Weinstein, Rhona S.

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Weinstein, Rhona S.

PERSONAL:

Education: McGill University, B.A. (with honors), 1967, M.A., 1969; Yale University, Ph.D., 1973.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Psychology Department, University of California, Berkeley, 3423 Tolman Hall Rm. 1650, Berkeley, CA 94720. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Academic, psychologist, and writer. University of California, Berkeley, Department of Psychology, assistant professor, 1973-1981, associate professor, 1981-87, professor, 1987—, then professor emerita, director of the clinical science Ph.D. program and the Psychology Clinic, 1981-1991. University of London, London, England, visiting scholar, 1983; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, visiting scholar, 1995-97.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fellow, American Psychology Association, 1989; Award of Merit, California Association of Teachers of English, 1989; American Cultures Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, 1992; Research Recognition Award, President's Office, University of California, 1992; Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California, Berkeley, 1996; Distinguished Contributions to Theory and Research in Community Psychology (SCRA), American Psychological Association, 2001; Virginia and Warren Stone Prize, Harvard University Press, 2002, for an Outstanding Book on Education and Society, for Reaching Higher; American Educational Research Association Book Award (Division K) for Exemplary Research on Teaching, 2003. PHS Biomedical Research Grant, University of California, Berkeley, 1987-88; Spencer Foundation Grant, 1994-96.

WRITINGS:

Reaching Higher: The Power of Expectations in Schooling, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 2002.

Contributor to numerous professional journals, including Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Family Psychology, Advances in Research on Teaching, American Journal of Community Psychology, American Educational Research Journal, American Psychologist, Child Development, Journal of Adolescent Research, Contemporary Psychology, and Elementary School Journal.

SIDELIGHTS:

Rhona S. Weinstein is an academic, psychologist, and writer. Educated at Montreal's McGill University in Canada and in the United States at Yale University, Weinstein began her long academic career at the University of California, Berkeley, as an assistant professor of psychology. She eventually received emeritus status and received numerous teaching awards throughout her career.

In 2002 Weinstein published her first book, Reaching Higher: The Power of Expectations in Schooling, with Harvard University Press. The book serves as an analysis of the public school system in the United States and gives suggestions on how to improve it from practical and sympathetic perspectives. Weinstein takes aim at the problems created by standardized testing and quotas placed upon schools, teachers, and students by the government, increasingly so by the "No Child Left Behind" policy. Weinstein urges policymakers to focus on the individual student as the policy suggests and not to group students and schools' performances on generalized tests and quotas. Her approach calls for change not simply from the government, but also from teachers, parents, students, administrators, teacher training faculty, and educational researchers to turn around perceptions of achievement and work together to combat underachievement in the nations' classrooms. Weinstein supports her new philosophy with decades of personal research and a range of case studies.

Susan Bobbit Nolen, writing in the Anthropology and Education Quarterly, claimed that Reaching Higher "offers a contrasting view" to the education policy of George W. Bush's administration, stating: "Real change in achievement requires interventions that change not only teachers' expectations for their students, but expectations of and for the people and institutions that make up educational systems. It requires long-term commitment and a willingness to address systemic constraints. It also requires a willingness to listen to the voices of children, teachers, administrators, and parents; something that Rhona Weinstein has been doing for a long time." Nolen concluded that "the title of the book, Reaching Higher, is well chosen and reflects both the uncertainties and the promise of this undertaking." A contributor to Publishers Weekly wrote that the book should be considered a crucial resource for anyone "who believes in the historic promise of equal educational opportunity, and in the possibility that all children can reach their full learning potential." Pointing out the fact that this is Weinstein's first book, Sylvia Kane, writing in a Childhood Education review, commented that it makes it "all the more impressive that Reaching Higher has received two awards." Kane also remarked that "Weinstein's recommendations provide some hope. This academic text is a must for teacher preparation programs and an excellent professional development resource for school reform." Despite the challenges involved in this study, Jean Caspers noted in a Library Journal review that Weinstein is "undaunted" in her efforts. Casper also wrote that Weinstein's "approach would move the next generation's educational experience into a new level of excellence."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Journal of Community Psychology, February, 2002, "The 2001 Society for Community Research and Action Award for Distinguished Contributions to Theory and Research in Community Psychology: Rhona S. Weinstein," p. 13.

Anthropology and Education Quarterly, June, 2004, Susan Bobbit Nolen, review of Reaching Higher: The Power of Expectations in Schooling.

Childhood Education, 2003, Meredith E. Kiger, review of Reaching Higher, p. 326; fall, 2006, Sylvia Kane, review of Reaching Higher, p. 54.

Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, March, 2004, review of Reaching Higher, p. 239.

Library Journal, October 15, 2002, Jean Caspers, review of Reaching Higher, p. 82.

New York Times, November 10, 2002, Peter Temes, review of Reaching Higher, p. L34.

Publishers Weekly, November 4, 2002, review of Reaching Higher, p. 74.