Typically, a collection titled a “reader” is a compilation of works by a notable writer or thinker, but this proposal is more like a virtual book shelf created for Secretary of Education (and lifelong political appointee who has never taught) Arne Duncan.

I think this should be a community project, so I’ll just get us started.

First, however, let me make the case that since Duncan has skated along in his public life by being politically connected, instead of having marketable skills, we must establish that Duncan lacks some basic skills, pretty shocking considering his background.

Duncan either refuses or is unable (my guess) to confront the evidence that would serve him well in his privileged position, his bully pulpit as leader of US education.

So let’s use as Exhibit A the rambling and contradictory talk given by Duncan about charter schools:

Arne Duncan praises, slaps charter schools

This talk is typical of Duncan’s tenure and includes gems such as:

In the world of education reform, success is all too often an orphan, while failure has many fathers.

I want to flip that presumption.

I want to stop treating success as though it was a one-off, attributable to heroic teachers or charismatic principals. I want to ask instead: Why can’t success be the norm?

With this in mind, then, let me start The Arne Duncan Reader:

Reading Educational Research: How to Avoid Getting Statistically Snookered, Gerald Bracey (may be supplemented with blogs from Bruce Baker and Matthew Di Carlo)

Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell

Please add your recommendations in the comments below (certainly Duncan has some free time over summer to squeeze in some reading and we all know summer is fraught with learning erosion when students do not have access to books; we can’t afford Duncan having any gaps during his on-the-job training!).

Possible cover? (Recommended by Stephen Krashen)