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Book Review: Vertigo: Transforming Teaching and Learning in Public Education by Dena R. Cushenberry with Leonard C. Burrello

Since the publication of A Nation at Risk in the early 1980’s, public education has been under constant scrutiny from federal, state, and local policymakers; the business community; and the media (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). Schools have been pushed to develop rigorous academic standards for all students, create STEM programs, and more recently, implement online instructional platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. High-stakes testing to hold schools publicly accountable for student achievement is at an all-time high. Policymakers have kept a watchful eye on schools, punishing those that do not meet standards, regardless of the social and economic conditions of the student populations they serve. Increasing school choice by funding charter schools and promoting voucher programs have become popular tactics for politicians to re-distribute funds from neighborhood public schools. This political pressure has greatly affected our public-school systems – teaching is being viewed as a lessdesirable career path and school administrators are rethinking their willingness to continue leading schools and systems. Although this situation paints a bleak picture of public education, Vertigo: Transforming Teaching and Learning in Public Education by Dena R. Cushenberry with Leonard C. Burrello, portrays how school systems thrive when tackling these challenges head on in order to transform teaching and learning. Rather than a fool-proof formula or series of steps that should be undertaken, the book reads like a case study of the six-year journey of Dena’s tenure as the superintendent in Warren Township, a low-income and ethnically-diverse community in metropolitan Indianapolis, Indiana. The authors uncover the underlying philosophy driving Dena’s vision for teaching and learning, the internal challenges thwarting her vision of excellence, and her patience to implement school improvement reforms. The journey clearly reveals her stance regarding how public schools can impact students’ future success, her personal theories of change, and her tireless belief in developing the capacities of the district leadership team and others in the school system to implement needed reforms. The book also Book Review