Nobody Rises to Low Expectations

About the Book

After having spent over three decades in education and public service agencies, I am attempting to connect the dots in regard to education programs and practices and student achievement. Given the plethora of educational programs, practices, and studies reviewed and studied and implemented regarding educational reform and student achievements and initiatives currently in vogue in American education such as “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top” have not advanced us to the point we hope to be. The main thrust or the common denominator in successful educational practices, in my opinion, is the relationship between students and teachers .I had the pleasure of working with two individuals in the educational field that exemplify the premise that no child rises to low expectations and, in their love of children and passion for learning, have transformed lives. This book attempts to put the current issues into a realistic perspective as the obstacles that are prevalent in education and also suggest some of the bright spots that are currently in practice. Fred Bedell

About the Author

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1940s and ’50s, got married, and moved to upstate New York. I became a teacher, guidance counselor, and assistant principal in the White Plains public schools system. During this period, I was elected to the post of deputy mayor of the Village of Ossining, New York, and became a principal of an open-education program for learning-disabled students (Board of Cooperative Services, Yorktown, New York). We then moved to Albany, New York, where I served as a public official in the New York State Division for Youth and the Department of Correctional Services. After serving in those positions for eight years, I returned to White Plains as an assistant superintendent and then retired. During my retirement, I was appointed to the position of director of the National Council on Disability in Washington, DC. I earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from New York University and a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts. I have three children and six grandchildren and live with Gail, my wife of fifty-six years, in Arizona.