation of it all struck me as entirely accurate, pitch perfect to where people were coming from and what they hoped and feared. As such, this book is a crucible of the American race conundrum, a turning point of the greatest political import, perhaps equal to the Vietnam war protests.
And the writing! It is elegant and clear beyond imagination, approaching what I would call genius, the product of an unusually driven mind. The characters are so vivid that I will refelct on them until the day I die. This is destined to become a classic, like Tacitus or Thucydides - the quality is truly that high. I have read HUNDREDS of political-historical books, and this one ranks as near the top as a handful.
Recommended as a true must-read. Get it, make the effort, for an excpetional reading experience.
Fabulous insight into Boston's 1970's busing crisis.......2005-02-11
I thought this book was breathtaking. J. Anthony Lukas does a masterful job telling the story of the Boston busing crisis from the perspective of 3 individuals involved (in 1974 a judge ordered the city of Boston to bus children into schools outside their own neighborhoods in order to achieve racial diversity; problems ensued). You learn about a young, idealistic upperclass white man who works for Boston Mayor Kevin White, a poor black mother who is concerned for her children and their education, and an Irish Catholic family living in Charlestown who resent the changes being imposed on them by others. Lukas tells you about each family's history and presents their story and perspectives in a way that you can understand and relate to.
As a resident of Boston, I really enjoyed learning more about an important period of time for the city. I think that by putting human faces to the story he personalized it for people who didn't experience it themselves. Boston still does not have neighborhood high schools - students submit their top 3 choices and then are assigned to a school - and I would imagine this is a vestige of the 1974 court ruling.
A great book.
current events raised to the level of art.......2001-04-09
Though Common Ground is non-fiction it reads like great literature.So detailed and moving is the story of the families and individuals that Lukas traces, that while you read this involving and complex tale of idealistic politics and failed expectations, you end up caring deeply for all the people whose lives over two decades are being traced.If you were going to read one book to understand the state of race relations in the late 20th century this would be it.There are only a few books that I have read that made me want to meet the author and thank him for writing it.This is one of those.
Hugely Important.......2000-06-08
A hugely important work, immense in its scope. This book is an excellent educational experience, on at least the levels of racial attitudes in the 60's and beyond, Boston and New England history, local and national politics, and social stratification. Common ground is detailed in its factual accounts, empathic with its central characters, and insightful yet unbiased. A must-read for anyone from the Northeast, and a should-read for everyone else. I hope to read this at least every other year, so as not to forget its importance and cultural significance.
Average customer rating:
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Common Ground: The Story of Greenham
David Fairhall
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1845112865
Release Date: 2006-10-03 |
Book Description
When a small group of women set out to march to Greenham one summer day at the end of August 1981, none of them could have imagined that this outing would change their lives forever. Nor did they dream that their gesture that day would spark off a feminist protest movement that would last for decades spreading its influence across the world. This highly entertaining and evocative history of the common traces the development of the protests from the summer of that year through the climax of the Cold War to the present day. It is a quintessentially English tale in which a disparate group of dedicated and sometimes fractious women confront the full military might of the United States, not only to raise their voices against nuclear weapons but also to safeguard the ancient customs and rights of common ground. As alive to the women’s concerns as to the wider political implications, Fairhall paints a vivid picture of life at Greenham, from the challenges and frustrations of the night time raids and appearances in court to the exuberant self-expression of the camps at the various rainbow-coloured Gates. More recently, he shows how the respectable residents of Newbury, where the women were often given such a hostile reception, have used the same laws exploited by the women in their own fight to restore the ancient rights of public access to the common and protect it as open heathland for future generations. The protests at Greenham Common are a powerful symbol of the 20th century which still arouse strong feelings today. There are many "Greenham women" still around. But what did they really achieve? As public concern focuses both on the proliferation of modern weapons of mass destruction and the need to preserve the threatened British landscape, this is a timely moment to consider their legacy.
Book Description
Responding to the controversy and divisiveness within the Anglican Communion - particularly over the issue of homosexuality - Alan Jones offers a more balanced look at the middle way to be found within Anglican orthodoxy. With its focus on careful listening and prayerful deliberation, Jones's vision of orthodoxy is the antidote to the anger and bitterness that threatens the Body of Christ today.
In this thoughtful volume, Jones takes a look at Anglicanism from four different perspectives - fundamentalism versus modernism, the tired caricature of Anglicanism as "muddled thinking," as an orientation toward transcendent mystery, and through the eyes of some of Anglicanism's greatest exemplars.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting, Helpful and Clarifying.......2007-05-21
I was not expecting this book to propose specific suggestions to solve the ongoing controversy in the Anglican Communion between the "liberals" and the "fundamentalists" which centers chiefly on homosexuality and what should be the Church's "stand" on it.
I like the book because Alan Jones in a very brief volume, and in his typical charming, insightful, but often meandering style does an excellent job IMO of getting to the core of Anglicanism. Anglicanism is the "Via Media" which doesn't mean -- "neither here nor there". The Via Media arises from a respect for mystery in religious experience, and that God is a mystery impossible to encapsulate in a concept or dogma. The Anglican allows for freedom from rigidly held doctrines, and stresses knowing God through experience centered in worship.
Alan Jones in tracing the roots and history of Anglicanism discovers a church whose history and traditions have created a body of Christians who stress love and tolerance -- with considerable freedom in specific beliefs.
Should any segment of the Anglican Communion separate themselves from the main body over the ordination of women priests, gay priests, or performing marriage ceremonies for gay or lesbian couples? That is something for each of these groups to decide -- prayerfully and wisely. They should also consider what they will lose if they break from the main body of the Church, and be careful that after they secede they do not gravitate into rigid formalism, literalism, and dogmatism --- often characteristic of fundamentalists among all religious persuasions.
Don't waste your money.......2006-09-27
The title of the book suggests that it will provide a vision for Anglicanism that is satisfying, or at least accomodating to those involved in the contemporary controversy. It is long on promise and short on delivery. If the reader is hoping for a book to assist them in clearing away the debris in the field of the Anglican landscape, this is not the book for you. Jones rehearses the same tired mantras that have been associated with the Episcopal Church for some time now. This book is another example of those saying that Christians need to get along, but Jones delivers almost nothing in the way of genuine solutions. His work, like many others, assumes that if the disputing parties understood each other better, they would be further along in the reconciliation process. The truth is, understanding the opposite position better may increase the volatility of the argument. Sometimes their is no third alternative, because positions are incompatible with one another, and mutually exclusive.
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