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Class Dismissed: A Year in the Life of an American High School, A Glimpse into the Heart of a Nation by Maran Meredith (2001-09-10) Paperback
This gripping story -a year in the lives of three high school seniors and their school-takes us deep into the hearts and minds of American teenagers, and American society, today.The seniors of Berkeley High are the white, black, Latino, Asian, and multiracial children of judges and carpenters, software consultants and garbage collectors, housewives and housekeepers. Some are Harvard bound; others are illiterate. They are the Class of 2000, and through the lives of three of them Class Dismissed brings us inside the nation's most diverse high school-where we glimpse the future of the nation.Autumn was ten when her father abandoned her family; since then she's been helping her mother raise her two little brothers and keep food on the table-while keeping her grades up so she can go to college. Her faith in God gives Autumn strength, but who will give her the money she needs when she's offered the opportunity of a lifetime?From the outside, Jordan's life looks perfect. He hangs out with the "rich white kids"; rows on the crew team, has a cool mom, applied early to an East Coast college. But Jordan's drug-addicted father died last year, leaving Jordan reeling with grief and anger that makes his life feel anything but perfect-and his future suddenly seem uncertain.A third-generation Berkeley High student, Keith is bright and popular, a talented football player who hopes to play college ball and one day, go pro. But Keith has a reading problem that threatens his NFL dream. And the Berkeley police have a problem with Keith that threatens his very freedom.Looking into the lives of these young people, in this American town, at this time in history, we see more than what's true---and what's possible--for Berkeley High. We see what's true and what's possible for America.
Paperback
First published October 20, 2000
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About the author
Meredith Maran
18 books188 followersMEREDITH MARAN is the author of more than a dozen nonfiction books, including Why We Write About Ourselves, Why We Write, and My Lie; and the acclaimed 2012 novel, A Theory of Small Earthquakes. She's a book critic and essayist for newspapers and magazines including the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and Salon.com. The recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo, and a member of the National Book Critics Circle, Meredith lives in a restored historic bungalow in Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 31, 2010
10 years later, Berkeley High seems much different than it was, yet still so similar. As a BHS faculty, I found it impossible to put this book down and impossible not to think and rethink my teaching practice with every page. I can't say whether I liked the book or not. It is what it is. I think the book portrays the school fairly, whatever that means. BHS is a crazy place, the teenage years are a crazy time, and this book just happens to be written during a very crazy school year. Fun stuff...I'm looking forward to the first day of school!
February 7, 2022
Even though many years have passed since the writing of this book, I believe many of the issues it addresses remain.
July 29, 2025
It’s been said that high school is a place that we never, truly leave. I know that’s true of me and - as a result - I’ve always been a sucker for nonfiction about high school students. (Thomas French’s South of Heaven and Medved and Wallechinsky’s What Really Happened to the Class of ‘65 are two favorites).
Recently, during a trip to Northern California, I wanted to read about the local area. I came across an electronic copy of Meredith Maran’s Class Dismissed and it seemed like an ideal fit. During the 1999-2000 school year, Maran followed three Berkeley (California) High seniors. After reading Class Dismissed, I rate it as “pretty good.”
The human drama is the reason to read Class Dismissed. High school is highly dramatic and the reader gets a chance to experience these dramas with the “kids.” Maran chooses three different types: a relatively-well-off white guy, a disadvantaged black male athlete, and a biracial girl. (She more or less ignores the large number of Hispanic and Asian kids). The kids are all volatile and the reader cheers for them to make it. (Readers definitely will want to Google the three kids to see what became of them in adulthood).
Unfortunately, Maran is telling the story. She’s a doctrinaire liberal. Her solutions to the many problems plaguing Berkeley High are predictable - more spending and less influence by meddling white parents. It’s a big disappointment that Maran’s year at Berkeley High doesn’t manage to any creative thinking on her part. (Readers will also want to Google Maran. She’s the classic unreliable source).
So, I enjoyed Class Dismissed and I’m glad that I read it. Still, the book could have been so much better. Read South of Heaven or What Really Happened to the Class of ‘65 first.
Recently, during a trip to Northern California, I wanted to read about the local area. I came across an electronic copy of Meredith Maran’s Class Dismissed and it seemed like an ideal fit. During the 1999-2000 school year, Maran followed three Berkeley (California) High seniors. After reading Class Dismissed, I rate it as “pretty good.”
