THE HANDBOOK OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS
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Reviews
American Reference Books Annual-1996
Where to Start Career Planning
"Ease of use and detailed explanations are strengths of this work. It will be found both thorough and useful to those in search of private education.”
- Jill Rooker
“In its main section, ‘Leading Private Schools,’ The Handbook of Private Schools provides parents, counselors, and others with comparative information on 1,652 private schools in the United States. Information supplied is based on questionnaires returned by the schools, which then receive a free listing. Schools are arranged geographically by state, then alphabetically by city within each state. (A 'Features Classified' index provides access by type of school, e.g., military, single-sex, schools for students with learning disabilities.) Common statistical information provided for the schools in the main section is: address, telephone, and fax numbers; name and qualifications of the administrator and director of admissions; grade range, academic orientation (college preparatory, general academic, vocational, and so on), and curriculum (availability of advanced courses; foreign language, fine arts, and computer courses; tutoring, remedial classes, and English as a Second Language ); number of new admissions yearly as well as admissions tests used; enrollment and faculty (number of boys and girls enrolled at each level of schooling; number of male and female full- and part-time faculty as well as number holding doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees); graduate record (number in previous year’s graduating class plus number entering college or preparatory school); tuition costs and scholarship information; summer session affiliation, and association membership (including accrediting agency). In addition, the main section presents paragraph descriptions for each school, intended to be a historical summary as well as an overview of recent innovations. Descriptions vary in length from a five-line paragraph to well over a page. This somewhat unbalanced coverage may be a result of schools supplying differing amounts of information on questionnaires.
Two hundred and fifty of the schools have purchased space in the Handbook’s “Private Schools Illustrated” section. Through photographs and narrative, schools stress features they consider significant about their purposes and programs. A “Concise Listing of Schools” section contains single-paragraph descriptions of more than 900 schools, similar to those in which enrollment is limited to a local area or with specialized objectives and programs.
Libraries limited to the selection of one private school directory should consider this one. It describes more schools the Bunting and Lyon’s Private Independent Schools (1995 edition), and has more balanced coverage, although the Bunting and Lyon includes schools that the Handbook does not. Librarians should also make patrons aware that many private schools simply are not included in either reference work. The only rationale for the Handbook's scope is that it includes schools that the editors judged to be of interest to a national audience.”
-Jan Bakker
"It is difficult to visualize any library or educational counseling office not housing a current edition of this directory. The most heavily used section is the private schools, arranged geographically by state, the results of annual questionnaires sent out to qualified institutions. Information, in this section, includes a historical summary and relevant data regarding administrators, admissions, enrollment, financial information and faculty. A smaller classified section includes schools with military programs, upgraded curricula, boarding schools and those dealing with students who have learning differences. A valuable asset for locating information is the comprehensive index at the back of the volume and the separate indexes preceding each section. A user-friendly reference tool, which is highly recommended for public, school, and academic libraries." -Mary E. Gallagher
"Statistics and background information on approximately 1,800 elementary and secondary boarding and day schools. A comprehensive reference book. Illustrated; well-indexed. Fine resource for teachers seeking employment."
"Statistics and background information on approximately 1,800 elementary and secondary boarding and day schools. A most comprehensive reference book; contributes to the total view of independent education today. Illustrated; well indexed." - Carolyn Lindquist
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