Book Review: Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning

At my school, teachers are assigned summer reading. This summer we are reading, Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning by Mike Schmoker. This is my least favorite book that I have read through my school thus far.

Schmoker’s ideas are sound–teach only the most important standards, implement frequent checks for understanding, dramatically increase the amount and quality of reading that students are expected to do, and focus on lecture-style lessons rather than flashy lessons that distract from the content. My main criticism of this book is that most of the information in this book is either common sense or a matter of individual preference. I don’t know many teachers who would argue against assigning more reading or reducing the number of standards in order to increase the depth of information covered. While I myself prefer working with students in a whole-group setting and do not use a lot of technology, as Schmoker advocated, I completely understand how small group lessons and/or increased use of technology might work really well for some teachers.

Another sticking point for me was the repetitiveness of the book. Most of Schmoker’s ideas are covered in the first chapter. The next few chapters add some additional information about the ideas he has stated in the first chapter, then the last several chapters examine his ideas through the lens of each subject area. Some parts of this last section are repetitive to the point of restating the information word-for-word and don’t add much additional insight.

My recommendation–if you are interested in this book, check it out from the library, read the first chapter, and skim the rest of the book. While the ideas are good, it is not a book that I can see myself referencing again.