The human drama is the reason to read Class Dismissed. High school is highly dramatic and the reader gets a chance to experience these dramas with the “kids.” Maran chooses three different types: a relatively-well-off white guy, a disadvantaged black male athlete, and a biracial girl. (She more or less ignores the large number of Hispanic and Asian kids). The kids are all volatile and the reader cheers for them to make it. (Readers definitely will want to Google the three kids to see what became of them in adulthood).
Unfortunately, Maran is telling the story. She’s a doctrinaire liberal. Her solutions to the many problems plaguing Berkeley High are predictable - more spending and less influence by meddling white parents. It’s a big disappointment that Maran’s year at Berkeley High doesn’t manage to any creative thinking on her part. (Readers will also want to Google Maran. She’s the classic unreliable source).
So, I enjoyed Class Dismissed and I’m glad that I read it. Still, the book could have been so much better. Read South of Heaven or What Really Happened to the Class of ‘65 first.
October 2, 2024
Very interesting, very informative. Starts out a bit slow but picks up quick. This book is 24 years old and it’s astonishing to me how little things have changed in the public schools in that amount of time. What stood out to me the most was the teachers’ collective cry of needing more resources and more time to devote to their kids. If I’m being honest, while I never want to rush time, this book makes me glad to know we’re almost done with high school. Would recommend.
September 25, 2017
This book chronicles the senior year of three students at Berkeley High. This was a great book. The author writes about everything that happens to these students. I enjoyed this book and I recommend it. I am going to pass this book to a friend of mine.
April 22, 2009
This book was very interesting and enlightening in regards to the current "bleeding edge" public school. Berkley attempted just about every social experiment you can think of in "bettering" the public school system.
I was amazed, as an outsider to public schools, at the issues the young people there faced and the attitude of the teachers. The author portrayed a teaching staff that had a real desire to help and put many hard (under paid) hours and effort into this. However, it seemed they all had an attitude that nothing they did would make a long term difference.
It was very clear that the author and the teachers believed that a successful student was one who was both educated and ready to be an activist in society. It's not about making any current system better but seemed they all were looking for young people who would turn every system on it's head. Then they complained and worked hard to try to find ways to get the students in the classroom, engaged and complying with the school system. I found it quite ironic.
A great nugget was when the author pointed out that the view of the Locus of Control was a worldview driver in the students lives. It seemed the under privileged and minority see the locus as "external". Meaning that nothing they can do will change anything. They seem them selves as victims. Others would see the locus as "internal". They saw themselves as being able to achieve anything and everything they do mattered. Then they pointed out one christian girl who had a balanced view. God as external has tremendous soverign effect on how life treats us but we have the internal choices regarding how we will respond. The control is both internal and external. They recognized this as a healthy view!
I found it helpful but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.
I was amazed, as an outsider to public schools, at the issues the young people there faced and the attitude of the teachers. The author portrayed a teaching staff that had a real desire to help and put many hard (under paid) hours and effort into this. However, it seemed they all had an attitude that nothing they did would make a long term difference.
It was very clear that the author and the teachers believed that a successful student was one who was both educated and ready to be an activist in society. It's not about making any current system better but seemed they all were looking for young people who would turn every system on it's head. Then they complained and worked hard to try to find ways to get the students in the classroom, engaged and complying with the school system. I found it quite ironic.
A great nugget was when the author pointed out that the view of the Locus of Control was a worldview driver in the students lives. It seemed the under privileged and minority see the locus as "external". Meaning that nothing they can do will change anything. They seem them selves as victims. Others would see the locus as "internal". They saw themselves as being able to achieve anything and everything they do mattered. Then they pointed out one christian girl who had a balanced view. God as external has tremendous soverign effect on how life treats us but we have the internal choices regarding how we will respond. The control is both internal and external. They recognized this as a healthy view!
I found it helpful but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.
November 16, 2015
I am more familiar with Berkeley High School than any other individual institution since I worked there for six years and was fortunate enough to work with many of the educators who were featured in Class Dismissed. I didn't find Class Dismissed particularly engaging and I thought the author tried to take an advocacy stance masked through a documentarian's lens and I found both approaches were ineffective and frankly a little boring.
