Corporation
of New York
Vol. 2/No. 1
Fall 2002
Moving Beyond Storybooks: Teaching Our Children to Read to Learn
Carnegie Corporation in Africa
Also in this issue:
Privacy in the Information Age
Studying Ways to Protect Privacy in an Era of Terrorism
Carnegie Corporation Holds a Journalism Forum
Past Issues:
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The Ideas That
Conquered the World
Michael Mandelbaum
Public Affairs, 2002
Michael Mandelbaum, professor of American Foreign Policy at the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University and senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, outlines the new power realities in the world in his latest book, The Ideas That Conquered the World. According to Mandelbaum, the “Liberal Theory of History,” first proposed by Woodrow Wilson at the end of World War I, points to three ideas that still dominate the world today—First, the importance of free markets as the world’s indispensable vehicle for the creation of economic wealth; second, the recognition of democracy as the most advantageous political system; and third, an instinct for peaceful relations among and between nations.
For many Americans, the post-Cold-War world was dramatically ushered in by the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. While these events were both horrific and traumatic, Mandelbaum says, they did not “change everything,” as numerous commentators have asserted. Instead, they highlight even more intensely the new global realities and shifts in power and areas of influence that need to be incorporated into a new understanding of international relationships. The Ideas That Conquered the World is a fresh and incisive analysis of the policies, ideas and economic systems of the 21st century and offers recommendations for achieving global equity in the years ahead.
No More Killing Fields:
Preventing Deadly Conflict
David Hamburg
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002
David Hamburg, president emeritus of Carnegie Corporation and currently
a visiting scholar in the Department of Psychiatry at the Weill Medical
College of Cornell University in New York City, along with former Secretary
of State Cyrus Vance, established the Carnegie Commission on Preventing
Deadly Conflict (CCPDC) in 1994 to address the threat to world peace of
intergroup violence and to advance new ideas for the prevention and resolution
of deadly conflict. In No More Killing Fields: Preventing Deadly Conflict,
Hamburg draws on the earlier CCPDC work (which concluded in 1997) as he
examines the terrorist attacks of September 11th and the eruption of civil
and regional wars in the Balkans, Africa and elsewhere, to explain how
the policies that helped manage the Cold War are not effective anymore.
Today, Hamburg argues, the constant and rapid flow of information around the globe actually warns policymakers and the general public about potential crises before they turn deadly, but often, by the time the necessary measures are agreed upon by the international community, and a response organized, preventive opportunities are lost and war has already erupted. Instead of waiting for the deployment of peacekeepers, an early, nonmilitary option exists, Hamburg says, and presses for the international community to work toward creating positive economic conditions in unstable countries. A stable economy, he notes, often prevents deadly conflict more effectively than military or UN intervention.
Inside Full-Service Community
Schools
Joy Dryfoos and Sue Maguire
Corwin Press, Inc., 2002
To many, the rise of full-service schools means there is a safe place for students to go after school to expand on what they’ve learned during the day. But in fact they do much more than that: school-based human service programs across the country are helping poor and middle-class families deal with an array of social problems. The key to the success of these programs, says Joy Dryfoos in her new book, Inside Full-Service Community Schools, coauthored with Sue Maguire, is to involve the school community—especially parents—in determining how the school’s services can best serve those they aim to help. Integrating social services into overall reform efforts can further lead to better results.
Inside Full-Service Community Schools is a detailed and practical description of how health services, academics and community programs can be put together to change the whole climate of a school. The book combines the experience and knowledge of national policy analyst Dryfoos, who has tracked the development of school transformation models across the country, with the on-site knowledge of school principal Maguire, who has created a model full-service community school.
What Kids Need: Today’s
Best Ideas for Nurturing,
Teaching, and Protecting Young Children
Rima Shore
Beacon Press, 2002
When Carnegie Corporation of New York released the landmark study Starting Points in 1994 it served as a clarion call to researchers, policymakers, educators and parents to refocus much needed attention on the development and nurturing of children during their early years. Now, Beacon Press has published What Kids Need, the results of a new Corporation initiative summarizing a decade of research in early childhood care and education. The book speaks to the need for making the welfare of young children a national priority as it explores the range of effective parenting techniques and social supports, programs and policies that can improve children’s lives. It also examines all aspects of healthy child development, including the importance of prenatal care, quality child care, public health insurance for low-income children and how to create universal pre-kindergarten programs.
What Kids Need offers practical advice for new parents, stressing that “Parents matter—a great deal.” Nurturing parents, the books suggests, can even change traits that appear to be inborn and the style of early parenting can affect a child’s confidence and ability to adjust in the early school grades. Included is a six-point agenda for change that represents the best ideas and most current thinking about what kids really do need in order to grow up healthy and develop the life skills to succeed.