I also didn't particularly like the author's choice to only feature students from a BHS small learning community (the same community that her son attended). I say this even though I am an unabashed advocate of small schools and I taught at a BHS small learning community for all six years I was there. Even though the author was transparent about her relationship with CAS (one of BHS's small learning communities), I thought it would have helped her argument to include different perspectives from the "big" school. Other personalities came across as caricatures, including people who I know personally.
Ultimately, I took a lot away from this book because the Berkeley High that I know is so much different than the Berkeley High presented in this book. Berkeley High is still an imperfect place, but the level of discourse feels so much more positive, particularly around equity and race. And Amy Crawford is still a rock star.
I also didn't particularly like the author's choice to only feature students from a BHS small learning community (the same community that her son attended). I say this even though I am an unabashed advocate of small schools and I taught at a BHS small learning community for all six years I was there. Even though the author was transparent about her relationship with CAS (one of BHS's small learning communities), I thought it would have helped her argument to include different perspectives from the "big" school. Other personalities came across as caricatures, including people who I know personally.
Ultimately, I took a lot away from this book because the Berkeley High that I know is so much different than the Berkeley High presented in this book. Berkeley High is still an imperfect place, but the level of discourse feels so much more positive, particularly around equity and race. And Amy Crawford is still a rock star.
April 5, 2013
As someone who graduated high school a generation ago and from a private schools, I am always curious about how the education is from a more recent group of kids. This book examines a year in the life of one of most integrated, unique public high schools (at the time, the year 1999-2009) in Berkeley, California.
The writer invites us to follow three kids as they experience their senior year and the ups and doens that go with it. The three she follows are all unique with their "problems" and she discovers how they deal with it. In addition, this is quite the year for the school itself with its myriads of problems and how the teachers and administration deals with it.
A very good book for someone who wants to have a look at a public high school at a particular time in recent history and how they dealt with the problems of the day.
The writer invites us to follow three kids as they experience their senior year and the ups and doens that go with it. The three she follows are all unique with their "problems" and she discovers how they deal with it. In addition, this is quite the year for the school itself with its myriads of problems and how the teachers and administration deals with it.
A very good book for someone who wants to have a look at a public high school at a particular time in recent history and how they dealt with the problems of the day.
July 9, 2016
When I bought this book, my oldest child was graduating high school and my youngest had just completed kindergarten - I was very interested in education. I also believe strongly in public schools and in diversity. It took me a long time to actually read it, but what is disheartening is that the themes highlighted in this tale of a year at California's Berkeley High School are just as pertinent today as they were 16 years ago. Nothing has changed which is heartbreaking. The news of police pulling individuals over for minor infractions and then shooting them that has been in this week's headlines are reminiscent of a scene in this book where a graduating African American student is pulled over for an expired registration, beaten by police and jailed for the weekend missing his senior prom. Are we capable of learning and changing?
November 13, 2012
Even though this book was published in 2000, it could have been written last week (with the obvious updates of Discman's to iPods, etc.). Sad to see that the problems and issues so prevalent in our public schools have not improved, but if anything have gotten worse. The disparity, dependence on standardized testing, inadequate pay for teachers and lack of funding for schools and their programs, the list could (and does) go on and on. I think this book could be an eye-opener to those outside the system. It was well-written and is an easy and quick read.
January 8, 2008
From a literary perspective, the author does a very good job of interweaving the story of four students to give insight into Berkeley High School. The only danger in this method is that readers will not be able to recognize that each of the four students represents a significant portion of the student body and not an anomaly. As an educator who is very familiar with this school district, it gave me historical perspective on how much improvement there has been. Those were chaotic times.
August 25, 2012
This book captures very well a year in the life of an urban American high school. I remember working at Berkeley High School, and Meredith Maran gets it right. Unfortunately, because she takes an ethnographic lens, this work gets dated quickly. I tried to use it in my classroom just a few years after it was published, and already my students called it "old."
July 24, 2007
A really good book for anyone who wants to teach in an urban school!
January 14, 2009
A hard look at built in racism and achievement gap at a top high school.
July 1, 2009
Very interesting. I learned a lot; not just about high school, but about our society and the future of it as seen through the children's eyes.
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January 15, 2010education
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews